100 Engraving Tips

(From Fred Schwartz author, Recognition Review, December 2000 and January 2001, with permission)

Engraving | Sharpening and Tipping | Burnishing | Beveling | Measurement Tools | Drilling | Spell Checking |Table Shears | Materials | Lubrication | Electrical Tips | Marketing | Miscellaneous | Computer Tips | Buying | Getting Things Done |

Engraving
List and Matrix: Engraving one part at a time will make you a living. Using list or matrix will make you real money.
1. List: The inputting of variable text into a list, then allowing your computer to systematically engrave each piece.

2. Matrix: Engraving on parts that are equally spaced, or multiple tags on a larger piece of material.

3. Fixturing: Look to vendors selling fixturing, or design your own. Long runs of "1-up" can tie up a lot of engraving hours. Increasing to 2-up will make a world of difference, often more than doubling your overall productivity.

4. Vacuum Chip Removal: Always use a chip removal system to eliminate chips from engraved plastic. Engraving residue, called swarf, is bad for bearing and slide assemblies. A high quality vacuum nose is also required.

5. Need to cut out a shape either internal or external? Use a parallel cutter (Figure 1), which is cut square to make a straight edge cut. These cutters are used to profile a shape through your engraving material (i.e., hole cut outs, badge shapes). An alternative cutter for producing a cutout is a profiling cutter; the cut edge will not be perpendicular, but this is not always necessary. Profiling cutters usually have a 30-degree included angle. It's a good idea to use a sacrificial piece of material under the part being cut; it will save your table some scars.

6. Need to cut out a non-rectangular shape (e.g., oval, circle, or rectangle with rounded comers) and need a bevel on it? Use a cutter beveler (Figure 2). This cutter is similar to a parallel, but features a 45 degree charnfer cut to apply a bevel during cut out.

7. Cutter Grinders: I engraved for several years before getting a cutter grinder. My reasoning: I could buy 100 cutters for the price of a sharpener, and I couldn't sharpen as well as a professional. After buying a sharpener, my opinion has changed. I discovered that you can sharpen as well as the so-called experts. Other advantages: You can experiment, reduce your inventory, keep cutter dependent jobs running, and save shipping costs. I recommend a 400-grit diamond wheel. If you do engraving on metal or specialize in small text, you must own a cutter-grinder.

Sharpening and Tipping

8. Experience has helped me learn how to tip a cutter by sight. You can, too, with a little practice. I hold the cutter at the 7 degree side and 20 degree back rake angles up to the wheel.

9. When tip sizing, I use my Tip Comparator Gage for sizing over .010 inch and a loupe for.002 to.010 inch. Use a 10x loupe so you can accurately read the cutter sizes. Going to 20x might seem like a better idea, but makes it very hard to steady the cutter to properly view it.

10. On a 60 degree included and a 7 degree rake angle cutter, the tip size is 90 percent of the actual cutting width. I always size my cutter to this width and do not concern myself with the depth of penetration corrections. This 90% rule does not apply to quarter rounds; they are tipped at exactly 50% of the required cutter sized. Consistency is the most important consideration here. I sharpen my.010 at 40 degree, and .015 and .20 at a 50 degree included angle, which allows my engraved letter width to remain more consistent. (Figure 3). It shows a small depth variation with a 60 degree included cutter (standard) and will result iii a large letter width variation. On larger cutters, depicted by the .090 inch cutter, this same depth variation is unnoticeable.

Burnishing
Burnishing is the process of removing only a few thousandths of material to expose a base metal or remove a top coating. The cutters are shaped like chisels to sweep away the top coatings. In the case of gold, silver or brass, material, the process is to remove that lacquered coating. With colored brass sheets, the process removes the coating to expose the brass. Aluminum was too soft to yield good results, until the introduction of the diamond burnisher and FeatherWeight.

FeatherWeight: A great tool for burnishing came out several years ago. It allows the cutter to float over the material. It's great for brass, aluminum, odd shapes pen barrels, et cetera. The FeatherWeight also features an adjustable down-pressure top spring and is an important tool for soft material or pen barrels.

Diamonds versus Carbide: The burnishing cutters are mostly made from carbide. Recently, diamonds were placed on the tips of cutters. The advantages are cleaner cuts, longer life, easier darkening and the ability to burnish aluminum, glass and acrylics. The disadvantages are price and sizes only up to .060 inches.

