Diamond Drag Engraver Part 1: Engraving Aluminum

[@privatebubba8876]

Life is so much easier when you have the right tool. Beautiful work.

[@flypic1098]

I recently ground a sharp point tool and 3D printed a holder for it. But it only cut one way. I had to cut some very fine but precise grooves in acrylic. I couldn't maintain the tolerances due to variations in material thickness. I ordered one of these earlier today due to watching a few of these vids. I really enjoyed yours. Thanks. Jim

[@monteeslinger5180]

Nice video, well done! Thanks for sharing

[@andrewwaters2354]

The corner rounding issue is a Mach3 one, you will want to adjust your "look ahead" setting aswell as motor acceleration settings

[@zachary3777]

The good thing about these spring loaded tips is that you don't really need to deck off your surface before engraving. There's plenty of travel in the spring to take up minute variations in height.

[@tralfazy]

I know that this video is several years old but for anyone just starting to use a spring loaded drag bit you need to know that the spring pressure is not linear. The early part of the spring compression has a very steep pressure change curve. The first .300" of compression is on that steep part of the curve and is too light. It would change pressure too rapidly with surface height variations. After compressing to only 0.050" (1.27mm) as in this video you only get 9.5 oz of pressure which is only 34% of the available spring pressure. You need to compress the spring to over .300" (7.5mm) to get into the linear part of the tool's pressure curve, then it goes up very linearly all the way up to .590" (15mm). When at max compression at 15mm it goes up to 31 oz of pressure (in my measurements with my tool) This won't make much difference for very flat surfaces except to make it engrave too lightly but on uneven surfaces you would want a much flatter pressure curve to keep the engraving looking the same throughout. I compress my drag bit to 7.5mm (.295") to be in the center of the usable range. That way if the surface goes lower or higher the engraving depth will stay consistent.

[@clarkstevens2711]

That was an awesome video thank you that was quite educational I am thinking of getting a drag bit and that really cleared things up

[@bostondan77]

You get an automatic thumbs up from me now before I even watch the video ;)

[@Clough42]

Thanks!

[@Throneos]

Can you try one engraving but with multiple passes?

[@trevskiyoung4984]

Great video nice piece of work👍

[@AboutTheBuild]

I just got myself a diamond drag, lucky this video came up cheers

[@jeffbeck6501]

Have you tried running the spindle while the tool is engraving?, ...so that is half scratching half milling. Great video. I am looking into engraving these days, but I am kind of worried about getting trapped into spending a lot of money on diamond-tipped bits. Plus yours is spring loaded so that is another problem. I see Dremel 9929 bits, but it is without the spring. With the excellent auto level system in my NewRAD CNC controller, I don't think that I need the spring, but I don't think a diamond tipped bit could do the auto level probing procedure. But that would not be a problem. I could just use a regular Dremel 9924 bit to do that part, and then switch to the diamond tip after I had the height map. I think that I have tried engraving before with a 9924, and it did not work out too well. I can't remember, but I am about to try it again. But it looks like that you need a diamond tipped bit to do it well. Your final real engraving in the video looked awesome.

[@edwardcruz5187]

I know these drag pens are able to scribe many materials, if scribing steel pipe, is the diamond durable enough to last a long time provided it's not broken ?

[@williamlambert2865]

That looks great

[@sbirdranch]

Thanks so much. I bought just the diamond tip a while back and hadn't created the holder. I had a design for the holder in my mind, and when you showed the drawing of the Tormach tool holder, it confirmed my approach. I think I'll get this made soon. Sub'd ~P

[@minskmade]

awesome video. great explannation and tutorial. thank you so much for taking the time to do this..i have a home made cnc and have been looking at these diamond tip engravers.

[@robertsears2762]

Yes I'd like to know more about the software used to create the maker's mark.

[@samdatejust5318]

This video is amazing makes life so much easy. What's the name of the CNC machine you're using ?

