I would be happy to donate a few bucks to the machine shop for someone to resurface the brass blanks for the metaza impact engraver. at this point the ones that have been used will not serve any useful further purpose to keep the engravings on them. Perhaps the reverse side could be redone on them as well? The piece sits atop a very squishy silicone mat when being used, so the reverse surface might be “grippy” to assist, but it could also be done with adhesive tape: I am not convinced we need to keep that side the way it is.
I have a few questions:
- Have some photos?
- What’s the tolerance you’d need? A couple 0.001"? How unlevel can it be?
- What’s the rough size in inches?
- How thick is the piece and how much can we reduce that thickness to resurface it?
1 Like
Adjusting The Striking Force Of The Pins - Roland Metaza MPX-80 User Manual [Page 76] | ManualsLib Thats a quick remote view of the manual.
METAZA MPX-80 head - Creative Arts - Dallas Makerspace Talk - thats my photo of the blank I engraved.
its roughly a 60mm square. I think it could almost be done with just increasing grits of sandpaper, but that is fracking messy. tolerance is probably best measured with a probe on the one i used, that still has half of its surface available, but I would guesstimate 5+ thousandths. thickness is maybe a quarter to 1/3 inch, they are in the box in creative arts in the MPX-80 head box. so under the desk in the plastic tote.
Thanks for asking for more input.
Work holding would be the hard part. I think probably square up some sacrificial aluminum, superglue this brass to it, then run either a fly cutter or the shell mill with new inserts over it. Heat it up with a torch until the superglue releases, then consider doing it again on the other side once it cools.
Anybody in @Team_Machine_Shop want to volunteer? If you’re teaching a class Bob style where you make something useful, it would be good for the Bridgeport class.
Alternatively the metaza can hold about 3.25 inches square, if some has “smooth” brass plate?