embossing with an nsh-2?

[sameal]

Alright. Before I go head first into something silly is it even possible to emboss with polycarbonate, a nsh-2 sapphire and a westrex 2b?

[markrob]

Hi,

I don't see why not. As long as you can install the stylus reversed. You would also want to tilt the head back from 90 degrees about 3-4 degrees or so for best results. Finally, you'll want the down force to be around 40-60g. In fact, you can probably get by with using old styli that have be dulled by use.

Mark

[sameal]

Thanks mark!

This should be a good starting point. I don't have an old styli to experiment with so I'm sending in a brand new nsh. Lacquers just don't seem feasable outside of experiments for me anyway.

[zdenek]

Polycarbonate is like the proverbial rubber, it is not suitable for cutting a groove, only for embossing.
I broke several diamonds on polycarbonate, I'll never risk it again...
I didn't break a diamond on copper, but on polycarbonate, after a few seconds, the diamond dug into the polycarbonate like crazy, then got stuck and broke, tearing out pieces of material... These were just my experiments, anyone can try, maybe they'll succeed...

[sameal]

Polycarbonate is like the proverbial rubber, it is not suitable for cutting a groove, only for embossing.
I broke several diamonds on polycarbonate, I'll never risk it again...
I didn't break a diamond on copper, but on polycarbonate, after a few seconds, the diamond dug into the polycarbonate like crazy, then got stuck and broke, tearing out pieces of material... These were just my experiments, anyone can try, maybe they'll succeed...

I do have a heat lamp. Maybe warming up the poly a bit first might help.

I just don't know what other styli to try. Micropoint seems like the last option.

[zdenek]

Polycarbonate is like the proverbial rubber, it is not suitable for cutting a groove, only for embossing.
I broke several diamonds on polycarbonate, I'll never risk it again...
I didn't break a diamond on copper, but on polycarbonate, after a few seconds, the diamond dug into the polycarbonate like crazy, then got stuck and broke, tearing out pieces of material... These were just my experiments, anyone can try, maybe they'll succeed...

I do have a heat lamp. Maybe warming up the poly a bit first might help.

I just don't know what other styli to try. Micropoint seems like the last option.

If the cutter is heated to a temperature close to the melting point of polycarbonate, the polycarbonate melts and the cutter penetrates very deeply (even if the cutter's pressure on the polycarbonate sheet is only 10-15 grams, or even less). However, the cutter refuses to displace the polycarbonate material, but instead pulls until it starts scratching, resulting in terrible results...

I thought I was doing something wrong with cutting grooves in polycarbonate, but then I watched a video made by two German engineers who were testing various cutting materials.

The guys were using a German professional VMS machine [probably a 70], and in the video, you can see the cutter touching the polycarbonate sheet and sharply SCRATCHING the sheet instead of cutting a groove. After switching to a master aluminum lacquered sheet, the same cutter cut a groove like a hot knife through frozen butter. So you know...


If you have a stereoscopic microscope with at least 50x magnification and can position it at a 45-degree angle with the lens facing the cutting knife, you can perfectly see how the knife behaves in polycarbonate. It's a nightmare... it either slides across the plate or the knife tears off pieces of the material.

Of course, polycarbonate differs from polycarbonate, with different chemical compositions [i.e., a chemical compound of materials in different proportions].

For example, a polycarbonate CD without a manufacturer's brand is very soft, but professional, factory-made CDs are much harder and more scratch-resistant.
The same is true for DVDs, even though they are all polycarbonate. I have personally tested these polycarbonate materials and their hardness. Polycarbonates vary in hardness, roughness, and temperature resistance.
By the way, one more thing, the problem with embossing is very big, because as a result of this process, some of the material remains on the mirror of the plate, leaving so-called corners on the groove, which makes further chemical processing in order to make a nickel matrix impossible...

[sameal]

Well. I guess thats why I'm hesitant to try it.

Now, part of what got me thinking about it is rich flores out of ny. I've been following him on youtube and he seems to get results with polycarb and a 3d head.

I would almost think a 3d would be more delicate than a 2b. But I've never played with a 3d. Judging by pricing I probably never will either!

[markrob]

Hi,

I think he is talking about cutting, not embossing. You should have no trouble embossing polycarb.

Mark

[zdenek]

I once tested a device like this, which is installed in Westrex cultivator heads. The support ball controls the cutting depth [mechanically adjusted with a precision screw].
I read that these balls were diamond, mirror-polished to prevent scratching the master plate.

I made it from hard [bearing] steel, and the operating principle was identical; it didn't scratch the plate but left a slight mark.

I think this is the key to trying to cut a groove in polycarbonate. In agriculture, plows have a device called a control wheel that can adjust the height and depth of plowing [I'm not talking about the share that cuts the ground].
If this were implemented in the cultivator head as a sliding ball, a polished ball with a flat contact with the plate, cutting a groove in polycarbonate with a heated diamond knife would most likely work.


The best heads, Westrex US, were the smartest in my opinion, then the Germans copied the American ones and modified it with their can and dynamic control of the vertical cut, but for this you need master plates with an aluminum backing, otherwise it is very difficult, I think.