Homemade Engraving Pantograph.

[brianhw]

Hi all,
In the back of my mind I'd always fancied making a pantograph (U.K. spelling) to make nice indelible engraved labels for my storage boxes in the workshop and any other requirements that might crop up - warning notices, etc. so when I stumbled on a YouTube video where the guy had cleverly used the milling machine as a mounting for a pantograph he'd made, thus giving built in x, y & z axis movements, I was converted there and then, and immediately set about making my own version. (I have given him full credit for his idea in my video below).

It is more or less a copy of his basic design but tailored to my philosophy of making things from no cost scrap materials, in particular the making of the master letters & numbers which are a small fortune (in my view) to buy.
Since making the machine, I have made labels for about 40 storage boxes so far with many more to come, and it has turned out to be a great success and fun to use.

One caveat to anyone contemplating making one, is that I would emphasize the importance of precision throughout, as any small errors or 'play' in the system will only get magnified and spoil the finished results.



Here's the YouTube video posted recently:-