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  1. #1
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    Default Another Continental Addition - A Gravograph from France

    ( I held off photographing and posting this until I had broken the news of the acquisition to Michael G. He was and probably still is keen to have one of his own.)

    Ever since I've owned my Euro mill I've had a desire to make, or have made, some metric distance scales for the 3 axes. I was at one stage hopeful that Mark "Graziano" may have been able to acid etch some aluminim for the scales but Mark reckoned there would not have been the required definition with his process. I enquired at a couple of engravers and was fobbed off. A commercial etching firm over here wanted a hundred bucks for each scale. I could have one or ten made for the price but there are three scales with the numerals aligned differently. I then thought of a little CNC engraver but they are pretty expensive and my computer handling skills are limited to basically not much more than emailing and clicking "confirm bid". There is no point in my trying to aspire to the skill level of young Rod M.

    I had been thinking about trying to make my own pantograph, using a Dremel, as a way of making my own scales. Stamped numbers and scribed lines would have looked purile in comparison to the engraved originals.

    Then a month ago, a friend said he had an IM3 Gravograph that he was happy to offload for one Mawson. He had been chasing some brass fonts for his larger pantograph and found some along with the Gravograph, advertised for sale in the local paper. He only wanted the fonts but the seller insisted on him taking the engraver. Same price with or without.

    He knew I was keen. Included in the offload sale was a set of plastic fonts that require cutting down by half a millimeter to fit in the font holders. They have a bevelled edge. I will probably just incline the mill's vertical head for the job. The machine also came with a pair of conical centres, facilitating cylindrical engraving.

    And then last Friday there was a set of original brass letter and numeral fonts on Australian Ebay , Buy it now or best offer. Offered 105 dollars and they arrived this afternoon. Really neat and they looked unused. I fooled around with the thing a bit then thought I would engrave my name. I can't, not because I can't spell it but because there is no effing T in the set.

    It is a nice bit of gear similar in finish to a little Emco Unimat 3. Should be fun using it.

    BT

  2. #2
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    Looks like a nice bit of kit! I have 2 pantographs in the shed, a benchtop Scripta from France that is good for 3D jobs and a big English model for standard flat jobs. They are used on wood, brass and aluminium and are quite versatile in what you can use them for. I know of a couple of other makers that use them as well!

  3. #3
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    Nice pick up Bob, I keep looking at them, but then I look at a lot of things lol
    At least T would have to be one of the easiest letters to replace.

    Stuart

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stustoys View Post
    Nice pick up Bob, I keep looking at them, but then I look at a lot of things lol
    At least T would have to be one of the easiest letters to replace.

    Stuart
    I thought you specialised in gynaecological optics and associated implementia Stu. Don't stray too far. Your purchases are frequently a source of great hilarity.

    BT

    ps. I must add that if in your pursuit of items of interest you should chance upon any brass fonts could you please let me know. I'm still reeling over the set of numerals I missed out on the other day. They sold for seven bucks. I'd forgotten about them.

  5. #5
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    Mr _homas
    I don'_ have a problem wi_h missing _'s. My keyboard doesn'_ have one ei_her so I don'_ miss i_ . Given enough _ime i_ migh_ be fashionable like phone speak.

    On a serious note let me know the thickness of the brass as I might have the odd bit to make a T.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by rodm View Post
    Mr _homas
    I don'_ have a problem wi_h missing _'s. My keyboard doesn'_ have one ei_her so I don'_ miss i_ . Given enough _ime i_ migh_ be fashionable like phone speak.

    On a serious note let me know the thickness of the brass as I might have the odd bit to make a T.
    Ah Young Rod,

    You've dragged yourself away from the sea of blue. Cut anything yet?

    I will measure a font.

    Rober

  7. #7
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    Ueee is offline Blacksmith, Cabinetmaker, Machinist, Messmaker
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    Nice buy Bob.....
    Without going googling, i'm guessing it uses a spindle to engrave letters and straight lines (or whatever you make a template of). It also looks like you can scale down/up the size of the pattern? I guess the big question is will it replace the need for stamping your graduated base?
    A mawson? cheap as chips, but i guess like most things non electronic it has been out dated by CNC.

    Edit, Just how big/small is it?
    Last edited by Ueee; 6th Aug 2012 at 11:32 PM. Reason: Edit
    1915 17"x50" LeBlond heavy duty Lathe, 24" Queen city shaper, 1970's G Vernier FV.3.TO Universal Mill, 1958 Blohm HFS 6 surface grinder, 1942 Rivett 715 Lathe, 14"x40" Antrac Lathe, Startrite H225 Bandsaw, 1949 Hercus Camelback Drill press, 1947 Holbrook C10 Lathe.

