Air engraving pen?

[tinman123]

As the title, anyone used one?.
i have a few things at times id like to mark something on, the hardest id imagine would be the size on taps thats near faded out and i suppose if it did that it id do everything else.
would one be fit to mark something as hard as a tap, i think it would but i might be wrong.
this is one i was looking at.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chicago-P...851075?hash=item1c454e69c3:g:qTcAAOSwuMFUZjxA

 

[brightspark]

yea but will it work on hss and carbide cutters and taps . there generaly done with an electric spark engraver with a hardened tip and the figures are burnt in not punched

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have a couple of Great Consolidate Pneumatic air engravers, they are brilliant to use, Light and very small flexible hose, Would never dream of using them on HSS, As per brightspark,acid etch,

 

[Cobbler]

I've never tried it, but a mate at work used to connect batteries to a pencil lead & mark tools with that. I don't know what voltage he used, but it worked.

 

[outofthefire]

I've got that cp engraver and it's very good, but for occasional use these are good too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RS-Profes...031452?hash=item5b2d1f049c:g:~wcAAOSwxg5Xyxy1 and are a good bit cheaper. There are loads of video's on youtube on the different ways of etching.

 

[pedrobedro]

Cheapest way has to be a PP9 battery and salt water with a cotton bud and two wires with clips. I've seen it done quite effectively just the stencil part might be hard on fiddly bits.

 

[mpats]

We have both an air and electric engraver a work. The air one is by far the better to use, it is a much more comfortable size and the speed of the oscillation of the tip can be varied as much as that of the electric one.
The leccy one is a bit more unwieldy as it's larger so you have a bigger moment wobbling about on the end as you hold it by the grip on the neck.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Consolidate Pneumatic air engravers,

My Dad might have had a hand in the making of those, he used to work for hem.

 

[brightspark]

spark engravers the best if u can pick one up cheap https://www.ptsndt.com/en/sale/indu...ers/item/193-electric-spark-engraving-pen-evz

 

[tinman123]

cheers lads for the thoughts, each and every one.

i was at a show last week and met a CP rep at it and asked him about their engraver, he said he would be fairly sure it would engrave the likes of hss and tool steel but he said if it didnt that they had a more industrial one that would actually do the job, same size but about 3 times the price.
altho in fairness to him he did say if i called him this week he would be up this way soon and would call in with the red one and trial it.
fair play i thought.

@outofthefire
we had one of those about here when i was a lot younger, i dont know what became of it tbh but i wouldnt say it was thrown out, that is if it was still working.

the acid etch ive seen done on knives, its quite a succesful job but as you say pedrobedro the stencil id be fiddly especially if it was a tap.

 

[Mr shiney]

I have a little pencil air grinder with a bunch of engraving tips that does the job just fine. I bought it for my wife's jewellery and glass making originally with diamond tips.

I have use in loads of hard stuff like HSS tooling and spanners to mark them. I did all my reamers as I could not make out the sizes anymore!'

 

[Gareth0123]

City Saws here in Norwich have a home-made spark engraver made from a 6 volt Ni-Cad torch battery connected to a charger plugged into the mains and a tig welding tungsten.

The counter top is steel and each customers saw blade has their name engraved in to it on delivery for sharpening so there are no identification issues. The wooden bodied "engraving pen" just has a single light weight automotive type cable attached, the circuit is made with contact with the counter top, a spark is generated at the tungsten tip and it takes them moments to mark any type of saw blade.

 

[Gareth J]

Not so easy to store but, you can wind a nut onto an old tap, which being softer and bigger can be engraved/punched easier. Also gives you a trial fit ready to hand if you're trying to replicate a thread.

 

[Gareth0123]

Oh! I like that idea, especially if the taps C/w nuts are stored in a block type rack......... it makes it all so handy, neat and tidy.

 

[Gareth J]

If you're putting them in a block/rack, you may as well drill and tap them in place. I'd only do this though if the taps fit in upside down, trying to fiddle-de-diddle a tap out of its home between two others would be a pain.

 

[outofthefire]

I have a little pencil air grinder with a bunch of engraving tips that does the job just fine. I bought it for my wife's jewellery and glass making originally with diamond tips.

I have use in loads of hard stuff like HSS tooling and spanners to mark them. I did all my reamers as I could not make out the sizes anymore!'

The engraver the op posted isn't a rotary one, they only come with the one tip.

 

[Mr shiney]

The engraver the op posted isn't a rotary one, they only come with the one tip.

I wasn't referring to the that, just giving a description of what I use......

 

[tinman123]

The engraver the op posted isn't a rotary one, they only come with the one tip.

shiney could have a point, just use a die grinder with a carbide tip instead.
i do have a pencil die grinder here but the head is like a tig torch, i have tips for it so maybe ill try that to see, id say its bound to mark it, keeping it tidy id be the biggest challenge id imagine.