AMF Marker/Writer

Darin101 · Feb 1, 2020

Does anyone here have any experience using one of these? http://platinumtooling.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/AMF_marking_and_cleaning_tools.pdf
I have a job with a lot of engraving and would like to speed things up. Wondering if these are as good as they claim?

Darin101 · Feb 1, 2020

If the link above won't open with Adobe, try another pdf reader. I don't know why, but Adobe wouldn't work for me, so I used Drive pdf.

TeachMePlease · Feb 1, 2020

Those are pretty freaking nifty....

Darin101 · Feb 1, 2020

Have you used one, or something similar?

TeachMePlease · Feb 1, 2020

Darin101 said:
Have you used one, or something similar?

Nope, never seen anything like it until your post.

dallack · Feb 2, 2020

We use a cheaper copy, and it works ridiculously well.
Some trial and error with different point radius, and spring pressure. When you can go as fast as the machine will go without rounding the corners to much.

One particular job:
We had to engrave a logo, about the size of a coin on, a lasercut part. To get the engraving consistant we had to probe each part in Z.
With the new tool the engraving was faster than the probing cycle alone.

ripperj · Feb 2, 2020

That’s a pretty cool process, the small one seems to be around $1000 USD (971 euro)
Too rich for me , but I’m going to play around with the process and a shop made version
Thanks for posting that.

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ripperj · Feb 2, 2020

An alternative

Engrave with a CNC Machine Using A Spring Loaded Engraving Tool

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Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

Ripperj, yes it is very expensive $870 for the tool and $660 for the needle. But if it can significantly reduce our cycle time, 50 minutes right now, with almost 30 of those minutes on engraving alone, it should be worth it in the long run.

Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

Ripperj, that is an interesting alternative, thanks for sharing it. My concern with it would be bit life, as it appears to be a cutting bit, whereas the one I posted doesn't cut, it compresses. They say the needles last a very long time, I think I read something like 30000 kilometers of marking, but we'll see. They said they'd take it back if we're not happy with it, so I figured we'll give it a try.

Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

Dallack, what type of material have you used it on and what do you feed at? We need it for a logo on lazer cut 304 stainless.

ripperj · Feb 2, 2020

Darin101 said:
Ripperj, yes it is very expensive $870 for the tool and $660 for the needle. But if it can significantly reduce our cycle time, 50 minutes right now, with almost 30 of those minutes on engraving alone, it should be worth it in the long run.

Sounds like you could recoup your investment quickly. If you get one , I’d love to see pictures of the resulting font.

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Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

I've placed the order and it should be in by about mid week. If I can get it to work, I'll definitely take some pictures. Fingers crossed.

dallack · Feb 2, 2020

Mostly mild steel and aluminium so far.
Some plastic, but the spring is too hard, so flatness gets critical
Feedrate as fast as our HAASes will go, about 10 000mm/min

I don't think we have tried stainless yet, but with coolant it should work ok. A smaller tip radius gives a deeper, sharper engraving with the same spring tension, but maybe a larger radius will slide easier and last longer in stainless?

Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

dallack said:
Mostly mild steel and aluminium so far.
Some plastic, but the spring is too hard, so flatness gets critical
Feedrate as fast as our HAASes will go, about 10 000mm/min

I don't think we have tried stainless yet, but with coolant it should work ok. A smaller tip radius gives a deeper, sharper engraving with the same spring tension, but maybe a larger radius will slide easier and last longer in stainless?

Wow, that's faster than I had expected. What would you recommend for a starting point for feed? Also, are you running the spindle and if so, what rpm? I will definitely use coolant.
I ordered a needle with .3mm radius. It was the only size in stock and I don't have 2 weeks to wait for the .5mm.

Mud · Feb 2, 2020

Real interesting but I don't quite understand how it works. Do you drag it or does it make impact marks?
We use a Telesys pinstamper to mark parts but doing it right on the machine would be better, and the pictured results are better than our old pinstamper..

dallack · Feb 2, 2020

Darin101 said:
Wow, that's faster than I had expected. What would you recommend for a starting point for feed? Also, are you running the spindle and if so, what rpm? I will definitely use coolant.
I ordered a needle with .3mm radius. It was the only size in stock and I don't have 2 weeks to wait for the .5mm.

Depending on font size I don't think the machine ever reaches 10 000, so maybe start with 5 000 and see what kind of cycle time that gives.
We have tried both stopped spindle, and slowly turning about 50 rpm. Some controllers need the spindle to be turning to start the feed rate.
Haven't noticed any difference in turning or stopped spindle

Propably best to start with light spring tension 0,3 radius will give a nice clean line

ripperj · Feb 2, 2020

What kind of load do you think it puts on the spindle compared to milling?

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Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

Mud said:
Real interesting but I don't quite understand how it works. Do you drag it or does it make impact marks?
We use a Telesys pinstamper to mark parts but doing it right on the machine would be better, and the pictured results are better than our old pinstamper..

You drag it. You don't even need the spindle running, unless the machine requires it.

Darin101 · Feb 2, 2020

dallack said:
Depending on font size I don't think the machine ever reaches 10 000, so maybe start with 5 000 and see what kind of cycle time that gives.
We have tried both stopped spindle, and slowly turning about 50 rpm. Some controllers need the spindle to be turning to start the feed rate.
Haven't noticed any difference in turning or stopped spindle

Propably best to start with light spring tension 0,3 radius will give a nice clean line

Ok, that's about what I was thinking. I'll be running it on a mori seiki and I don't believe it requires spindle rotation to feed.
I ordered the slimline model, so I don't know if it has adjustable spring tension. I think you just adjust depth in Z axis.

AMF Marker/Writer

Plastic

Plastic

Diamond

Plastic

Diamond

Aluminum

Stainless

Stainless

Plastic

Plastic

Plastic

Stainless

Plastic

Aluminum

Plastic

Diamond

Aluminum

Stainless

Plastic

Plastic

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