Stainless Steel Engraving
Metric Version:
Our systems can engrave into stainless steel. With our collet spindle and standard spindle motor on a 1313 or larger system we can engrave up to .08 mm per pass. Engraving .1 mm per pass is pushing the strength of the cutter when engraving into stainless steel. Typically, you must engrave to a depth between .24 and .32 to have paint stay in the characters. I always use cutting fluid when engraving into stainless steel. Without cutting fluid the cutters dull quicker, and the top of the engraved plate can be rough.
On small plates, we engrave the steel without a nosecone using multiple pass and Manual cutter set. If the customer is engraving steel plates larger than 150 mm x 150 mm, they will need to use a metal nosecone. This is due to the fact that large steel plates are never perfectly flat, and we have a large variance in depth without breaking or damaging a cutter.
To get a high quality engraving into stainless steel, you must take the following steps.
- You must have a collet spindle, and a Xenetech 1313 or larger system. A t-slot table is preferred.
- You need cutters made for engraving into stainless steel, and cutting fluid for steel.
- Cutters with a tip size smaller than .020 inches should be half-round cutters, and larger tip sizes should be quarter-round. Carbide cutters keep an edge longer, but they are harder to sharpen. Customers that sharpen their own cutters typically prefer high speed steel to carbide.
- Set up a plate that is smaller than 150 mm x 150 mm. Certain types of stainless steel are very hard and can damage even a carbide cutter. Most steel signage is made out of 304 Stainless Steel.
- Use and engraving font in your layout. A true type font will take very long to engrave.
- Go to the Page menu and select Engraving Table defaults. Change your Deceleration Index value from 95 to 250. This value controls how quickly the machine will accelerate in the X,Y directions.
- Go to the Misc menu and select multiple pass. Set the increment to Character, and type in .08 mm in the upper left value box. In the next box to the right, enter the value .16 mm. Finally, in the third box from the left, enter the value .24mm. Click on OK.
- Press F1. Change your Z down speed to 150. Change your XY speed to 250. Select Manual Cutter set at Start and click on OK.
- On the Viper pendant, select the speed percentage and set it to 30%.
- Make sure that your plate is clamped securely on the table. Screw the Z tension spring brass knob all the way down. We don't want any float in the Z axis when engraving without a nosecone.
- Insert your cutter into the collet spindle. This spindle should now have a split collet, so it will hold the cutter at the bottom of the spindle when the drawbar is tightened. The cutter should extend lower than the bottom of the spindle.
- Press Start on the Viper controller. The Spindle should move to the first character and pause with the spindle motor still running.
- Using the Viper pendant, bring the spindle down toward the surface of the steel slowly, but stop just above the surface.
- Turn off the spindle motor, loosen the drawbar and the set screw on the brass cutter knob. Gently lower the cutter to the steel surface. If you let it drop, the cutter tip can chip. Tighten the drawbar and then the set screw on the cutter knob.
- Press Done (or the check mark if using VCS) on the Viper pendant.
- Apply cutting fluid to the surface of the steel.
- Turn the spindle motor on and press resume (or the check mark if using VCS) on the Viper pendant. (The spindle RPM's should be on the highest setting.)
The system will now engrave each pass per character and then go home. You should practice the following steps in plastic or wood before trying to engrave into stainless steel. If you are engraving large steel panels and they use a steel nosecone, you will use full automatic cutter set, and not use multiple pass. Don't lock out the Z-tension spring. The depth must be set manually at the micrometer. 3 clicks equal .003 inches/.08 mm per pass. The plate will need to be engraved 3 to 4 times to achieve the correct depth. Cutting fluid will still be used. When using a nosecone steel particles from the engraving will get caught between the nosecone and the plate that is being engraved. This means that the plate will need to be grained or resurfaced after it is fully engraved. This problem can't be avoided on large steel plates.
