Altingen, 15.08.2002
2002-006

The wastage of tools is especially high when hard metal types like steel or stainless steel have to be engraved. On top of that, it is only possible to move at low rates of feed. To avoid these problems, it is better to emboss the inscriptions than to engrave them. So all vhf CAM systems can be equipped now with a dot embossing unit that is powered by compressed air.

Using this procedure, there will be no chips removed as it would be the case in the engraving or milling process. This new dot embossing unit compresses the surface of the workpiece by numerous little "hammer strokes" with a thin needlepoint. The embossing needle is made of extremely hard metal and nearly resistant to wear. It moves up and down for approximately 300 times per second, so the single dots adjoin each other very closely. Thus the inscriptions consist visually of clear drawn through lines and not of single dots. The inscriptions look as if they have been engraved.

Frank Benzinger, managing director of vhf, explains this most recent expansion of vhf's range of products: "With this dot embossing unit we want to provide our customers with the ability to process hard metals more economically and in a more productive way." For operating this unit, there is nothing more necessary than a compressed air supply; a standard household compressor is already sufficient. It is possible, of course, to equip such a CAM system either additionally or alternatively with a conventional engraving and milling spindle to enable all other processing tasks.