[@Pedrodi0965]

excellent work. where can I get the drill bits you use for that job you did, Thanks,

[@paulmanhart4481]

Damn, that’s nice. You could even put some black ink in there to make it stand out more. But maybe not your style. Paul

[@shauntdrobeck]

Do you mind telling me what kind of facing tool that is at about 8 minutes? I've never seen anything like it!

[@Clough42]

That is aTormach SuperFly. It's just a fancy fly cutter with a really sharp polished carbide insert.

[@somebodyelse6673]

Are the grooves deep / textured enough to hold a colored paint or epoxy? It looks good naked, but more options are better, yes?

[@Clough42]

That sounds like something fun to try. The grooves are pretty shallow, but I wonder if it would be enough to hold some color.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

I know nothing about aluminium and drag cutters, but I do some v-tip stylus "engraving" to fabricate PCBs - and boy, does it come out burry as hell; in my experience though, a light brushing with some Scotch Brite cleans it up to pretty much perfection. Just a thought...

[@ponydown418]

Very nice. I just bought a tormach one also.

[@BradenEliason]

I'd be really interested to see if you could do intaglio printmaking with one of these engravings.

[@xenonram]

_Secret Service wants to know your location._

[@CordedTires]

I’m seriously thinking about buying one of these and trying it. “Serious burr” sounds like a nice recipe for drypoint type intaglio printmaking.

[@cornishman1954]

What bit did you use to fly the top, please

[@Saaferoom]

What’s the name of the machine that you use to create those tools??

[@TAWPTool]

Outstanding!

[@ckonthebay1950]

The rounding could be do to the constant velocity settings in Mach.

[@le3045acp]

i know your busy but i have a chance to buy a south bend 2VH mill made just like a bridgeport and i wonder what your opinion is can i get parts for it and is it a good hobbiest mill it is much heavier than a bridgeport 2400lbs i think and a little more robust i think just cant find any info on the mill thanks Lee

[@Clough42]

Sorry...I'm not familiar with that mill. If you can't find a source for parts or an on-line community, it can make things harder if you run into issues.

[@xenonram]

It depends on how much it is, how worn it is, and whether it is old enough to be made in the USA, or if it's Chinese/Taiwanese produced since Grizzly bought South Bend. I typed in "South Ben 2VH," and found a ton of information on it. Spare parts, forums, manuals (on Vintage Machinery among others), and ones for sale to see if the price on the one you're looking at is reasonable.

[@tomvitagliano250]

What is your depth of cut ?

[@kaea1639]

What is the name of machine u mount ur drag engraver on? Anyone? Ty im new to this type of work

[@tobiasripper4124]

superb!

[@Clough42]

Thank you!

[@johngunn7947]

now you just showing off! lol awesome work

[@joer8486]

If the grooves are deep enough - it would be nice to use paint or epoxy then fly-cut again to leave very clean colored engraving.

[@Clough42]

Definitely worth a try. Maybe even powder coat. I have no idea if there's enough depth for the color to show up.

[@joer8486]

I thought about powder coat too. I have not yet setup my powder coating system but plan to give that a try when I get around to making a new control panel for my G0602 during the conversion to CNC.

[@helmut666kohl]

Get some UV curing epoxy for PCB solder mask. That stuff is quick and sticky

[@trialnterror]

What did this setup cost you? ( g0704 with cnc installed)

[@Clough42]

It can be done inexpensively or you can spend as much as you want. It can be done for the cost of the mill plus about $1000 (US) assuming you already have a computer and sfotware and you have other machines you can use to make all of the brackets and mounts. That assumes cheap eBay components and a lot of work making parts. I started that way, but struggled with various issues and upgraded a bunch of components (DSP-based drivers, a big linear power supply and a SmoothStepper motion controller). If I were starting over from scratch, I'd expect to spend $1500 or $2000, depending on what I already had on hand (cable, connectors, etc.)

