Client: Sophisticated Rebel
Assignment: Make several Micro sized engravers that can go to trade shows, conventions, etc. These engravers have to be very compact and will be used to engrave the mirror finish stainless steel sides of the company’s Forever Lipstick Applicator.
Challenges: Small size. Rigid enough to engrave stainless steel. Easy to operate and maintain in the field. Simple interface to laptop and custom Engraving page so anyone can use.
There are many engravers on the market but none are small enough, mobile enough and beefy enough to engrave stainless steel in the field. Even the desktop sized engravers are too heavy to lug around. It’s not their fault, of course, because the good ones – $$$$ – are designed to accommodate a large variety of engraving assignments on all kinds of materials and all kinds of sizes.
To keep the size and the cost down, the engraver I proposed would be made for one item only – the company’s Forever Applicator Blade. The amount of area that can be engraved would only be 2 x 2.4 inches, which is smaller than any other engraver made out there. What this did was allow me to really SHRINK the design into a 7 inch cube. By shrinking it, I could also increase its rigidity so it could – and does very well – engrave stainless steel. The one trade-off is it not exactly light but easily carried by the hefty handle on top.
One challenge was getting all of the electronics into the base so there would be no other items to carry – just the unit and a small laptop. In the end, I had to make my own circuit board for the motor drivers so I could get it all enclosed. The unit is usually covered by an opaque plastic cover and has an LED inside to light up the working area. When engraving is done, the operator simply hits home and the engraving bed motors out so the Applicator Blade can be easily removed and another loaded. Most engravings on the machine take only 2 minutes so the two units (so far) have been tough little workhorses and are a hit at trade shows.
The real Micro Blade Engraver
