Stone pavers

[Albert Nix]

Have a customer that wants to do a project and use stone pavers as a fund raiser. Most of the ones I have seen are engraved directly into the paver but on this project they are going to use pavers that have recesses in them for plates. These will be subject to quite a bit of foot traffic and I am looking for a laser or rotary engrave able produce that would hold up. Not sure about thickness yet. Any ideas????????

[Gary Hair]

Fiber or a rotary engraver are realistically the only two options. Fiber is limited by size and rotary will be slow but dependably deep and clean results. Both depend on the material and the size of lettering, and whether or not they will allow graphics. I don't have a rotary engraver but I believe that stainless steel wreaks havoc on the bits.
How many do they anticipate? If small numbers and not too large then a fiber may be the way to go.

[Albert Nix]

Fiber or a rotary engraver are realistically the only two options. Fiber is limited by size and rotary will be slow but dependably deep and clean results. Both depend on the material and the size of lettering, and whether or not they will allow graphics. I don't have a rotary engraver but I believe that stainless steel wreaks havoc on the bits.
How many do they anticipate? If small numbers and not too large then a fiber may be the way to go.

I will know more the first of the week but the guy is talking several hundred. I am just trying to come up with a material that I cam engrave and I don't think metal will be a good option as my router has a wooden table so coolant is pretty much out.

[Gary Hair]

Other than metal I don't think you are going to find much that can withstand foot traffic. What are the dimensions of the pocket they will fit in?

[Kev Williams]

If you can chuck a 1/4" engraving tool in that Cam master 3, can hold down a metal plate reasonably flat (double back tape is all that's needed), and regulate the depth of cut, then MY material of choice would be .040 or .050" thick engravers brass. It machines freely with no coolant, and tool sharpening may not even be needed for a couple hundred plate job. Only drawback is it's not particularly cheap, but in the long run the time savings will likely counter the price...

The other option would be 70 series aluminum, as it can *usually* be engraved without coolant...

[Albert Nix]

Thanks for the tip. Where is a good place to find the brass in that thickness?

[Ross Moshinsky]

I looked it up and they're doing "bronze" on those pavers. They then seem to enamel fill and I assume lacquer after.

http://leaveyourmarkllc.com/engraved-brick-fundraising/

I would probably offer four options.

1. Gold New Hermes plastic. I've used it for years and it holds up well outdoors and is generally a tough material

2. Second surface engraving on regular acrylic or something from Rowmark/Gemini. I'd even play around with using something like P95/P99. The matte finish should hide the eventual scratches.

3. Rotary engraved aluminum with enamel fill.

4. Rotary engraved brass/bronze with enamel fill & lacquer coating.

Brass/bronze is definitely going to be the most expensive of the bunch.

[Albert Nix]

Great info thanks.

[Wojciech Szul]

For heavy traffic I will go for water jet cut - and use 2 colors of stone. Will stay "forever".