Full Version: Alcohol & Deep Engraving of Metal
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#1]
16 May 2004
To: ALL
I thought that title would get some of you more "thirsty" folks to take a look.
No. It's not what you're thinking. This has nothing to do with M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunken Dye-subbers) and is not going to get family members running into your work area, pleading: "Don't run the beveler, you'll kill yourself!"
This is actually an excellent tip I was given by Suzanne Gillingham of Decco Awards, Pasadena, CA. Suzanne isn't sure where she read the tip, possibly the Western Engravers newsletter.
If you've ever tried to "Rotary Engrave" into brass deep enough to color-fill, then you've also noticed that without something to act as a cutter "coolant" or lubricant, that you don't get much life out of your cutter before resharpening is necessary.
In the past, I've used cutting oil (used in the process of threading steel pipe etc.) and WD-40 as cutting/cooling agents. Those products work very well to prolong the life of the cutter, but also leave you with an oily mess to clean up. The other drawback to using an "oil" is that the chips of brass generated by the routing, stick to your plate, and with a highly polished brass substrate, present problems when trying to clean the plate. The small brass chips often scratch the fragile surface of the plate in the cleanup process.
This is where the "Isopropyl Alcohol" comes in. Use a small spray bottle of the alcohol to spray your substrate surface before engraving. The alcohol doesn't evaporate as quickly as you may think. If during the engraving process the alcohol begins to evaporate, simply apply more alcohol using the spray bottle. In using the alcohol as a coolant, the benefit is two-fold. Firstly, the alcohol does an excellent job in extending cutter life. The second and most impressive benefit is, with the evaporative properties inherent with alcohol, only compressed air is required for final cleanup. Just blow the chips away from the plate and dry the alcohol all in one step. Try it you'll like it!
Note: Common sense dictates that you have no open flame in close proximity while using this process.
Because of its adverse effect on lubricants, using alcohol as a coolant will make more frequent lubrication of your machine necessary.
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA