Engraving copper

[texasinmi]

I am wondering what the expert advice would be about using the CW to engrave copper. It is soft, softer that some wood. I am thinking about a very shallow depth.

Thanks,

Texasinmi

[bergerud]

I gave something similar a try.

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?16333-has-anyone-tried-to-carve-metal-(bronze-specifically)&p=159270#post159270

What exactly do you want to do?

[texasinmi]

Thanks for the post and link.

I am thinking to go down the diamond tip route and add some embellishment to copper sheets or maybe cut the copper sheets. Is it possible to run the CW with the carve motor turned off? The engraving industry has all kinds of tools available to play with.

texasinmi

[bergerud]

You could disconnect the cut motor. I do not think it would work very well to drag a diamond bit. It would need to be spring loaded. The machine will not, however, smoothly drag the bit around. It will stop and start, go faster and slower, and I think the flex in the system will ruin the results.

[bjbethke]

I am wondering what the expert advice would be about using the CW to engrave copper. It is soft, softer that some wood. I am thinking about a very shallow depth.

Thanks,

Texasinmi

Hi, I don’t think that is a good idea, Copper is a conductor– Wood and Plastics are insulators. There are lots of unsealed circuit boards; with the fine chips flying around inside this CW unit you might get a nasty short.

I think it would carve OK, if you could prevent the shorts.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Wrong tool for the job.....

A better option is to coat the copper with something like photo resist and do a photo exposure and use the etching bath.

AL