Burnish or Diamond Drag

Burnishing is an alternative to engraving on trophy brass and aluminum (as opposed to diamond dragging). Typically, trophy brass is coated with a thin layer of paint that must be engraved through to expose the brass underneath. Aluminum can be either be coated with the same paint (as brass) or anodized. Either way, the idea is to remove the top color to expose the underlying color of the brass or aluminum without actually engraving into the metal.

Burnishing is achieved using a special engraving tool called none other than a burnisher. At first glance, a burnisher looks like a regular engraving cutter. Further inspection of the tip will reveal the subtle difference. Rather than having a sharpened tip like those designed to actually cut through plastic, a burnisher has more of a blunt end. This blunt end is designed to simply 'polish' the surface of the material rather than cut into it. This polishing process is forceful enough to remove the upper layer material. In this case, the upper layer of material is simply the paint or anodizing on the brass or aluminum. Because the burnisher does not cut into the brass, this type of engraving provides a smoother appearance and feel as compared to diamond dragging. By the way, this is a rotary process, meaning the spindle motor WILL be running while burnishing, unlike diamond drag.

An Additional Tool

As mentioned above, one of the added benefits of burnishing is a smoother finish of the engraving on the material. However, smaller sized burnishers, because of the nature of a smaller, more pointed tip will have the tendency to 'gouge' into the metal with too much down pressure. The down pressure is, of course provided by the main Tension Spring on the Z Axis assembly. Even with the Brass Spring Tension Knob set to its lightest setting, burnishers smaller than 35 thousandths (0.035) will gouge the metal, creating a less than 'smooth' finish. Rather than replacing the Tension Spring with one having a lighter spring rate, there is an easier solution: the Light Touch Burnishing Adaptor. The Burnishing Adaptor simply replaces the brass cutter knob typically found on the top of engraving cutters (and burnishers). The Burnishing Adaptor contains a spring with a much lighter spring rate than that of the main Tension Spring on the Z Axis assembly. This lighter spring rate will provide enough down pressure to remove the paint or anodizing, yet not gouge the material when using small burnishers.

Using a Light Touch Burnishing Adaptor by-passes the main Tension Spring; in other words the main Tension Spring is NOT USED. When the main Tension Spring is not used while engraving, Full Automatic Cutter Set at Start CANNOT be used as well. Manual Cutter Set at Start must be used to set the necessary Z Axis travel associated with this procedure.