New Hermes Users

C

colchester

Member
For those that use the new Hermes to engrave barrels, how do you set up the cutter? Is the cutter loose in the spindle and allowed to float up and down to conform to the radius on the barrel? Are the barrels scratched or can they be engraved with the spindle running? I have a model VB III Engraver. TIA
 
If you are talking about using the diamond engraving rod, then you definitely do not want to be spinning it when engraving. In fact, if you use the diamond rod in the holder assembly meant for the carbide (spinning) cutters, you will quickly damage the ball bearings. There is (was) a dedicated holder assembly made for these rods, separate from the spinning cutter type. This damage shows up as a LOT of noise and chatter on the cutter when using the carbide, and usually poor results on the work. I had to replace the bearings in my unit that I bought used, as I suspect that this was what sent them south. The bad bearings had a lot of vertical play, caused by the vertical pressure of the diamond when engraving, and the cutter tip would rapidly bounce up and down a lot (terrible squeal), making nasty chatter marks on the work. It now runs great with the new bearings, quiet, and super clean results on the work. I set the cutter tip to protrude by about 0.008" on my 1.25" OD stainless barrels, and use a little thread cutting lube (Rigid) to keep things smooth. The barrel radius is not an issue with respect to the letter quality, as long as the letter size is not more than about 0.125" or so. Much more than that, and you can see the "drop off" at the top and the bottom. I engrave then bead blast, and it looks great. I can post the replacement bearing type and source if folks are interested, but I am away from my normal PC right now and can't look up the information. Going strictly from memory, they were 0.625" OD by 0.250" ID, sealed type at the bottom, and shielded at the top. Can't remember the thickness, possibly 0.190" or so. I got them from VXB.com (I think), about $35 and I have enough to rebuild the spindle four more times.

Cheers,

Chris

www.the-long-family.com
 
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Chris thanks for the reply. I was under the impression most people used these machines scratch engrave with them, sounds like you are actually cutting in the letters. Are you using a single lip carbide cutter? Ill check my spindle bearings and send you a message if I need bearings Thanks for the info TR
 
TR:

The cutter is a carbide shaft ground to leave a bit less than 1/4 of a circle (<one quadrant) in cross section, about 0.375" long at the tip. The very tip is ground to a 60 degree or so cone point, with just a touch of relief behind the cutting edge. The tip describes a small circle in the work as it cuts leaving a flat, as the less than quarter cross section remaining puts the point slightly off the center of rotation. This results in a beautiful figure, showing a flat bottom in the center, with tapered sides. Like an inverse bas relief. I bought these direct from Gravograph. They still sell the cutters, but no parts for my old machine.

Cheers,
Chris

www.the-long-family.com
 
My cutters are more of a 1/2 profile at the tip I have the grinding machine to resharpen them perhaps I could re do the cutting edge on my cutters. Im gooing to give this a try today and see how it goes. Do you have any pics of the cutter tip? My visualization skills are not that great
 
I won't have the ability to take a picture and post it for a couple of weeks, but will then if it is still relevant. They make different kinds of cutters, and the 1/2 circle profile is for plastics and such, with the 1/4 profile recommended for steels. Both types depend on a precise grind of the cross sectional profile to place the tip at the desired point away from the axis of rotation. I had a 1/2 profile cutter that came with the machine, and was able to regrind it OK, but when I found the 1/4 profile cutters were available, started using those. They definitely work best in the SS for barrels and such.

Cheers,

Chris
www.the-long-family.com
 
My Hermes engraver came with a spring loaded tracer stylus for the round things. Works perfect when engraving barrels.

Cutter tight in engraver spindle. Power on. Engrave as usual.

My cutters are HSS, pointed, half cut style. I sharpen them in the lathe with a tool post grinder. Made up a jig with the same taper as the engraver spindle to hold the cutters in the lathe.
 
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I found the specifics: The bearings that fit the spindle assembly on my engraver were part numbers R4-2RS, 1/4 x 5/8 x 0.196 inch Sealed Miniature Ball Bearings (bottom bearing), and R4ZZ, 1/4 x 5/8 x 0.196 inch Shielded Miniature Ball Bearings (top bearing), both from VXB.com, and both were $1.99 each.

Cheers,

Chris

www.the-long-family.com
 
Great info guys thanks.I was hoping to try this machine over the weekend but I left the manuals at work so Ill try it later in the week. The sharpener I have is the one designed to sharpen these cutters I dont know if this will only sharpen to the 180* profile or if it will allow me to sharpen to a 90* profile as well Ill have to check that out as well.
 
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