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Cristina Rangel
02-17-2011, 3:54 PM
Hi Everyone...

Boy am I happy I found this forum!

My husband and I have a jewelry/gift shop and have grown slowly. We'd like to stop outsourcing our engraving.

Any recommendations on machines in the 3-7k price range to start with? We are both technologically capable but researching the best machine to start with has really been a bit more challenging than I thought.

Thoughts - reccommendations?

Thanks in advance,
Christina

Dee Gallo
02-17-2011, 4:30 PM
Hi Christina, welcome to the forum! First of all, please let us know what kind of material you will be engraving. That will determine what kind of engraving machine you will need.

cheers, dee

Mike Null
02-17-2011, 5:08 PM
I think you'll need to be looking at used equipment or at pantographs to stay in that price range.

If your market is a lot of silver items you'll need the capability of diamond drag. You may also sell a lot of baptismal cups, pewter mugs and Revere bowls. These all require the ability to do cylindrical engraving. Computerized machines which will do this run $15,000 to $25,000 new. Having a computerized machine will open the door to doing a lot of graphics jobs not possible or very expensive with a pantograph.

Brands I would consider would be Newing Hall, New Hermes, Vision, Xenetech and Signature.

Where are you located?

Cristina Rangel
02-20-2011, 3:45 PM
Sorry about the missing information in my original post. The materials that would be engraved would be sterling silver gifts (cigarette cases, lighters, mirrors etc) and gold and platinum jewelry.

If the price range I mentioned warrants looking for a used machine, are there any websites or resources anyone can recommend in finding a used machine?

Larry Bratton
02-20-2011, 6:12 PM
Cristina:
You may want to try the classifieds in the Engraver's Journal. http://www.engraversjournal.com/mart/index.php?CatNum=All You can usually find a good many mechanical engravers for sale on E-bay also. Good luck on your endeavor.