Learing to use the Gravograph Pantograph IM3

[anthonyget]

Hello all,
a couple of weeks ago, I posted the part 1 of two video relating to the 30 year old Gravograph IM3 I bought at auction.
I said part 2 was about my learning to use it.
I know many of you out there used these machines back in the day and I would be so grateful for any advice on how to get this right.
I hope you enjoy it and thanks in advance for any help you can offer me.
Take care and stay safe.

[Moldyjim]

Quick advice, when engraving your friends are Johnson's Paste wax, it makes the stylus move much smoother and lessens the wear on the patterns.
A pair of proportioning calipers will be extremely useful. Use them to figure out the proper ratios, especially for patterns other than lettering.
For lettering, a printed out table of lettering patterns sizes and ratios makes for ease of setting different size letters.

I'll add more later.
My background is in lost wax and plastic injection mold making. I did tons of 2D and 3D pantograph work for years.

I also have I think the same pantograph at home. I play with occasionally.

[silverback prime]

I can see 3d printed letters and patterns with grooves built in. Easier to follow with round tracer?

[Bony]

I have the free standing bigger brother machine which weighs several hundred Kg, also an auction purchase, over 30 years ago.

It has about 400mm table travel on all 3 axis and is a very robust machine indeed.

You will need very sharp engraving tips for fine work, and a relatively shallow depth of cut.

I use mine only occasionally, then for name tags and engraving divisions on dials using a rotary table for indexing and work holding. Very fiddly but does a great job.

Are they still making these? I would have expected CNC engravers to have taken over by now, with unlimited fonts and the ability to reverse and invert characters and numerals.

[Moldyjim]

I can see 3d printed letters and patterns with grooves built in. Easier to follow with round tracer?

Welllll...
I wouldn't know, 3D printers were decades away from reality when I was doing engraving professionally. I expect they would be an immense help and can't see any reason they wouldn't work.
Keep in mind the centerline of the cutter will be the centerline of your stylus.

We usually used brass lettering and had a tapered stylus with a small ball end to fit in the templates. The ball was to keep the stylus from dragging or digging into the template.

For 3D you need the stylus to match the proper size (depends upon the ratio of the pattern), and shape of the cutter. Usually a ball end mill.

If you get a chance, just for fun, play around with mismatching the ratio settings on the arms. It will skew the letters and give you some interesting options using standard templates.

[silverback prime]

Only reason I brought this up , I made a small router pantograph from plans years ago, it required letter patterns scroll sawed out . Very tedious and limiting. It could only output 3 sizes of cuts mostly for sign making. After reading your post, I thought now I have 3d printers maybe I will take another shot at it . Unlimited fonts and the ability to scale the lettering would give more versatility to my rig.
I am really going to try and find an engraver like yours. She's beautiful.
Where's the fun in Cnc, hand work still rules. Cheers Mike.