Good Morning!
I am looking into acquiring an new Gravograph/Gravotech manual pantograph or Hermes the same. I contacted Gravotech for a quote and some questions, the fellow was really pushing towards a laser which for me, is prohibitively expensive. He told me he'd pass on my phone number to one who could answer all my questions, which never happened. So I would very much like to know, since Gravotech is extremely simliar to the Hermes and there are many perfectly fine units on eBay, would any gunsmiths please show me your set-ups for engraving the required markings on barrels?
My goal is to have a professional engraver hand-cut the font used by Westley-Richards for their rifles so I can mark my barrels accordingly. I find that W-R particularly beautiful, and want to use it. Also may use Book Antiqua or Bookman Old Style.
So if you would please, show me some pics of your rig set up to engrave the barrel. If you prefer to not advertise your work, or your set up, please send me an email through my profile.
Thank you.

I had and used a small Hermes pantograph for barrel markings. If the diameter was over an inch it worked ok as long as the font was small. The font templates are flat so any smaller diameter or larger font would cut shallower towards the outside edges. The model I had did not have a spring loaded engraver nor any way to engrave over a round surface.

I now take my barrels to someone with a laser for $50 each.

Hello All,
I have a Hermes ITF K-II pantograph engraver that I use for barrel marking. It is capable of diamond drag engraving as well as rotary engraving. I use rotary with single line fonts. I engrave about 0.010 deep.

As troutcreeks mentioned, the curve of the surface can be problematic. Keeping the engraving on the smaller side does help. My setup uses a micrometer adjustable nose that rides on the surface of the barrel. I have sometimes adjusted the cutter deeper only for the portions that start to fade from the curve.

My engraver is more of a bed type engraver. To hold a barrel the engraver must be set in its upper position and a second vice, with more depth, is used. The muzzle end has to protrude out the side of the engraver. An extra support holds the muzzle end to prevent the barrel from twisting out of the vise.

This type of engraving is not very artistic. The barrels are well marked, but it looks more like factory stamping than a nice custom engraving job. My opinion.

I use a New Hermes engraving machine; It will engrave on anything down to half inch OD; not sure why yours won't go below one inch. The cutter is rotating so will cut on the radius. I have several font sets, from block to script. Brass pieces, and you can make anything by first hand engraving a font insert. Like I did a set of Kukri knives once on a Martini.
Don't need no computer machine....

If you want the real deal, your going to need to employ a hand engraver. The machines cant give you what you want. Hand engraving gives you thin to thick. Save yourself lots of money and pay an engraver to get the lettering you desire.

And it is no flattery to say that Roger's lettering is as good as any I've seen. Lots of Roger's work seen here on Wiebe rifles.

All the lettering and caliber markings on my custom guns were hand engraved.
This by Michael Dubber


This by Heinz Funk in Germany on a Martin Hagn barrel.

Tip of the hat, and thank you SDH.

Of course high end customs like SDH and Wiebe demand hand cut lettering, but most hunters and targets will be fine with the machine engraving. My customers are not in that category and will not pay $300 for a caliber mark.
So there is a place for both.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Of course high end customs like SDH and Wiebe demand hand cut lettering, but most hunters and targets will be fine with the machine engraving. My customers will not pay $300 for a caliber mark. So there is a place for both.

I spent close to $900 on engraving for one rifle and it makes me want to keep it in the safe. Too nice to take to the woods. I agree. for a rifle to go into service and use as a shooter , any marking would work for me.