# Pantograph engraver



## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

I may be coming home with this kit next weekend. Kind of excited to work on it!









						Pantograph Engraver Casting Set
					

An instrument for copying a plane figure to a desired scale, consisting of styluses for tracing and copying mounted on four jointed rods in the form of a parallelogram with extended sides. The portion of the pantograph that does the engraving is either a diamond point stylus or a rotating cutter...



					www.martinmodel.com


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## DavidR8 (Jan 6, 2022)

Oh very cool!
What are your plans for it?


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

Not sure yet. Maybe try to sell engraved key chains with my wife’s business. Have the ability to engrave my own tooling work or even customers (when i get some)


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## DavidR8 (Jan 6, 2022)

Nice! 
My knowledge of pantographs comes from type-making where a large size drawing of a letter is reduced down to maybe 1/8" tall as a step toward casting the type.


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## benmychree (Jan 6, 2022)

Brento said:


> I may be coming home with this kit next weekend. Kind of excited to work on it!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The plural of stylus is stylii, not stylusies


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

Yup can be reduced or enlarged wording. Could be very useful


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## benmychree (Jan 6, 2022)

Trying to enlarge when milling the article is quite shaky and problematic even at a ratio of 1:1, even with a very competent machine, the tail is trying to wag the dog, also any detail in the copy is magnified in the engraving. The text in the ad for the machine kit gives no credit to George Gorton, who built pantograph engravers long before 1930.


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## chips&more (Jan 6, 2022)

Have you ever tried to drill and tap a bunch of holes and in a neat pattern? And in thick plate? I totally get the pride in making your own. But maybe check out a Hermes. Or better yet a Gorton. Or a modern CNC panno.


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## benmychree (Jan 6, 2022)

My vote goes to Gorton, you can do much more than simple engraving with them; mine is a 3-U, also the P1-2 is a good choice.  If all one wanted to do was simple flat engraving, the kit mentioned would be adequate.


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

All i plan to do is flat engraving no 3d work. Plus it is a cheap fun project


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## benmychree (Jan 6, 2022)

Yes, the price is right, the two Gorton machines that I mentioned are also two dimensional, but with the use of forming guides, limited 3D work can be done.


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## ErichKeane (Jan 6, 2022)

I've been tempted to get that kit for firearm engraving (for the text stuff required for Form 1).  Martin Model is only about an hour drive from me, I keep being tempted to go over and see what he has in stock.


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

They are suppose to be at the expo as long as flights dont keep canceling.


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## ErichKeane (Jan 6, 2022)

"The Expo"?  what is that?  I live about an hour drive from them in Oregon.


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

The Cabin Fever Expo in PA next weekend. Some plans are to use it to go 50-50 with my wife’s business. She does decals Xmas ornaments and a bunch of other things. So im thinking for some of her keychains or something i can do engraving if she wants. We will see lol

When i say 50-50 i mean she will get her half of the money and my half for my shop supplies and such.


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## addertooth (Jan 6, 2022)

Be sure to look up the cost of Font for it.   I used to work as an engraver with New Hermes Machines and Gorton Machines. 
You will need to make a "copy table" for it, which holds the font.  You will need a way to secure the metal you are engraving.  
It looks like it uses the "move all the bolts method" to change the font reduction, which means it will have a limited set of 
sizes it can reduce the engraving size.


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## woodchucker (Jan 6, 2022)

yea, I was wondering where the type set is coming from ?  Does the kit manufacturer offer type?


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

Im sure i can set something up to change the sizes at a later date. I know i need to make a tooling table to hook everything up to. I will be looking up some material at the expo for this when i am there.  As far as fonts and stuff my wife has a cricket and my buddy has a 3d printer and i can start from there.


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## addertooth (Jan 6, 2022)

Brento said:


> Im sure i can set something up to change the sizes at a later date. I know i need to make a tooling table to hook everything up to. I will be looking up some material at the expo for this when i am there.  As far as fonts and stuff my wife has a cricket and my buddy has a 3d printer and i can start from there.


Consider trying to find used sets on ebay.  Just remember, every brand of engraver has different height measurements on the brass rectangles which has the outline of the letters in them.  I would suggest standardizing on New Hermes, as it is the most common.


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## Brento (Jan 6, 2022)

The thing that is nice is i can make the sizes i want for which ever brand


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## Brento (Jan 11, 2022)

So i got myself a decent set of fonts to start with. I will prob experiment with 3d printed ones and such but it is a start.


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