Diamonds are worth the investment. I don't keep track of my diamond inventory, but I know I keep them at the engraver for at least two years before I retire them.

12. Burnishing adds a beautiful, smooth look to your work, often allowing you to justify your price quote versus your competitor's.

13. Substitute single-line fonts where multiline fonts were necessary. Even normal block looks great; add italics and upper and lower case. Single line fonts will engrave much faster than multiline fonts.

14. Burnishing resists tarnishing better than diamond drag. It's also easier to polish. The diamond drag gouge often will tear up a polishing cloth.

15. Trophy aluminum used to be a problem to burnish, but can now be done using a diamond burnisher and a FeatherWeight.

16. Odd Applications: Burnishing can be employed with good results on acrylic clip boards, coated pens (like black Cross pens) glass picture covers and aluminum nameplates.

17. Coated Cross Pens: These are very easy to engrave. I use a 90 degree diamond and a FeatherWeight set for light pressure, multiline fonts, and make two passes.

Beveling
The standard bevel on a plate is 45 degrees, starting at the midpoint of a 1/16-inch piece of engraving stock. Many engravers like a slightly broader bevel and will make a deeper cut. This is often done to hide shear marks.

18. When beveling small plates, we use what I refer to as a "Pusher." (Figure 4). The optimum size is approximately 1.25 x 3.5 inches.

19. When beveling many plates of the same size (e.g., W), bevel two plates at a time by putting the 1inch edge against the 3-inch edge. Push the parts past the beveler, cutting the 1-inch edge first, and using the 3inch edge as the "pusher." Rotate both parts, making sure to bevel the shorter (1-inch) edge first.

20. If you get a job that requires several .5 x 3-inch tags that require a bevel and are run in a matrix, you can bevel the .5-inch edge along several tags prior to shearing, leaving only the 3-inch edge to bevel.

21. If you bevel more than one thickness of material, set up a second or third beveler cutter for the various thickness of materials. The set up time for each cutter will be slightly longer the first time, but thereafter, setting up for a new thickness will be a five-second job. Mark the cutter tops with different colors or markings to avoid confusion. Set up the small cutter next to the beveler.

22. Maintenance is very minimal on a beveler, but often the tabletop will get very dirty and cause the parts to drag as you bevel. Use a degreaser to remove any adhesives and apply a light coating of silicon spray Wipe dry and you're ready to go.

23. Avoid several styles of bevel. The standard is well suited for nearly all applications. Some shops offer a square-cut border. This set up is very time intensive. As you all you know, offering too many choices to customer can be both a blessing and a curse.

24. Make sure the material is being contacted by your beveler cutter in the optimum cutting zone (Figure 5). A cutter positioned too high will produce a poor bevel and require a slow feed rate.

Measurement Tools
25. The most standard measurements should be done with a precision metal flexible scale. A standard wood ruler is not very accurate, and is very hard to read. The precision scale I recommend is the type 3R (Figure 6). This has division in 1/10-, 1/50-,1/32- and 1/64. The 1/10 and 1/50 are most useful. Most precision scales available read in 1/100 increments and are nearly impossible to read. With the 1/50 scale, it is possible to read down to the 1/100 of an inch. They are commonly available in 6-,12-, and 18-inch lengths Another big plus is being accurate from the end of the scale.

26. Always have a place for this scale, and know where it is at all times by attaching it to that special location with a magnet or two. Good scales like these like to grow legs and walk away.

27. The Dial Caliper (Figure 7) is I another very useful item for any shop. It reads quickly and accurately to the .001 inch. It's great for measuring the size of plate, letters, holes, depth, drill sizes et cetera. Some interpolation of the value is required. Specify a Dial Caliper with a dial of 1 revolution =.1 inch. Do not get the revolution = .2inch model The caliper costs $30-$50. I recommend the 6-inch version. The longer models tend to be cumbersome.

28. For those who don't like to interpolate the indicated value, a digital caliper is available. It costs significantly more money, but it is quite a handy tool.

Drilling
29. Plastic and phenolic drilling requires a specially cut drill. These modifications are 1) dubbing the cutting edge to eliminate material deep cutting/lifting and 2) heal clearance to allow chips to move out without burning. A properly shaped drill can drill up to a 3/4-inch hole in thin plastic without shattering the material. For high-volume phenolic drilling, use carbide-tipped drills.

