If You Read One Article About Scribe Marking Machine Read this One

Are you confused between many types of marking systems? Are you looking for scribe marking but got confused in between dot peen and scribe marking? If the answer to the above questions is yes, then you have landed yourself on just the right page. Allow us to enlighten you about the technology called scribe marking.

What is scribe marking?

Scribe marking is a type of marking which employs a carbide or a diamond tip to produce a mark. This diamond or carbide tip penetrates into the substrate material and produces permanent indentations. It does so by dragging the tip on the substrate material.

These indentations are not discontinuous rather a continuous and homogenous line running around flat, inclined, concave, or even round surfaces. Scribe marking is also known as the drop and drag or scratch marking technique. Unlike any other marking technique, it has proven itself to be a useful marking technique in situations where noise levels are to be restricted or controlled.

Marking techniques like dot peen produce marking by creating indentations by vibrating at a very rapid rate. Thus they produce high noise levels which can be very annoying or disturbing. These techniques can’t be used in hollow shapes where resonance comes into play.

Applications of Scribe marking

Scribe marking can make markings on almost every type of material from plastic to hardened steel with a hardness of 60 HRC. Scribe marking is mostly used on the production lines of automobiles for vehicle identification numbers on the chassis.

Since vehicle identification numbers need to be clear and legible, scribe marking is favored. If the markings are not clear or if they seem tampered with, it can become a serious legal case.

Apart from that, it is used in various other industries also like farm machinery, steel industries, railways, oil and gas sector, and heavy mechanical complexes.

Some of the prominent features of Scribe marking are stated below so you can have an idea of what it is about:

• Scribe marking possesses one of the best marking speed/depth ratios
• It offers high quality marking with great readability
• It offers an extensive range of stylus for marking irregular, curved, and difficult to access surfaces, etc.
• Scribing machines are mechanically robust and thus require little to no maintenance.
• These machines are always suitable for integration into production lines and robotic arms
• The workstations can be posted on columns or at stations
• It offers customized marking solutions

In order to know about scribe marking a little better, we need to have a little knowledge of other common marking systems, too. This would give us some perspective and help us in choosing the right kind of marking system.

Some of the common marking systems and their comparison with scribing marking machines are as follows:

Dot Peen Marking Machines

Dot peen marking machines work on the principle of vibration. The tip of the dot peen marking machines create depressions or indentations by vibrating rapidly to and fro on the material. This rapid to and fro motion on the material produces points with negligible distance thus creating two types of impressions:

• Direct marking
• Permanent and Tamper-proof 

Dot peen markers push back the substrate material during its operation. The material needs not to be burned, milled, or transformed into any shape which is basically a requirement in many other marking systems.

It does not chip off the material hence the weight of the part before and after the marking is exactly the same. This means that dot peen systems do not create any breakage points in the material irrespective of the thickness of the material.

Dot peen markers are basically powered by two different methods:

• Pneumatically
• Electromagnetically

Dot peen markers can create deep impressions and that too with very fast speed. The markings are very precise and thus complex shapes including data matrices can also be drawn on the materials.

Benefits of Dot Peen Marking Technology

• It is very economical. The capital cost is really economical and the running cost is also negligible. Dot Peen markers do not involve any consumables like chemicals in electrochemical etching etc.
• It has a very diverse substrate application. It can mark almost all kinds of shapes and surfaces. These surfaces can be soft or as hard as required.
• The control units of these marking machines help you in understanding and controlling the output.
• The dot peen markers have a high productivity rate.
• Good speed and clear results.
• No external device like computers or programs is required to control the dot peen devices.

How does dot peen differ from scribe marking machines?

• Dot peen markers differ from scribe marking machines in the way they produce indentations. Dot peens vibrate rapidly thus producing impressions on the basis of points. On the other hand, scribe marking machines produce a homogenous line by continuously moving on the substrate.
• The dot peen markers produce a lot of noise because of vibrations whereas scribe marking machines do not produce any kind of sound. Sound can be critical in areas where the geometry of the part creates resonance in combination with the sound of the marker. Also, in areas where sound levels are to be restricted because of noise pollution, scribing machines come in handy.
• Dot peen markers are portable and can be taken anywhere because it does not have to produce continuous impressions. But, since scribing machines have to move on the material continuously, they need to be fixed on a platform. Otherwise, it will not get enough force to produce marking on the material.
• When it comes to speed, both of these machines perform equally alike. Both can produce markings with good speed and with good precision. However, the resolution of the dot peen markers needs to be considered into account in case of clear markings.