[@kevinmoriarity1285]

if you add paint b4 the flywheel pass it will make it POP.

[@shamilawright295]

what software you use ? Thank you

[@Clough42]

I used Inkscape for the artwork and Fusion 360 for the CAM.

[@woodscreekworkshop9939]

I am surprised that the spring responded quick enough for 60 IPM. Looks good!

[@Clough42]

Thanks! I was very pleased with the results.

[@ukdnbmarsh]

i use a 50watt fibre laser at work, wouldnt mind trying something like this to see how it would turn out

[@MrJohnnaz]

Do you think that this would work on anodized aluminum?

[@Throneos]

It would just knock the oxide (and the dye) off and leave the raw aluminum

[@stuartkeithguitars4251]

It might....but that might require a soft anodise. A diamond dragged across hard anodization would probably leave a rough edge along the cut.

[@robmckennie4203]

I'm quite interested to know how well this works in hard materials like tool steel, or glass

[@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree]

Works great on 304 stainless steel in my cnc router.

[@robmckennie4203]

@@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree right but i'm talking about hard materials

[@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree]

@@robmckennie4203 diamond is hardest material known to man. Put it under the diamond at said pressure and speed and you get a controlled scratch. Much quicker than tiny endmills and you get very fine details.

[@robmckennie4203]

@@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree yeah i understand how it works, i'm wondering how well it would work in hard materials like *tool steel, or glass* that means a lot harder than fuckin 304. Also we have synthetic materials harder than diamond now, keep up Jr

[@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree]

@@robmckennie4203 304 stainless is an 88 on Rockwell and titanium is 80. Toolsteel looks to be a 66. I think your good to go.

[@JohnBlaze505]

Why raise up the flycutter .002? Why not leave it at zero? Wouldn't you have a .002 burr now?

[@SkullyWoodMetal]

Nice work and video. I want to check out your other videos. I subscribed to your channel, mainly because we both have the same mill. Mine is the G0759 model but basically the same machine.

[@thomasreddick5908]

Sir, I just found your channel and subbed, I have a question have you used the cnc mill to engrave a coin, I have an idea and am looking for someone like yourself to help me, my father died a year ago and I would like to have one made for a memorial for him. Look forward to hearing from you. Thomas Reddick

[@xenonram]

If you're planning on making a lot (Like to give to people that attend the memorial), maybe he can mill a die out of some took steel, and then you can strike them with a hydraulic press. (Or you could even make a punch press and striking die with threaded rod.)

[@johnjohn-pt7pe]

Cool stuff, thanks

[@Clough42]

You're welcome.

[@asgharrezaei0138]

my dear , why you do not use spray cooling and lubricant cut ?

[@Clough42]

I usually run everything with soluble oil mist from a Noga Cool.

[@maxheadroom1506]

The light spring 120 would be good for engraving glass.

[@LetsRogerThat]

Wow

[@PatientZeroBalisong]

What is that beeping?

[@Clough42]

You mean the tones at 13:41? Those are the stepper motors singing as they change speeds.

[@mainstreetmachineworks651]

James, Any possibility you could do a F360 tutorial on engraving? I have trouble every time when I try to program text. Love the content!

[@Clough42]

As luck would have it, I'm working on something about that right now.

[@Clough42]

For anyone else stumbling on this comment, the tutorial is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnzPnqyfjrmCe7M

[@AdventureswithZack]

Beautiful you should start selling them I'd buy one

[@kentklapstein9879]

Now if the part was anodized a dark colour first the engraving would really pop!

[@Clough42]

Yeah, that sounds great. I haven't set up an anodizing line in my shop just because I don't really want to handle and dispose of the acids, but it would be very cool.

[@XxManagedxX]

Adding anodizing to the equation makes things a little unpredictable from my experience. I do a lot of diamond engraving on black anodized hammond enclosures and once in a blue moon I'll get a batch of enclosure where the text looks fuzzy. Switch to a new anodized plate with no machine changes and everything looks great. The only explanation I can come up with is the hardness of the surface. On a similar note I have not had any success engraving painted surfaces.