30. Marble drilling requires carbide-tipped drills to withstand this abrasive material. Submerging the drill in water keeps it cool and the dust from floating. A heavy-duty drill press is recommended.

31.  Drills are available that will drill a hole and a counter bore in one operation. They are usually best suited for wood.

Sorting
32. When checking or sorting large orders of tags or name badges, develop a system that makes it easy and avoid wasted time and frustration. Let's use a 100-piece name badge order for a hospital as an example. First, determine how you can divide the badges into smaller manageable numbers (e.g., with title, one or two liners, A-L, M-Z, et cetera). Create 5-10 stacks for 100 badges. Looking through 10-20 tags is easier than 100 at a time.

33. After sorting or checking, put the tags in a bag or box that will serve as the final delivery device. All too often a tag is engraved, checked, then slides out of sight. It becomes a redo order, even though it will turn up several months later during spring cleaning.

Spell Checking
34. Spell checking is an art that must be practiced.

35. Avoid having the person who input the text do the checking. That person will often view his own work as correct and a misspelled word will remain misspelled.

36. Break words into segments even smaller than syllables. Full words and syllables tend to look correct.

37. Run one finger over the written text and one over the CRT sign, especially on plaques and large signs. Also read the copy from the bottom up.

Table Shears
38. The typical shear used in the engraving industry is the 12-inch guillotine, configured either for plastic or metal. The plastic cutting shear has a knife upper blade and is used on flexible plastics up to 3/32-inch. The metal cutting shear has a squared off upper blade and is used on brass (.030" max) or aluminum (.040" max.) Both feature the same type of bottom blade. If you do both plastic and metal work you should have both types of shears. Changing blades is dangerous and time consuming.

39. When cutting long pieces of material, support the material on the right side of the shear, either with a board or with a coworker's assistance. Letting it droop while you cut it will cause the piece to have a concave cut.

40. There are several different cutting techniques associated with the shear. Pick the one that best suits your applications. These include the use of a 30-60-90 triangle, Perfect Square arm, adjustable back stop and several rule variations.

41. One problem to remember with many of the shears available to the engraving industry is the scale. Most are 1/8-inch thick with an overlay legend for the scale markings. The problem is that most thicknesses usually cut are 1/16-inch of thinner, not 1/8. This varying elevation produces parallax error. Also, the scale markings are inaccurate or not there for finer measurements.

42. Maintain your shear with a very light oiling and blade cleaning. Always keep your blade free of gum deposits, which result from cutting through double-back tape and protective masking on materials. Use a single edge razor to remove big deposits, and a rag with solvents to finish the job. Cut with the sticky side up whenever possible.

43. Table Shear Squaring: Use a method I call the "3-Cut Result Method." The basic theory is: The sum of all four internal angles of a four-sided figure will equal 360 degrees. By making three cuts, rotating the cut part CCW* into the shear scale, will yield three actual cut angles (which may or may not be 90 degrees) and one resulting angle. This resulting angle will thus be three times the angle your shear is off from 90 degrees. Rotate the scale until the gap is eliminated. (*This assumes a standard engraving shear. To be more technically correct, rotate part from the blade cut to the scale.)

Materials
44. A secret to cutting down your material inventory is to use only the new matte outdoor materials (New Hermes 2-Plex mattes, Rowmark Ultra Mattes). This material is good for indoor or outdoor applications and has all the standard qualities (bending, drilling, hot stamping, shearing, et cetera). It is a little more expensive, but the extra cost will be offset by the absence of grain and reduced types of stock.

45. If you order 1/2 sheets of material, the common size is 24x24 inches, but the common shear is 12 inches. Specify the material to be cut 12x48 inches and you'll waste less, especially if it's a material with grain. Note: The grain will run the 48-inch length.

46. Whenever possible, order full sheets of material for the maximum discount and yield.

47. If you order full sheet material, but stock your shelves with 12 x 48-inch pieces (and are not fortunate enough to have a 48-inch shear) you must set up a scoring table to snap your material. This will consist of a 50inch square or angled rod and a scoring knife. Always score the material on the protective plastic side full length, and snap the material on the table.

