|
This procedure is intended for use on the Wizzard XL family of engravers. Do not attempt any procedure that involves using a rotating cutter on metal on the Wizzard, Wizzard II, or Genie!! The XL is sealed to protect the motherboard from metal particles. The Wizzard's aren't!
Using The Feather Weight.
Although written primarily for XL owners, parts of this article can be used by systems owners.
EXCESSIVE PRESSURE, YOUR #1 ENEMY
Without a doubt, the biggest enemy in burnishing is excessive pressure. Normally you square your cutter or diamond by using Shift Cutter Down. This will cause too much tension on the burnishing tool, gouging the material and quickly destroying the cutter.
In an attempt to reduce the pressure, many engravers have used the Cutter Down option to square their cutter. This is the normal position where the cutter meets the work surface, providing minimal pressure on the burnishing tool. However there are two problems to this practice. Since this is the lowest point of travel of the eccentric bar, the pressure is too light and adjustments have to be made by manually lowering the cutter. And you have to re-square the cutter box for both the CUTTER DOWN and the SHIFT CUTTER DOWN positions, a time consuming option.
Even if you use the Feather Weight, you must make sure the gap on the cutter box is equal when the cutter is resting on the engraving material. A cutter box with an uneven gap will produce tails on your letters, whether you are burnishing or using a diamond graver.
A Long Kept Secret
To avoid the necessity of constantly correcting the gap when switching between normal engraving and burnishing try this trick. Before your square your cutter to the work surface and start engraving, place a 1 x 3 inch piece of 3/32 inch plastic in the gap of the cutter box. The cutter box remains square and doesn’t drop to the Cutter Down position (See Illustration 1).
I use a piece of thin double faced tape to stick a 1/16 inch and a 1/32 inch piece of engraving material to make the 3/32 inch tab. I also use another small piece of double faced tape to keep the tab in place in the cutter box gap. Your spacer, plus the tape, should be the thickness of the gap of your cutter box. Also, the size and placement of the tab should not interfere with the normal cutter box movement or the limit switches on either side of you machine.
Introduction Of The Featherweight
Prior to the introduction of the Feather Weight adapter by Western, the System series engravers were the only Dahlgren engravers actively used for burnishing. Burnishing was very difficult on the Wizzard XL as it was almost impossible to keep the pressure light enough on the brass. And, tails on your letters would be evident if your cutter was not squared just right.
Now, XL owners can get the same professional bold characters with the Feather Weight. The Feather Weight is a floating tool which makes burnishing simple by allowing for variation in material thickness and table flatness errors by means of a constant force spring. The Feather Weight allows the cutter to gently float over the engraving surface, removing the lacquer or enamel coating. It replaces your cutter knob on the top of your burnishing tool.
The EZ Rider patent is held by Western. Two models of Feather Weight are available, the standard and the newly introduced heavy duty model. The new heavy duty model uses a thicker shaft, has twice the travel of the standard model and 3 springs.
The Feather Weight” comes in three sizes (1/8”, 11/64”, and 1/4” to accommodate the most common cutters.
Inserting The Feather Weight
Before inserting the burnishing tool into the Feather Weight, loosen the Bristol set screw on the Tension Nut. Turn the Knob counter-clockwise to the top of the threads reducing the spring tension to the absolute minimum. Re-tighten your set screw. Even though the spring may appear too loose, you can always make an adjustment after you have actually engraved a few letters. Screw your Feather Weight into your spindle the same as you would install a standard cutter with left-hand threads. Firmly tighten the Feather Weight so that it will not back out when turning on the engraving motor.
Remove the standard cutter knob from your burnishing tool. Loosen the Bristol set screw on the pre-load Ring of the Feather Weight. Insert your cutter in your Feather Weight. You may have to use your cutter wrench to push the cutter down if you are using a standard length cutter.
Lower the burnishing cutter where the point is protruding 1/8 to 3/16 inch below the nosecone - use a ruler. Take time to make sure this measurement is accurate. A cutter that protrudes more than 3/16 of inch from the nosecone will hit the A/B jigs when in the Home position. Anything less than 1/8 of an inch will cause your spindle’s nosecone to rub your engraving plate.
Tighten the set screw on the Pre-load Ring to secure the cutter. Make sure you can see your cutter shaft in the cutter window of the Feather Weight, or your cutter may not be long enough to be used with a Feather Weight.