Laser Marking

To keep it simple, laser marking is also another permanent marking process that uses a concentrated beam of light. This concentrated beam of light produces a permanent impression on the surface of the substrate material.

The processes by which laser is produced differ greatly but the benefits they offer are more or less the same. The most common applications of this type of marking are engraving, etching, annealing, and discoloration.

The range of materials on which laser can be used includes steel, titanium, aluminum, and organic materials like wood, paper, and cardboard. The laser can efficiently produce alphanumeric characters, text, coded data like barcodes and data matrices, and art.

Types of Laser Marking Machines

• Fiber Laser Engraving Machine
• CO2 Laser Engraving Machine
• UV Laser Engraving Machine

In Fiber laser engraving machines, solid-state materials produce the laser. Very precise optic fibers and lenses bring about the amplification of this laser. CO2 laser engraving machines, as the name suggests, produce laser using a mixture of carbon dioxide gas. Lastly, the UV laser engravers produce laser using UV light.

Fiber laser engraving machines are the most popular among these categories and have applications on metals, coated metals, and plastics. CO2 Laser engravers are most suited for materials other than metals like wood, glass, paper, acrylic, plastics, leather, and stones.

In such situations, CO2 lasers come in handy. UV laser engravers are just like fiber laser engravers and are suitable for metals, metals with coatings, plastics, and sometimes ceramics.

Benefits of Laser Marking Machines

• Laser engravers are relatively the speediest engravers available in the market. Since they involve laser instead of some mechanical parts like in point markers, they are very fast.
• Laser engravers create permanent and readable marks on the substrate, depending on the type.
• The markings are usually high in contrast which makes it easier to read or register the marking.
• These machines do not come in contact with the substrate material.
• Due to fewer mechanical operations, the consumables are negligible.
• The maintenance cost is very low.

Difference between scribing machines and laser engravers

• Laser engravers do not come in contact with the substrate materials whereas scribing machines are point markers. Point markers function only when they come in contact with the material to create impressions.
• Scribing machines are really quiet in operations in comparison with any other kind of marking technology. However, laser markers also don’t produce that much of a sound in comparison with the dot peen.
• The laser is really speedy in its operations whereas scribing machines may not be the same when it comes to comparison. Scribing machines have to mechanically produce the marking by coming in contact. Laser markers do the same job in half the time.
• Laser markers are portable whereas scribing machines need support or a platform to get produce enough force on the material.

The Right Scribing Machine

Although there is a lot of point marking machine manufacturers available in the market, only a handful of them is reliable. Among those reliable, we have decided to put forward some suggestions for you. Have a go through on different brands offering different scribing machines:

MECCO

Whoever knows a little about engraving machines, would know about MECCO for sure. All because it offers great scribing machines. MECCO’s MC 2000 series of point markers is the best in the market.

The continuous improvement of the stylus of their point markers has enabled them to create an intelligent machine. The MC 2000 scribing machines are the next generation of dot peen marking systems. The features of their MC 2000 series are as follows:

• Marking of alphanumeric characters and logos
• Continuous contact of carbide stylus minimizes noise levels
• Character sizes ranging from 1mm to 20mm tall
• Marking speeds up to 6 characters per second
• Text/graphic input via T2 Controller

HeatSign

Heatsign is another big name in point marking machine manufacturers. They have a great range of point markers that can create clear and deep marks. Have a look at their dot peen markers range. Although there is no mention of scribing heads these dot peen marking machines are one of the best in the market.

If connected with the scribing heads, they can perform really efficiently and with great precision. Their pneumatically driven dot peen markers include HS-DP series, HS-PM series, HS-DC series, and HS-PC series.

If you are not looking for engraving on large metal parts, these markers are more than enough as they are affordable and efficient than any other marker of the same range.

SIC

SIC’s i113s is a powerful scribing machine that has been made for industries to integrate into their production lines. The larger marking window of the machine helps to produce high-quality results with almost no consumables.

It has a solid metal exterior that provides protection from environmental conditions. With a 60mm diamond stylus and a window of 110x60mm, this machine produces some great homogenous results of 2mm depth.

This efficient and intelligent machine comes with integration software that is programmable with the help of the e10r controller.

Conclusion

Lastly, it is evident from the above-mentioned data that scribing machines are most suitable for permanent and continuous indentations and that too in a controlled environment where noise levels are meant to be kept under a certain value.

If you have these two prerequisites for marking on your material, stop thinking and make the right choice today by going for scribing machines because not only will they do the job, it will it easier for you.

Scribing machines are fast, mechanical, give clear and readable outputs. There are hundreds of machines available in the market but the ones highlighted above are the editor’s choice and you might not want to miss out on any of these.