Lubrication
48. Two lubricants to avoid: Lithium grease, and WD-40. Lithium grease (also called Lubriplate) will attract chips, which then migrate into bearings and render the bearing useless. WD-40 acts as a cleaning agents and will remove any lubrication that exists. It also has only temporary lubrication properties and leaves a yellow tarnish buildup after prolonged use.

49. My experience has been very favorable with a silicon spray from Amway called WonderMist. Comparable sprays also will yield good results. WonderMist does not attract chips and will leave a lightly wet surface. It works quite well on lead screws, guide rails, spindle slide mechanisms and as a rubber preservative.

50. Spindle bearings are in most cases prelubricated at the factory and do not require any additional oiling. Often, oiling will contaminate the oil originally used, causing even more damage.

51. Simple "3-in-l" oil also deserves an honorable mention. Machines that have been given this lubricant for years are slightly dirtier, but have very little wear. Gunk also makes a silicone spray that works well if you can't get the Amway products.

Electrical Tips
In this age of cables, connectors, IC chips, EPROM and circuit cards, how come no one has told you how to replace these devices and cables correctly? The electronics people have created a few standards in the erratic world that we inhabit. Here are some helpful tips to look for:

52. Cabling: A red stripe on one side of a cable indicates pin No. 1. The cable connectors will usually have a triangle, diamond shape of a notch at pin No. 1.

53. Board Headers/Sockets: The mating circuit board headers also will have these same types of markings. An old identification on the circuit board header or socket was a white dot at pin No. 1. A newer convention is a silk screened layout on the board with an indention to indicate correct orientation and the edge that pin No. 1 resides. Also, the solder pad of pin No. 1 is usually square. (See figure 1.)

54. IC chips and Eproms: These also have a rounded notch to indicate the No. 1 edge. Notches are most common, but dot on the top of the chip will be present. (See figure 2.)

55. Look for these indicators whenever replacing chips and cables. Always make sketches prior to removing wiring, chips and boards. Only some equipment and electrical components are keyed to avoid reversal, and very few will cause no damage if reversed. These are some of the standards that are out there, but many manufacturers have made errors in assembly or design and passed these on to us, so look for correct configurations but do not always expect them.

56. Mark cable with colored fingernail polish to make re-assembly a breeze.

Marketing
57. Remember, it's not what you say, it's the attitude you convey. Be professional at all times.

58. Give your customers several ways to contact you. Other than on the phone and in person, a lot of business takes place via fax and e-mail.

59. Treat your customers differently from your prospects. You don't talk to strangers the same as you do your friends, so why talk to your valued and loyal customers the same as to someone who's never purchased a single item from you?

60. Keep an "Examples" file. If you see a magazine ad you like, cut it out and save it for future reference. All of that junk mail you get also could give you some ideas for your own mailers in the future.

61. Other than simply making money, what are your business goals and when do you plan on achieving them? Writing them down is the first step. You gradually move toward the ones you think about most.

62. Pricing is a very misunderstood subject. If you paid $25 for a plaque, selling it for $50 doesn't necessarily mean you doubled your money. What did the item really cost you? The price catalog said $25. However, you had to pay shipping to get it to your shop. You also have to make a profit from the engraving. Those are the most obvious costs. Now what about paying your overhead (rent, utilities and tax?) What percentage over cost do you have to charge just to break even? Now add your profit. Are you competitive?

63. Conduct market research. How do you compare to others in the business in terms of pricing and your level and quality of service?

64. Add value to your products and services. What makes you different from your competitors? Do you provide the product or service to your customer the fastest? Do you offer the highest quality, best selection, best prices, best customer service or friendliest service? Make your business stand out from the others.

65. People in the fund-raising business know that the people who've given before are the first people you go to when you need more. The same principle applies to business. Making calls to your current customer base is the fastest way to increase business when times are slow.

66. When it comes to printing literature, color is nice but also more expensive. To give the appearance of color, used colored or preprinted paper.

67. Consider using a second color when printing your business literature. Not only do you have the use of that one new color, but all 254 shades of that color. However, be careful when using reds. The screened versions can end up a lovely shade of pink.

68. Use a heavier paper for your brochures and mailers.

69. When using white paper for your sales collateral, use a bright variety. It will stand out more in comparison.

70. If you're announcing a sale or trying to relay a small amount of information, try using a postcard instead of a full letter. Remember, the postal rate for a postcard is less than for a standard letter.

