Pantograph For Makers Mark Etching

[dazcon]

Really just for anyone that may be interested in this sort of thing.

I've been meaning to have a go at one of these for a years and I managed to find the time on Boxing Day. The idea was to make a simple,cheap and repeatable method of etching my makers mark on my blades. Nothing too complicated. Sure, I could have just ordered some transfers but I fancied a go at this method because if I can master it then I can chop and change my design until i'm truly happy with it. I knew that with making these things, engineering precision is everything, so there wouldn't be room for any " Just knock up a rough one and see how it goes" type thoughts. It took about two hours to make in my shed. It's just four bars drilled identically then bolted together. Simple eh!......Or so you would think!! I've been tweaking and fine-tuning and head-scratching for the last five days but now I think i'm getting somewhere. Still a bit more tuning to get this thing to cut as crisp as i'm looking for but I think i'll get there with a bit more perseverance. It has been a very enjoyable project to be honest.





All comments welcome, particularly from anyone that uses or has used or even knows anything about using these contraptions.

 

[Robson Valley]

For years, I have been using the Lee Valley pantograph to scale up drawings for wood carving. Multiple sets of marked holes so the arms can be adjusted from 1X to 10X and fractions in between.
Unlike you, I don't require engineering precision so a sloppy copy is a good one!

However. The thing has wooden arms, maybe 3/16" x 3/4" x 16" or so. Not enough mass: it skitters across the drawings. I bought some lengths of 3/4" aluminum strip and cloned the wooden arms.
Stripped all the original hardware for the new version and I got exactly what I needed. I use one hand on the indicator to follow the original drawing and the other hand to steady the pencil on the larger paper. Quite often, the sheets overlap so I add registry marks and copy those as well.

Pic when it's finished: Had good 6" x 8" top and bottom drawings for a Green Sea Turtle. X3, scaled them up for a 24" x 24" x 4" poece of western red cedar log shell. Nothing to it!

 

[dazcon]

They certainly do work. I'll be fiddling with this thing for a while. My cutting edge is just a sharpened up bolt for now which isn't very sharp but i'll be changing that to a hardened steel point soon.