We don't even have a laser engraving system. It is not a total necessity for a successful engraving busness.

We make do at present with a flat bed Meistergram and a Vision Max.
We have 3 manual pantograph machines and at least one is used every day. You cannot do single names and dates for yearly perpetual awards on a computer system any where near as quickly as a pantograph. By the time you have it lined up to match the previous column, you could do it twice manually. We also do sublimation and have a Sandblasting system, so can cover many areas where a laser would excel, albeit not as efficiently.

It may surprise some that I still do some work by hand with a dental burr and hand gravers. It is very handy for engraving inside rings and bracelets and for going over computer work when there is a hiccup. Our Vision Max ocasionally drops steps, (grr!) and I can recover the work by overcutting by hand. This has saved me lots of money.

The fact that the Vision drops steps is frustrating, but support is limited way down here in the South Pacific, and intermittent problems are near impossible to track down.

That being said, we take delivery of a LazerPro Mercury in the next few weeks.

Losing steps is usually due to some binding or over speeding.

Try to check the lubrication on all moving parts. If they stiffen there will be too much drag. A good rule of thumb is to clean off all lubrication before re-lubricating. That removes the bad stuff and replaces it completely with new lubricant that will last a lot longer when pure.

Even if you are not running it faster than you did before, slowing it down a little can usually get it to lose less steps. If it still loses steps then the lubricant is just thickened too much, or a stepper is going. (The bearings on the stepper need to have a good lubricant that has not thickened. This is one aspect of the machines that is often missed when checking for binding.)

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

David,
I agree, versatility all the way. That is one of the reasons I am enquiring about the computerized/rotar/mechanical engraver....if it is not on it's way to obselesnce and won't be for some time, I believe that I need to get one into my arsenal when the money permits.....hence the questions.

Thanks

But I'm sure everyone knew that...

And never use 3-in-one oil either, it gums up in a few months.

Singer Sewing Machine oil for a light oil, and a silicon/teflon grease for grease. If you can still find Lubriplate Marine Lube 'B' it is also a fine grease.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

I couldn't finde "marine B" on their site, but here is the tech contact number for Lubriplate. Most of their producets seem to have gone synthetic so they may have a new version that will work as good or better.

Technical Service Center.
800-347-5343
(For Technical Questions Only)

Mr C,

Can you scan them out of the book and use a program like coreldraw to make them in to the file you need? I do that from my QEG/D.14 book of logo pictures when I need it for my GEM engraver.

Puck

Mr C,

Not really sure about the difference since I only use the QEG software. When I bought my engraver they sent me the wrong, D.14, software and I had purchased the QEG software so have never used the D.14 software.

I just do a scan when I need one of the logos for my other engraver and use coreldraw to make it to a .ai file which I can import in to the GEM engraver. I'll check and see what file extension the software has since I have the logo disks for the D.14.

Puck

Sorry, I looked and both my softwares have .lgo files.

Puck

Just a quick suggestion on the lubrication of the machine parts thing. On our old Hermes concept 2000's, we upgraded the boards which gave the steppers much more power and accuracy. (they lost steps the odd time before but not now.) The boards had better voltage capabilities or something. (I don't know circuit boards from snow boards I just know these upgrades sure helped.)

Also, just for kicks, some Duralube was on sale once so I bought some and used it for lubrication of all parts. (The rails, spindle, rail bearings etc.) It worked great! When that ran out, i started using Mobil 1's synthetic 10W40 motor oil and that works great too! We still use that stuff to this day and no problems. Can get the oil anywhere too. : ) Bin using the Mobil 1 for about 3 or 4 years now and are not looking back.

Maybe worth a try for those with lubrication concerns on rotary machines with steppers.
Also, anyone not cleaning all rails etc. at least once a week should be doing so. Cleaning your machine on a regular basis is extremely important for reliabilty and preservation over the long term. But I didn't really need to remind anyone of that did I? ;)