05/03/2018 -Pantograph
Arrived this morning to be told we had a demo on the pantograph.
The name rung a vague bell and when we saw what it was, I remembered my parents having a much smaller version, less complicated version for copying drawings at different scales. In fact “graph” means drawing, so the massive machine we have in the basement should surely be called the "pantocut".
So, the idea is that there is a stylus on one end, that is traced over a 3 dimensional surface. On the other end of the levered arm, is basically a milling machine. The milling bit mirrors the stylus’s movements and carves out an exact replica of the original surface. Depending on how the levered arm is configured, the movements are scaled down (and presumably up) resulting in a smaller final piece.
By the sound of it, a variety of materials can be carved (wax, wood, plastics, metal) and it is used often in this environment for transferring text from a large laser cut perspex master (useful for our medals?)
When Paul asked who wanted a go, I was the first (and only) volunteer (some people just don’t know a fun toy when they see one).
The name rung a vague bell and when we saw what it was, I remembered my parents having a much smaller version, less complicated version for copying drawings at different scales. In fact “graph” means drawing, so the massive machine we have in the basement should surely be called the "pantocut".
So, the idea is that there is a stylus on one end, that is traced over a 3 dimensional surface. On the other end of the levered arm, is basically a milling machine. The milling bit mirrors the stylus’s movements and carves out an exact replica of the original surface. Depending on how the levered arm is configured, the movements are scaled down (and presumably up) resulting in a smaller final piece.
By the sound of it, a variety of materials can be carved (wax, wood, plastics, metal) and it is used often in this environment for transferring text from a large laser cut perspex master (useful for our medals?)
When Paul asked who wanted a go, I was the first (and only) volunteer (some people just don’t know a fun toy when they see one).