Check the up/down movement of the burnishing cutter in the Feather Weight. Use your thumb to push the burnishing tool up in the spindle. Examine the pre-load gap, or space between Knurled Knob and the Pre-load Ring. After releasing, the cutter should return to the zero pre-load position. If pre-load gap is still visible or the return to zero is sluggish, turn the tension nut clockwise to add spring pressure. If sluggish movement is still evident, you may have a bent cutter, or a defective Feather Weight. The movement should be fluid and unrestricted. (Refer to photo)
Many directions recommend removing the spindle nose guide and retainer nut when using the Feather Weight. I prefer to leave the nose cone on to prevent particles from getting into the lower bearing of the spindle. Also, you save time from removing and replacing the nosecone each time you have to use your Feather Weight. Make sure you have a big enough nosecone for the cutter to go through without binding on the nosecone.
Although you should leave the nosecone in place, it should never touch your engraving surface.
Place the spindle in the spindle holding bracket of the cutter box with the burnishing tip about 1 inch above your plate. Tighten the black spindle locking screw. *Do not mount the engraving motor belt. *
Enter your layout, press COMPUTE, PAUSE and START. The cutter will pause over your engraving plate. Press the CUTTER DOWN key to set the cutter.
Normally when you set a standard cutter or diamond, you use SHIFT + CUTTER DOWN. When burnishing and using the plastic tab, you can use either SHIFT + CUTTER DOWN OR CUTTER DOWN as the tab restricts the movement to the SHIFT + CUTTER DOWN position.
Loosen the black spindle locking screw 1/4 turn, where the spindle can barely move up and down. With your left hand, press the spindle down on your engraving plate. As the cutter presses on the plate, you will notice a gap, or pre-load between the knurled portion of the main body and the Pre-load Ring on your Feather Weight. To set the correct pre-load gap of 1/16, insert a piece of 1/16 plastic engraving material between the pre-load ring and knurled base knob. (Refer to photo). Tighten the black spindle locking screw to secure the spindle in the cutter box.
After setting pre-load tension, and releasing cutter down key to up position, make sure pre-load gap returns to zero. If the pre-load gap still exists when the cutter is not touching the plate, you need to adjust the tension nut to increase the spring pressure. If the gap remains after increasing the top spring pressure, you may have a defective Feather Weight.
Make sure you have released the CUTTER DOWN key to raise the cutter. Place the motor belt on your spindle. Set the CUTTER RPM knob at 10, and the ENGRAVING SPEED at 7.
Your engraving plate needs to be flat. Unless using a smaller plate, I recommend using the old style flat sub-table, or the new extend-a-plate sub-table. If you do use your A/B jigs, be sure and use screws in your jigs and use your center support bar. I would also tape the plate down with masking tape.
Turn on engraving motor and press the START key.
Problems/Corrections
If engraving is too hard or too light (skipping parts of letters), tool pressure can be adjusted by turning the tension nut. Clockwise increases the pressure; counter-clockwise decreases.
Skipping letters/parts at the edge of the plate indicated an unleveled table or lack of support for the plate on the outer edges.
If you’re getting tails on letters, make sure the plastic tab is not too large or too small, causing the cutter not to be square. Tails can also be caused by excessive engraving speed.
If you are getting ridges on letters, you are using far too much pressure. Reduce spring pressure. If problem exists after decreasing pressure, you probably have ruined your cutter. Have it re-sharpened.
Other Notes
Burnishing and rotary engraving into metal should not be attempted on the Wizzard/II/Genie.
Don’t use oils while burnishing. It is not needed. If you use oil on your Feather Weight, make sure it is not excessive as to cause damage to spindle bearings.
The Feather Weight does not include a burnishing cutter. I used a 4 1/2 inch length cutter that came with my Dahlgren XL. If you do a lot of burnishing you might want to order your cutters in a 5 to 5-1/2 length for prolonged life and ease of use.
The most common sizes of burnishing tools are the .015 and .020.
The old style vacuum foot should not be used as the Velcro will scratch the plate. The new style is best.
Normally the cutter box spring should never be used when burnishing with the Feather Weight. It cannot provide the delicate touch needed with burnishing.
The Blue Waxed set screw on the Pre-load Ring is set at the factory for proper alignment. Any attempt to adjust this screw will result in damage and malfunction of the tool.
Many engravers prefer double faced tape for holding down their plates while burnishing. I have found that it causes an uneven surface, costs more than standard masking tape, it’s messy to work with and plates are often bent when trying to remove the finished plate.
Diamond tipped cutters often used in rotating spindles can be used as fine line burnishing tools. There are also diamond tip burnishing cutters with wider cutting widths. They can be used in burnishing, glass engraving, and other special applications. Although they usually cost 3-4 times the cost of a standard burnishing tool, they seem to last forever.
|
