Unusual
Opportunity
UPDATE
to September 29/009:
One of the two Cronite engraving
machines that were for sale in Los Angeles, CA in 2006 is again for sale. It is a Universal model, with the fine indexing table movement attachment (for ruling closely spaced straight or wavey lines).
I also know of another Universal model Cronite Engraver for sale in B.C.
These machines are available "as is," at prices considerably below the cost of a factory reconditioned
machine.
I don't know exactly what condition either of them is in. Two years ago I was able to state that, "Any needed parts are available from The Cronite
Company, Inc., of Parsippany NJ, to bring these machines back to good-as-new operating
condition." I would presume this is still the case, but
it would be wise to phone Cronite* to confirm this before deciding
to buy either of these machines. Both will require a thorough
clean up, but so did mine when I got it, and mine came out looking very
nice, as you can see in the photos below.
Please contact me if either of these machines is of interest.
* (My phone number, and Cronite's phone
number, are also given just below the second photograph
on this page.)
--------------------------------------------
Most of what appears below is what I wrote here in May of 2006 or earlier:
Cronite engraving machines
are used
to do the finest engraving imaginable. (The US Mint uses
them.) The design has evolved
over about the last 100 years
or so. They
are manually operated, completely non-electric, and do not use a
rotating cutter.
These machines allow a duffer to produce
results that in some cases even a master engraver could not do.
Anything you can do as a line drawing -
any type
face (lettering style) you like, a graphic design, a logo, a drawing of
an animal or a boat or whatever - can be turned into a master,
and used with one of these machines to produce a reduced sized
engraving.
The machine scratches your design down
through a waxy resist to bare
metal. After you have traced out all the lines on the
master, you remove the workpiece from the machine, and etch the design
permanently into
the metal. You can etch into copper, brass, aluminum, steel, stainless
steel, silver, etc.
I know of not other machine in existence that could equal a Cronite engraver for
making clock dials. They can
be
used for numbering feedscrew dials as well as for doing work on flat
surfaces. They
will do finer
work than any machine that uses a rotating cutter. "Trophy shop"
engraving is simply not in the same league at all.
As I guess you can tell, I'm a
big fan
of these machines. The photos on this page show a Cronite "Zero"
engraver
which I bought from a engraved stationery
printing shop here in Vancouver in 1995, and restored.
When I got it, it was so
dirty I
thought the big washer at the base
of the column was rusty cast iron. It turned out to be polished bronze!
I made a hand cut master for
a little rearing horse about 5" tall. From that master
I used my Cronite Zero machine to engrave the same little horse at about 0.070"
tall on a piece of copper. At that size you
can (with a microscope) still see his eye!
Working from hand
cut masters 1-1/16" tall, I have engraved numbers 0.010" tall (as near as I can measure them), and the results - even at that extremely small size - are
an absolutely flawless
duplicate of the masters. (Again, you need
a microscope to see that this is so, but it is.)
It takes about 5 minutes for a total
duffer to learn to
make masters. For about $10 or so you can buy a hand graver for
making masters, or you can make one yourself from a piece of 1/4" drill
rod that
is just as good, and far easier on your forefinger.
A factory-refurbished Cronite engraver
normally sells for about $2500 to $3500.
These "as-is" machines can be had for
$750 to $1000 each.**
** (This statement is not longer correct, as neither of the
machines now for sale would be being bought from The Cronite
Company.GBL Sept. 29, 009)
This is a rare opportunity to
purchase a highly desirable and useful
machine that will do things you can do almost no other way.
Shipping will be the buyer's
responsibility. Shipping weight will be about 330 pounds. A Cronite
engraver is about the size of a bench drill press, and typically these machines are found on a factory stand. If they are on a stand,
the stand is usually about 3' tall, 3' wide, and about 24" front to
back.
The machine is easily removed from the factory stand, and the whole
thing could be put in a car or SUV. (I brought mine home in a Ford
Explorer.) Any required crating and shipping will be done at the
buyer's expense.
I can supply you with a write-up
giving various pointers on how to go about refurbishing one of these
machines. A person with average mechanical aptitude can do it, and
obviously a machinist is well equipped to carry out certain small fixes
that might be difficult for lesser mortals to do.
