Googles algorithm came up trumps for once. Because I’d been googling ‘dot peen marking’ it threw this up to me in Youtube:
Which could be just what you want if you still want to buy a machine to do it. It also gives aa good idea about what I think could be built on your existing chassis.
Surprisingly cheap too, the video and listing are a bit old, but 500$ seems quite reasonable considering the results.
Well thank you so much Jack & Michael, and others, for this wealth of information - It would have taken me many hours to find such information, if I actually could find it.
I have fallen towards the diamond drag system, as it seems to suit my prime objective for etching thin ally, anodised plates.
Spring loading is key here for me.
(I am also interested, for a later time to go further, so thank you all)
I also wished that the “Diamond Drag” item presented in the video (Didn’t recognise the brand name - apologies - can you educate me on that brand?) for the two spring rates and 90 degree diamond profile would fit to the router on my low level router.(?)
I doubt it, unfortunately. I have a 3mm spindle chuck. (1/8"?)
Before I check, clumsily, does anyone know if there is a solution for a 3mm spindle chuck to house a spring loaded diamond etcher such as this? (n the video above)
I ask this as it would most likely solve my (Small scale compared to others…) dilemma for my etching project.
It is possible I could take something like this…
… and machine down the shank in a lathe?
And yes, I think the shank will be quite a hard material… but?
Thanks again for your time, to all helping me.
It is much appreciated and I am learning new things, which is good for me and hopefully for all in this forum.
Innovation and exploration/development is key!
Cheers for now - JK
Now, who have forgotten to thank,
Easytarget - Owen?
Thank you also, for your help.
Owen - Thank you for reminding me of something I should have known, and did, but did not apply that knowledge to this application.
Just goes to show that a “New set of eyes” can help alleviate obvious problems!
Cheers for that = respect.
You are welcome, I think the diamond drag will give better results than dot peen, and look more professional.
I stil intend to add ‘solenoid hammer head’ to my wish list for my 1612 mini CNC.
“Board and Storm”, sir.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
If that is an ER-11 collet chuck you can get collets in other sizes. I was able to get a '1-7 mm ER11 Collet chuck` set online for my 1612 quite easily.
However, not all kits come with a collet chuck, some just have a simple brass tube+grubnuts. 
Apologies for being a tax on your guy’s knowledge, but if I did grab a Diamond Etcher system working, would you have any suggestions to make an etching template to fill in the gaps of something like this?
I have started to look at some programs but am a little out of my depth of how they work.
Something “Owl” was mentioned but I haven’t progressed much further - Project for the weekend, I would think.
Cheers to all. Sleep time for me here now, zzzzzzzzzzz (Australia time)
Chat soon I hope.
No; not because it’s hard but because it’s hollow.
This was what I was expecting.
However, if it’s not an ER chuck, then back to the idea of a 3D printed holder. It’s just important that it not have any wiggle. You’ll probably want to print pieces that screw together with enough clamping force that there’s no backlash in the movement. Otherwise the letters won’t look right.
@Scorch wrote F-Engrave which might work for this. At least worth looking into?
Thank you Michael for that insight - I assumed a solid shank, not a hollow one.
You might have saved me some pain with that comment!
I do wonder if I can machine a transition fit insert to the hollow part of the tool, and compensate for the original lack of material in the centre of the purchased tool?
Transition fit, with heating of the outer tool and cooling of the insert, then fit together and allow cooling/heating (respectively) to bind them together.(?)
I also need to understand the “Hollow” diameter / dimension of the tool so I can plan such a manoeuvre.
I will check this out as best I can. Not sure if that dimension is available… sad face.
PS
(I am trying to get back to all responses as best I can, so please forgive me if this is a little slow…) Just dealing with each individually.
JK
Yep - I agree there, Michael.
I believe I can design my “cradle / holder” to accommodate a clamping mechanism to hold the assembly solid on the table - Another challenge, but comfortable with this one.
Happy to share designs with anyone interested also.
CAD or other details.
Also, “F-Grave” I will look into tomorrow (Tonight if I get time), so thanks for that information.
My original idea was to 3D scan the blue plate (Attached earlier above), and pull the image(?) into a software program to make a virtual template which had “Windows” where you could input the relevant data.
And not write over the original plate in the wrong areas, if this makes sense.
Plug & play data input I guess, to allow the etching machine to etch the data in the correct areas of the plate.
Apologies if I over simplified my ideas here…
Thanks Easytarget for that info, but i am a little confused, predominantly because I am new to the hardware of the routing collets.
Are you saying I may be able to get an ER11 collet with an output shaft diameter to accept a 6mm / 8mm tool, such as a Diamond Drag tool?
I’m going to my router now to pull it down to get a better understanding of what I’ve got to play with.
Cheers for now my friends.
I am getting a little excited about the possibilities…
I meant, Owen… sorry about that.
The router I have, for those who have stuck with me through this boring project, is ER11 C16-ER11-35L 5mm
Not 3mm as I alluded to previously.
My apologies.
On checking just now, the collet I have is a 3mm diameter chuck… (1/8th inch?)
It appears the package I received had a 3mm collet and machine bits, where 5mm was specified on the bill of materials… Hmmm.
Thank you all for tolerating my learning experience.
You could watch the clough42 video I linked for an understanding the the construction of the tool. But if you’ve ever made a typical tap follower, you understand its construction. The difference is that a tap follower might tolerate a loose sliding fit; this is a close sliding fit.
@easytarget and I both have sets of many ER11 collets. I have quite a few collets in 1/8" and 1/4" sizes, plus a wide range of metric and imperial sizes up to I think 7mm. They weren’t expensive. Many sets have 1mm-7mm by 0.5mm increments, plus 1/8" and 1/4" since those are common sizes to run into even in sane metric countries like almost everywhere that isn’t the USA…
Ah! I understand now.
At least FreeCAD is capable of this. You take a scan, then scale it by transferring a known dimension, then draw on it. You would just place the text where you want it, and it has a fairly capable CAM built in (the Path workbench). Each text item shows up as data that you can change in a side pane for each of the plates.
I’m sure there are many other ways; it’s just how I might do that task with a tool I already know at least something of how to use. 
If you click the pencil icon below your post, it lets you edit it.
And if you type an @ character followed by someone’s user name — like this @Kloppers — the system helps choose the user name, and then lets them know that you mentioned them.
That’s a typical 1/8" — 3.175mm — note that this is what is specified in your parts list for the milling cutter.
But also the collet will normally have its size printed on the face.
From the FreeCAD forum, a list of fonts for engraving including stick and single-stroke fonts, which might be useful regardless of whether you end up using FreeCAD to do the toolpathing.