  8. #8
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    Rober ,
    Rod's CNC machine would be the perfect machine to make you any Font set you fancy! I suggest you buy some brass sheet and a few small endmills for him and negotiate
    Joe

  9. #9
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    Now that is a good signature "Rober Homas"

    No machining happening over here yet. I sorted out the rear sheds and then the machine room on the weekend. The main shed still needs sorting out.

    I'll be laying the conduits for 20amp power next weekend if I get time then a mate (a sparky) will connect to the switchboard for me. It will be good to have a second power run to the shed.

    I know lots of excuses.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  10. #10
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    No doubt you found these....Gravograph Letter, Number, and Symbol Brass Letterset Print Type Stamp Punch Set | eBay not nearly as cheap as $7 though
    Actually, there are a few on pommy ebay.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gravograph...item1e70e27d80
    1915 17"x50" LeBlond heavy duty Lathe, 24" Queen city shaper, 1970's G Vernier FV.3.TO Universal Mill, 1958 Blohm HFS 6 surface grinder, 1942 Rivett 715 Lathe, 14"x40" Antrac Lathe, Startrite H225 Bandsaw, 1949 Hercus Camelback Drill press, 1947 Holbrook C10 Lathe.

  11. #11
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    Glad to be the source of great hilarity Bob.
    I did pick up something from your Bulgarian mate, optical but not medical, even got a tracking number for all the good that is doing me lol.
    Will keep an eye out, most seem to go up for auction without the fonts. Though I did see one go with 5ish sets of fonts not to long ago but in the $700 range from memory.

    Stuart

    p.s. would be great if you could use it as Ewan suggests for the graduations on the base and I was worried about punching the numbers rasing the metal and how you would removed it so the top could swive(and still look good enough to past the BT test)
    Last edited by Stustoys; 6th Aug 2012 at 11:44 PM. Reason: p.s.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by rodm View Post
    Now that is a good signature "Rober Homas"

    No machining happening over here yet. I sorted out the rear sheds and then the machine room on the weekend. The main shed still needs sorting out.

    I'll be laying the conduits for 20amp power next weekend if I get time then a mate (a sparky) will connect to the switchboard for me. It will be good to have a second power run to the shed.

    I know lots of excuses.
    So now we have Bob the Basque.

    Sooner or later the supply of excuses will run out and you'll have to cut something.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stustoys View Post
    Glad to be the source of great hilarity Bob.
    I did pick up something from your Bulgarian mate, optical but not medical, even got a tracking number for all the good that is doing me lol.
    Will keep an eye out, most seem to go up for auction without the fonts. Though I did see one go with 5ish sets of fonts not to long ago but in the $700 range from memory.

    Stuart

    p.s. would be great if you could use it as Ewan suggests for the graduations on the base and I was worried about punching the numbers rasing the metal and how you would removed it so the top could swive(and still look good enough to past the BT test)
    Young Rod suggests that the puny motor would be breathless attempting to cut much more than aluminium. I will see how it fares on cast iron. Schaublin's engraving is delicate and as you would expect, beautifully precise. With the 7:1 reduction, the resultant engraving is too large with those brass fonts. Those 7 dollar numbers were smaller and would have been ideal.

    ps. Ewan, ....... expensive!

    Joe, I can't lean too heavily on Young Rod. He still hasn't recovered completely from wrestling the megamill into his shed.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    So now we have Bob the Basque.

    Sooner or later the supply of excuses will run out and you'll have to cut something.
    Yeah I know the excuses are thick and fast.

    Have a look at the first link Ueee has in his post - some letters are mirror image. Now we could really come up with some interesting names with those. Mirror image is not as stange as it seems as I do a fair bit of mirror image work on acrylics - keep the face clean with the engraving on the back.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anorak Bob View Post
    Young Rod suggests that the puny motor would be breathless attempting to cut much more than aluminium. I will see how it fares on cast iron. Schaublin's engraving is delicate and as you would expect, beautifully precise. With the 7:1 reduction, the resultant engraving is too large with those brass fonts. Those 7 dollar numbers were smaller and would have been ideal.
    Hi BH,
    Surely you could use the engravograph to make a smaller set of ally letters that you could then use to make the desired size letters for your base. If the machine is up to it(machining the CI that is). Another horrible thought is the way my lathe compound angle is done, the graduations and numbers are on an ally ring recessed into the cast.....
    1915 17"x50" LeBlond heavy duty Lathe, 24" Queen city shaper, 1970's G Vernier FV.3.TO Universal Mill, 1958 Blohm HFS 6 surface grinder, 1942 Rivett 715 Lathe, 14"x40" Antrac Lathe, Startrite H225 Bandsaw, 1949 Hercus Camelback Drill press, 1947 Holbrook C10 Lathe.

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