Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Engraving Bricks

Ron Ginger wrote:

> I am working on a fund raising project for the Boothbay Railway Village.
> We are looking at a brick walk, where people make a donation and get
> their name engraved in a brick.
>
> Ive found a couple sites on the web that do this, for $20 per brick.
> Most seem to sandblast them, but one site claims to be 'real engraved'
> with special machines.
>
> Id guess a diamond bit in a router on a simple CNC table ought to do the
> job. I think Id make the machine a disposable- maybe a wood or mdf
> structure. If I got 100 to 200 bricks out of it before it died I would
> be ahead of the $20 per brick. I only need a working area of one brick- 4x8"
>
> Has anyone tried this? Any suggestions for a source of bits?
>

You want to CARVE bricks? AFTER they are fired? I'd like to know what
under $20 tool they have that will survive a single brick.
The right way to do this is to carve a form that is used to imprint the
brick BEFORE you fire it. If you are going to make a couple hundred
bricks, this might be a very reasonable thing to do. But, if you try to
engrave a standard house brick, I think you are going to find it really
tough going. Maybe there are special soft bricks made for this purpose.

A CNC grit blaster might work, you'd have the blaster nozzle steered by
a CNC mechanism. The right blasting medium would truly engrave the
brick, not just mark the surace finish.

Jon