Stainless Steel - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	Andrew	3 Mar 2007
To:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	15 of 20

6201.15 In reply to 6201.14

Thanks Harvey

I am going to stick with the half round for now as I need to regrind myself.

I have been experimenting today. I got some ugly results when I dropped the feed rate right down.

I also played with spindle speed. I found some conflicting advice on this around the net (as you would expect!)

I found the following recommedation from Suregrave:
Stainless Steel - Max. spindle speed
Mild Steel - 6000 - 8000
tool Steel - 10000

After a lot of messing about and lost material I am using 19000 rpm and set my machine feed rate at 35% of its top speed - this is only a little slower than I use for brass.

I was getting a lot of breaks on my cutter tips. I have done two things to solve this:
Reduced the plunge rate on the z axis
changed the Clearance angle on my cutters (smaller angle) so that they are a little stronger. Other than changing the clearance angle the cutters are the same as I use on brass and plastic.

I'm now getting good results at a depth of about .005". Next step is to go deeper for paint filling.

From:	Andrew	3 Mar 2007
To:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	17 of 20

6201.17 In reply to 6201.16

Hi David

Yes I am using a cutting oil.

Its just that I make life difficult by starting off with a domed item that needs very small text engraved. The breaks were something I was expecting as the cutter width is very small and therefore weak. it is for 2.5mm text (0.1" in your money!)
I had this problem with some commercial brass I had to engrave once - as a rule I generally use engravers brass.

The tip size is possibly too small for Stainless, however, since changing the clearance angle and the plunge rate , I have been using the same cutter all afternoon, which has a tip size of 0.2mm (.008"). I've not lost any material since them. If this hadn't of worked I would have switched to using a HSS cutter as these never seem to break on me.

The results are great, and I have sent out a few orders just now - I usually use a faceted diamond on stainless. Once I get a bit more depth I will increase my pricing and offer a paint filled finish.

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	3 Mar 2007
To:	Andrew	18 of 20

6201.18 In reply to 6201.17
Andrew, More hassle = More $. :-) Some people avoid engraving and color-filling metal, because they think they'll have to charge more than people would want to pay. I say price your item(s) according to what makes the work profitable and let them decide their if it's a method that you'll offer. David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA

From:	Andrew	3 Mar 2007
To:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	19 of 20

6201.19 In reply to 6201.18

I agree with you 100%.

Items I currently sell that are coloured filled retail at 25 to 40% more. I'm looking at steel to bring in some more cash for little extra work. I have the capacity for a slightly longer engraving time than the current method used for stainless, and I don't mind the paint filling - very easy on small objects.

Meanwhile - still on the same cutter, I'm getting deeper, and have upped the feed rate to the same level as brass now. Its been a good day :-)

EDITED: 3 Mar 2007 by ANDREW

From:	Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY)	3 Mar 2007
To:	Andrew	20 of 20

6201.20 In reply to 6201.15
When I get home on Tuesday, I will look up the specs in my old Machinery Handbook'. Haven't used it in years so it will probably be a search. (Same for the Chemistry Cookbook.) Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem) When you finally understand it completely... it changes.