Cutting down on engraving time

[beginnerEngraver]

Hello everyone!

I have been engraving for a while now and am absolutely loving it! I am making some dials and I want to be able to make a considerable number (e.g. 30 to 50 dials). The problem is that background removal takes a lot of time! I love adding shading and final finishes and want to know if there is any way I can cut down on background removal time?

Do you know or can recommend any techniques to speed up the engraving process (e.g. die stamping/etc.)? Any tips or techniques on how to speed up engraving time is appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[wowilson]

Look into acid etching. YouTube has plenty of videos on it. There are likey posts on this site too.

 

[tsterling]

CNC mill the basic dials, then clean up and embellish with hand engraving. I use this technique quite often.

Of course, there’s a significant learning curve to be successful with a CNC mill. People often seem to think you just download some model off the internet, then plug-and-play. You might investigate hiring a milling service to make the basic dials for you, then add your engraving.

 

[monk]

hand engraving can be done efficiently but not rapidly. need speed ? cnc works for that.

 

[Leland Davis]

Can you change your design to cut down the negative space? On lower budget jobs on guns I go with a full design that nearly eliminates background removal. Speeds up the process but still not fast but gives more bang for the buck.

 

[mdengraver]

Acid etching or electrical etching are the way to go, and then refine later with engraving

 

[pmace]

clough42 on youtube has been doing some interesting work with laser engraving with a cnc router. Good for flat work.