Miscellaneous
71. Cutter depth adjustment quickly allows you to set all your cutters to the same length. Start with a cutter zeroed on your engraver, set the gauge, and quickly duplicate this setting on all other cutters.

72. De-burring tool quickly removes shares edges from all metal. It can also be used to enlarge and clean up drilled holes in plastic. I suggest the disposable versus the replaceable blade type. The replacement blade has a tendency to pull out and the overall body is larger, making it awkward to use. A disposable tool used on soft metals and plastics will last several years.

73. Auto-center punch allows easy, one-handed marking of pilot punch for drilling. It replaces a hammer and center punch.

74. AIuminum filler putty/epoxy allows drilling mis-engraved aluminum panel to allow re-engraving. Two types are available: aluminum Bondo-type filler-this filler is very quick setting with a work time of about 5 minutes, and a cure time in just 20 minutes. A mistake made on a panel can be repaired without removing the part from the engraving table. The repaired area will not be as strong as the original metal and is not recommended where high flexing or stress may be encountered. Epoxy filler has a much longer work time: 15 minutes, and 24-hour full cure time. This fix has close to the original material strength.

75. Metal Dyd /Layout Ink is a very handy tool to allow re-engraving of scrap metal when determining proper engraving. It is great for set up on repetitive items like dog tags metal name badges. Just paint a scrap on, and quickly engrave to confirm location.

76. Material Scoring knife is useful to score flexible plastic material for snapping.

77. Digital Voltmeter — low-cost digital readouts are now available to indicate AC/DC voltage, resistance and several other indicators. A must for those that troubleshoot their own machines.

78. Sheet Metal House — Get to know a local sheet metal shop that will do small piece work. A good source for shearing, small materials jobs, custom bending.

79. Make a Plate rack to hold your plates vertically. This will keep plates from scratching, requires much less space at the shear or assembly area, and saves you lots of time and money.

80. Set up standards in your shop. Figure 3 is a great one for plaques. Make others for name badges, desk plates, et cetera.

Computer Tips
81. Don't lose data due to power surges or blackouts. The money invested in an Uninterruptable power supply (UPS) could pay big dividends in the future when the power goes out and you've forgotten to save a big job.

82. Computers have made it very easy to organize files and directories. Put some thought into where you save your jobs, then be consistent. A lot of time can be wasted looking for a job in a large folder labeled "Jobs."

83. There's no telling when a hard drive will go bad. Many times data can be easily retrieved and moved to a new hard drive. However, sometimes information is lost forever. Adopt a procedure to systematically back up all your data files.

84. Computer prices have come way down in recent years. Buy one for each of your engravers; if one goes down, you still have other engravers to work on.

85. If you cut and paste text a lot, learn the short cut keys of CTRL-X (Cut) and CTRL-C (copy) and CTRL-V (Paste). These keys work in nearly all Windows Programs. Don't Forget CTRL-Z (Undo).

Buying
86. When calling a vendor, make it a point to say "Hi, this is (your name) with (your company), and I have a customer looking for (product)." This identifies you as a reseller to the person on the other end.

87. Always inquire about the next quantity break in price. It may be only a few pieces away. You will often get more for less.

88. Request the retail or manufacturer's suggested retail price for the item you are purchasing. This helps with pricing and allows you to calculate your percentage discount, and will sometimes lower your cost.

Getting Things Done
89. Make a list of the jobs you want to accomplish, then go back and number each item in order of priority.

90. Distinguish between important and urgent items-and don't get bogged by the latter. If you do, you will never accomplish anything important.

91. Dreaming is essential to success. But you must do more than dream your goals. Write them down.

92. Make an immediate decision on each piece of paper that crosses your desk. You have only three choices: act on it, file it, or toss it.

93. Set a starting time and deadline for your projects.

94. Overwhelmed by big projects and heavy workloads? Slice the work into smaller tasks.

95. Take five or 10 minutes everyday to plan your projects.

96. Learn to say "No" when you're swamped with work.

97. When you run out of steam, pick up energy by switching to another project.

98. Trim the fat from your schedule. Eliminate low-paying jobs.

99. Be neat. When you're finished with something, put it away before you begin something new.

100. Use a personal organizer and planner such as DAYTIMER or Franklin Quest.