Pantograph mills were, in many ways, a forerunner for CNC mills that are now universally used in manufacturing industries today. Pantograph mills and engraving machines are the way machining operations were exactly duplicated and repeated over and over prior to CNC. Pantograph mills can be either 2 axis or 3 axis and can machine an intricate part out of a solid block of metal by following a template with a stylus. Engravers are always 2 axis and follow flat templates. The template for the required part can be crafted from a metal, wood or plastic that is fixed to a template holding table. The operator traces this template by hand using a stylus while a spindle with a cutter machines a new part from a blank.
On a pantograph mill, the whole operation is mechanical, there are no electronics or hydraulics - its a relatively simple machine. Pantographs often allow for a change in size so large movements on the template result in smaller movements on the part being made. The stylus is connected through to the pantograph mechanism in the machine to reach the cutting head. The cutting head is going to hold the cutter, and this cutter is going to be responsible for cutting the part out of the sheet metal piece that is mounted onto the working table right in the center of the design. The pattern should be made to a large scale so that if there are any errors, they will be reduced in the pantograph mill, and this also allows for very accurate parts to be cut from the metal. Many parts can actually be cut in this way from the same master template piece.
Engraving machines are familiar to almost everyone. If youve ever had a piece of jewelry or silver engraved, it was done with an engraving machine. The patterns or words engraved with an engraving machine come in sets like fonts in a computer. Each letter or shape is cut into a metal blank that can be arranged in any order to form the words you want to engrave. The stylus follows the letters and the cutter cuts those letters into the item being engraved. Engravers have trays and trays of letters in different styles to suit every taste. Of course, today, most of this engraving work is done on computerize machines with electronic fonts.
Manual pantograph mills and engraving machines are not as easy to come by in this day and age. Manual pantograph mills, for example, are no longer being produced and yet you can still typically find them from used machine tool dealers. These machines were built to last many decades, so despite being a bit obsolete, they are still around and can be bought. The advantage of using these older, low-tech machines is that they are simple to set up and simple to operate - computer literacy is not required.
When you are searching for pantograph mills and engraving machines, it would be wise to see what machine tool dealers are offering and for what price. You can often find a newer, more modern machine in superb condition because they are not used much in production environments and are often found with relatively low hours of use on them - especially the ones made in the 1970s, just prior to the CNC revolution.
So while pantograph mills and engraving machines are not available new any longer, that does not mean that you cannot find them. If you are into traditional manual machines and their often specialized capabilities, then exploring what pantograph mills have to offer may be right up your alley. These old traditional machines can certainly still be put to use, so long as you can find one that is in good condition and complete.
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