U-Marq Universal 350

[John Bion]

Hi all,
I have been offered locally a used U-Marq Universal 350 with all the bells and whistles. Does anyone have any experience with these machines? Would love to hear your thoughts on them.
Thanks and Kind regards, John

[John Bion]

Here is a link to the machine if anyone is interested:
https://www.u-marq.com/engraving-machines.html/universal-350-engraving-machine-em-00203

[Mike Null]

John

It appears to be a robust machine with a good flexible vise. It will probably open some opportunities for you in gift engraving and some commercial work as a result of the cylindrical versatility it offers. I do considerable cylindrical work with my Newing Hall including silver and pewter work for a fairly high volume jeweler. I also have a couple of other commercial customers for it and one school which still insists on having their awards diamond scribed.

The shortcoming is the small table size but you may be able to deal with that using your CNC machine.

[John Bion]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for your reply and observations. I was beginning to think that this was one of those threads that just disappears without any answer :)

I am occasionally asked about engraving metal items, trophies etc and since this machine is from the only engraver in our district, who is now retiring, I thought that it may be a little opportunity to add to what we are doing. Not too sure of the “economic value:effort & capital layout” ratio yet though.

I see that although they are a British company (must be one of the last machines made in Britain) they do sell them on the USA market too.

Thanks and Kind regards, John

[Mike Null]

I think Newing Hall originated in England though they have a small plant here. I have seen a similar machine in Germany (Cologne) but can't recall the name.

Pricing is all over the place on this type of machine depending on how bad they want to get rid of it and how much money it made for them.

Sorry but the photo is lacking.

[John Bion]

Thanks Mike, interesting piece pictured and beautifully executed.
Kind regards, John

[carl birkin]

Hi all,
I have been offered locally a used U-Marq Universal 350 with all the bells and whistles. Does anyone have any experience with these machines? Would love to hear your thoughts on them.
Thanks and Kind regards, John

Hi I'm from across the pond based in England, my business is in this sector (Trophies and gifts) and we use several Gravograph machines IS200, IS200TX, M10 JEWEL, and an IM4 - Now this might sound strange as clearly we have invested in gravograph over the years but if I were going to purchase another machine with drag diamond capabilities it would absolutely not be a Gravograph?????

Why is this?

Simple, the U-Marq is cheaper to purchase, cheaper to maintain, they are slightly faster and appear just as well made. The software they run on (Vistool) is better than Gravographs

I can point you to a forum in the U.K. where a collection of around 50 shoe repairers/engravers do nothing but rave about how good these machines are, they are forever sharing tips constantly as well - it's a great source of knowledge. Hope this helps these machines are vast becoming market leaders in the U.K.

[John Bion]

Carl, Thanks for your input, good to hear from another local yokel :) Your experience is an interesting one, thanks.
Kind Regards, John

[carl birkin]

Did you get my message?

we are in south yorkshire, if you don't want to buy the machine you could sub contract through us instead :)

[Keith Winter]

Hi John,

It looks like a nice machine, but quite honestly I think that photo is misleading of the flask. I have two signature rotary machines, incredible workhorses that do all of this plus a lot more. Now this might have some newer technology but I assume it works the same and a diamond tip is a diamond tip and a burnisher is a burnisher. I've never ever seen a steel flask that engraved that deep in 8+ years of running rotary engravers or in any of the dozens of shows I've been too. Maybe pewter but not stainless. They either have 1) invented some new tech that functions more like a router on the metal (unlikely) or 2) that's a softer metal than traditional stainless steel, or 3) that photo of the flask has been Photoshoped to make the engraving pop out more.

I'd recommend you send them a sample and have them engrave it before you buy one. I'd also look at the signature machines. We've had one for 8 years another for around 4 or 5 years, never a lick of trouble. They are more expensive than these $40k+ new, but are built like tanks and have a lot of other things they can do well too. 8080 Plus is what we have, the machine hasn't changed since we bought it, they are time tested and bullet proof. They also have a much larger engraving area.

The photo Mike uploaded is stunning, that's quality rotary work, more like what you'll get. However depending on the metal, the force you select, and the number of passes you do, it may not be as deep as his. I'm guessing that's some sort of composite metal like those fancy serving dishes are made of not 100% stainless. Mike care to enlighten us to what type of metal this fantastic engraving was on?

[Ross Moshinsky]

Hi John,

It looks like a nice machine, but quite honestly I think that photo is misleading of the flask. I have two signature rotary machines, incredible workhorses that do all of this plus a lot more. Now this might have some newer technology but I assume it works the same and a diamond tip is a diamond tip and a burnisher is a burnisher. I've never ever seen a steel flask that engraved that deep in 8+ years of running rotary engravers or in any of the dozens of shows I've been too. Maybe pewter but not stainless. They either have 1) invented some new tech that functions more like a router on the metal (unlikely) or 2) that's a softer metal than traditional stainless steel, or 3) that photo of the flask has been Photoshoped to make the engraving pop out more.

I'd recommend you send them a sample and have them engrave it before you buy one. I'd also look at the signature machines. We've had one for 8 years another for around 4 or 5 years, never a lick of trouble. They are more expensive than these $40k+ new, but are built like tanks and have a lot of other things they can do well too. 8080 Plus is what we have, the machine hasn't changed since we bought it, they are time tested and bullet proof. They also have a much larger engraving area.

The photo Mike uploaded is stunning, that's quality rotary work, more like what you'll get. However depending on the metal, the force you select, and the number of passes you do, it may not be as deep as his. I'm guessing that's some sort of composite metal like those fancy serving dishes are made of not 100% stainless. Mike care to enlighten us to what type of metal this fantastic engraving was on?

Most of those types of plate are plate with a softer mix alloy as the base. They are typically not steel. I'd bet Mike did that with a standard diamond drag bit. We typically do 2 passes on diamond drag like that. It always looks better doing it that way. On a plate that big with that much engraving I'd probably try to do 1 pass and just put a bit more pressure on the spindle.

[John Bion]

I am swimming out of my depth! Perhaps I should just be sticking to wood etc and sub-contracting this sort of work. Skill is not natural, it comes with long hard work and practice, as seen in Mikes image and briefly seen in comments on metals etc above.
This is another whole long learning curve ....... Have to look some more.
Thanks for all your input, I do appreciate it.

[Mike Null]

The tray is a metal called Armetale http://www.armetale.com/collections/flutes-pearls.html?p=2. It was done with a diamond, I believe in one pass, though I can't recall. The object was to replicate the wedding invitation and was a gift from the bride's sister. Armetale is an aluminum alloy and has been around for years. Here is a better picture.

Pewter is a softer metal as is sterling silver. It is easy to penetrate deeper than looks good so care must be taken with the pressure. (my machine is actuated by air pressure) Silver plate is mostly done on steel and the diamond does not produce much depth. It is pretty much futile to repeat the pass as the steel is too hard and a cutter can't be used because it will penetrate the silver and copper and go into the steel causing the plating to flake at the same time.

I counseled with David Takes (SMC member and Armetale dealer) before I undertook this project.


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