Engraving pen tubes

[Patrick Lloyd]

The finished pen tubes are small for the rotary engraver. How do you keep the tube rotating w/o slipping??

[Martin Boekers]

What are you putting on the pens? Is it a design going all the way around? that can be very difficult. If it's just a name you don't need a rotary device just a jig to hold it in place.
You can make an indexere if you like see Epilogs page for that are search the forum.

[Greg Holt]

For things pen size a Chuck Style rotary is much better than Friction Roller Style.

Come to think of it a Chuck Style is better for most things.

I have both styles, laser all sorts of things rotary and virtually never use the Friction Style.

Greg

[Chuck Stone]

It depends on which rotary you have.
If it is the one like a lathe, simply make yourself two dead centers.
Take the two rubber discs off and measure the shafts. Make a pair
of discs on the lathe about 1" in diameter (or whatever you want)
and then turn a cone end on them. Drill the centers to the shaft
diameter. Use those instead of the rubber
discs. They hold pens VERY well. If they slip on the shaft, a little
modeling clay inside the hole works wonders.

If it is the other style, do something similar, except make a larger disc
with the cones in the centers. Something 2-3" in diameter should work.
Then have the little cones sticking out of the center.

You can make jigs as mentioned, but with pens you'll likely want the best
focus you can get when it comes to multiple lines.. and that means moving
the pen as it engraves. That way, you don't need to worry about your depth
of field.

If you don't have a lathe, see if a buddy can make a couple of parts for you.

[Scott Woodson]

Patrick,

I just take a dowel that's about the same size as the pen barrell (if it's too loose I just use some masking tape to build it up), push the tube onto the dowel and then lay the dowel across the rollers on my rotary. This way you can get the mirror assembly close enough to the barrel to engrave. I have an Epilog and the rollers are set down a bit. Just remember to not turn off your machine until you lower you bed or else you will get a nasty CLANK when you turn the machine back on! Pretty simple and effective.

Scott

[Patrick Lloyd]

MArtin I had a problem engraving a company logo onto a pen. I needed just a little bit of roll for this to turn out good. Tried just laying the pen on the rotary. Sometime it worked. Other times it didnt. The didn't isnt good on an already finished pen. So I ruined two pens for a customer. I'll look up the indexer.

Greg I have not seen a chuck style rotary. WHere did you get yours?? I'd like to try your idea out.

Chuck and Scott, I have the default rotary that comes with the Epilog. I'll give the dowel a try.

Thanks for the reply's all!

[Greg Holt]

Greg I have not seen a chuck style rotary. WHere did you get yours?? I'd like to try your idea out.


Here are some examples of Chuck Style Rotarys.

The one in the first pic, is purpose made for pens.

I made mine.

Greg

[Dan Hintz]

Here are some examples of Chuck Style Rotarys.

The one in the first pic, is purpose made for pens.

I made mine.

Greg
The third one is what I have on my ULS... works quite well, assuming what you're engraving is of a certain size (the lens carriage can get flumoxed by the rotary's casing). At some point I'd like to modify it to be more like #1. This is the first time I've seen a Jacob's chuck (or is that a collet?) style like in #4...

[Martin Boekers]

MArtin I had a problem engraving a company logo onto a pen. I needed just a little bit of roll for this to turn out good. Tried just laying the pen on the rotary. Sometime it worked. Other times it didnt. The didn't isnt good on an already finished pen. So I ruined two pens for a customer. I'll look up the indexer.

Greg I have not seen a chuck style rotary. WHere did you get yours?? I'd like to try your idea out.

Chuck and Scott, I have the default rotary that comes with the Epilog. I'll give the dowel a try.

Thanks for the reply's all!

Scott, depending upon how much it's off, sometimes a manual focus half way between the engraving area will work.

[Rebecca Hardesty]

I have the 3rd one - but need one like the 1st one - is there a way to make something that I can engrave solid cylinders with (about 1/2" diameter, and between 2-4" in length)?
Thanks!

[Dave Sheldrake]

This is the first time I've seen a Jacob's chuck (or is that a collet?) style like in #4..

Keyless Jacobs Dan,although the nut behind it could be the collar of a collet holder?

A chap recently (google "Giaccomo Alvarez") came up with a really novel way of making a rotary that uses friction on two bearers for engraving pens. Really natty little idea and looked very cheap to make. no more removing axis drive wires on Chinese machines and no motors to worry about. Not the most complex item in the world but a real "outside the box" kind of design.

cheers

Dave

[Chuck Stone]

I have the 3rd one - but need one like the 1st one - is there a way to make something that I can engrave solid cylinders with (about 1/2" diameter, and between 2-4" in length)?
Thanks!

I have a similar unit and engrave cylindrical things all the time. I have lots of jury rigged pieces I use, depending
on that I need. For pen barrels, I just made two cones out of scrap wood. (on the lathe) and drilled a hole in
the back of each one. I use the cones to replace the rubber disc and cone that came with my rotary. The headstock
end is a dead center, the tailstock has a bearing so it becomes a live center.

I also have some pieces that I've cut and turned for specific projects. I engrave Delicious apples that are made out
of red marble, so I have wood holders for those. They're just short cylinders (again, with the hole in the back so it
will fit onto the rotary's spindle shafts) and I coat the wood with a layer of Dip-It (liquid rubber coating for tool handles)
to give it a little more grip. Just need the hole so your newly made part will fit on the spindle shaft, and an opening that
will allow you to hold onto the piece you want to engrave.

[Sean Allott]

would love to see some pictures of what you are explaining. I have a potential pen commission I need to solve this fast.

[Mike Null]

Sean

Note that the last previous post to this thread was in August.

[Chuck Stone]

would love to see some pictures of what you are explaining. I have a potential pen commission I need to solve this fast.

here's a pic of the rotary and one of the blanks I did