[@minskmade]

What Grizzly MIll are you using?

[@Clough42]

It's a G0704

[@CliffsShed]

look forward to your experiments in steel, i think you use mach 3, i'm still struggling with grbl! ate, cliff

[@CliffsShed]

ATB,all the best!

[@Clough42]

Yeah, I still need to find a chunk of scrap to try it. Most of the material in my offcut bin is aluminum.

[@Hongqie]

drops of oil perhaps,but it's aluminium i don't think it was big deal though.

[@xenonram]

Aluminum is really the only metal that needs coolant or oil when being machined, besides super alloys. People think machining aluminium is easy because it's the soft, but it's actually one of the most difficult. (Again, besides super alloys.) It's gummy and is prone to chip welding.

[@Nedeles]

Using XP in 2019 8:15

[@Clough42]

Yup. It's an old Eden VIA processor motherboard. It has an SSD and it boots in about four seconds. I already have a new machine built to replace it, but it's down my priority list. I suspect the first time Windows 10 tries to apply updates while milling a part, I'll wish for XP again.

[@Nedeles]

@@Clough42 is more for security reasons, the thing that W10 tries to apply an update is precisely the good thing, i dont know if you are conected to internet in that pc, but if you are, you probably souldnt run XP on it

[@toddmolloy311]

@@Nedeles you want security switch to Linux I don't want the government in my house they're hands are my pocket enough as it is lol.

[@Nedeles]

​@@toddmolloy311windows is more of a convenient than any other thing, I think that Linux has more drawbacks to me than benefits, but maybe is different for him

[@toddmolloy311]

@@Nedeles touche, all depends on what you're after and what you're willing to Shell out for a nice core.

[@75keg75]

4:29 breaks the concrete….

[@stuartkeithguitars4251]

"Deck off the top" means "face milling" to most machinists.

[@Clough42]

I could have used a face mill, but the fly cutter leaves a nicer finish.

[@stuartkeithguitars4251]

@@Clough42 Yes....but the operation is still called "facing" no matter what tool you use. This wouldn't bother me except if a newbie learns the wrong jargon from you...and then is misled for a while...until he or she finally figures it out.

[@xenonram]

@@stuartkeithguitars4251 You've obviously not worked in machining very long, or you're in a country outside the US. I've heard almost every machinist I've ever known say that. It is not incorrect. It's a very commonly used term.

[@KyleBrinkerhoff]

eh, 60deg 1/8th vbit and proper work height is pretty good for 5 bucks

[@Clough42]

Yes. I've done lots of engraving this way, but with a 2200 RPM spindle, it is very slow. I'm working on a high speed spindle that would be perfect for this, but it's a lot more expensive than a diamond drag engraver. :)

[@ActiveAtom]

Hi misusing your tool no you would not do that. Happy work. Lance & Patrick.

[@Clough42]

Thank you.

[@robertcarr5846]

Hi James I sent you and email about a VFD problem can you check it out ?

[@Clough42]

Yup. Glad to help if I can.

[@jimstone4496]

1/16 ball end mill. or even 1/32 Carbide Of course. set the diameter in cam to .001 and path trace. badaboom. dont need to buy a fancy engraver tool with one job...

[@Clough42]

And a mill with a 10,000RPM spindle. Mine tops out at 2200RPM, so tiny end mills take forever to do anything useful.

[@xenonram]

@@Clough42 Yeah, will have a hard time with a 30 thou EM at 2200 rpm.

[@eugenes9751]

So much unnecessary Z hop.

[@Clough42]

Yeah. It could be tuned down a lot closer.

[@xenonram]

It's a quick prototyping routine. He's not going to spend a ton of time proving and optimizing the CAM for 2 minutes of cutting.

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

Not a true engraving, not deep enough, but nice try!