Engraving wood (mechanised)

[Tim+]

I've a vague idea for a small money earner selling engraved wooden posts (race mementoes).

I did one by hand with small chisels many years ago and a lot of folk have expressed an interest. Thing is, it wouldn't be practical to turn out many of them by hand and so I'm looking at other ways of engraving a pattern into wood.

I would like something that can sharply engrave a pattern with acute angles to a depth of at least 2, preferable 3mm. Speed isn't an issue. The acute angles probably rule out any simple rotating tool like a router so I'm wondering about laser machines. The posts would probably be about 4ft long so it would need to be a machine that could be applied to the wood rather than one where the wood needs to be inside the machine.

Has anyone any experience of these and could recommend a machine suitable for a hobbyist that could cope with small scale production?

Tim

[newshound]

I know it is not answering the question, but I am not clear why acute angles are so important, particularly if it is for wood which will be used outdoors. As you say, routers are the usual way to do this sort of thing. I don't see why you should not go down to a Dremel type tool with perhaps a 3 mm diameter burr. Something like this could be used with a 3 axis framework like a 3D printer.

Lasers sound expensive and dangerous. I suppose you could also burn the pattern using one of those "soldering iron" type tools.

*

If you used a chisel-like tip and added a fourth axis to rotate the tool, you could also achieve your acute angles.

[newshound]

Bugger me, it turns out there are all sorts of laser ones out there, up to 10 Watts

[Adam Aglionby]

V Carving, do it by hand with a router and 45 degree cutter or get into the, makes F1 racing look cheap, world of CNC ;-)

Laser burns the wood and leaves a distinct charred appearance.

[Adam Aglionby]

CO2 is quite common as well, gotchas include won`t reach 40W without better temp control and the controller only understands rasters not vectors.

[John Rumm]

Laser cutters / engravers will do it, but leave a burnt appearance. You can get quite fine lettering with a Vee bit in a router (CNC or hand held with template) - part of the trick is to lift the cut for the finer details.

CNC machines are getting ever more common and cheaper, and unlike a laser system the workpiece does not need to be fully enclosed in the machine.

[Tim+]

I'm beginning to realise that "lasers" and "enclosure" go hand in hand so probably not a good idea for me. I've been looking on eBay and as you say, small machines that would probably be adequate for my needs really aren't that expensive. E.g.

I'm guessing that if I want sharp(ish) corners I'd need to use a small bit for the fiddly bits and a larger bit to "rough out". Just had a look at a video of some Vee bits and I must admit they're impressive.

My downfall could be learning to control one of these machines though. Not particularly computer tech savvy. A machine where one could just load an image file and then say "do it" would be my preferred level of control. ;-).

Tim

[dennis]

That type will not do what you asked for. The part needs to be mounted on the bed and it moves it front to back so it won't work for posts.

You need an open frame one with a carriage that moves in x and y with the router on.

An openbuilds OX would do it but its probably OTT.

[John Rumm]

Its not too far off that TBH (although keep in mind I am no expert on CAM/CNC).

Ideally you want an image/text that has been created as vectors rather than a bitmap - so CAD, a illustration program, sketchup etc. Then you need a bit of "in between" CAM software to take those vectors and produce G code for the CNC device (its here that it works out the cut order so you don't try machining something you have just cut free, and things like taking into account the tool width and hence what offset and to what side of the cut line the tools needs to be).

Needless to say there is a range of SW that will do this from simple free web based drawing tools that will do everything and spit out G code, to full blown pro CAD tool chains with prices you really don't want to ask!

A while back Shapeoko[1] were showing youtube wood workers with free CNC machines for some publicity. Hence there are lots of setup and demo videos you can find.

[1]

Some like Frank Howarth have really gone to town with a massive CNC table setup:

If you fancy a setup you can take to the work rather than the other way around. Have a look at the prototype of the Origin from Shaper[2]. Jimmy DiResta did a demo video - basically a augmented router where you push it about as directed by the image on its built in screen, and it then takes care of all the fine movement and Z axis stuff to complete the cut:

[2]

[GB]

If you already have a sample to work from, how about using a copy mill?

[Tim+]

I've no idea (yet) what a copy mill is but I would want to add personalised text so the CNC gadgets look interesting.

Tim

[spuorgelgoog]

Do you mean like a pantograph engraver?

aka gravograph

Owain

[GB]

It's like a copy lathe, only for milling.

I saw one in Florence, 40 years ago. A guy had made a copy of the statue of David by Michelangelo. He had a copy mill that allowed him to mill 8 copies at a time, just by running a pointer over his main copy.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Lasers will leave burns

a 4ft piece of wood will fit in a £10,000+ laser cutter

What you probably want is a CNC mill equipped with a small dremel type router.

These are D-I-Y able.