MILLENNIUM AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE – CHINESE DOT PEEN PART MARKER

Disclaimer: This is a guide demonstrating a process for marking parts with a particular
example and is for reference only. Any part marking on a different item will require
some coherent and logical problem solving. This guide should assist you.

“Measure twice, mark once… this shit is expensive!” – Fred (probably)

Instructions:

If you are reading this, chances are you are working on part marking, congrats! You’ve
also likely noticed the program isn’t even in a language! So what do we do now?

1. Set – Up

A. The machine is pneumatic and requires a compressed air source. I found that the
output of the compressor at 120psi kept things running nice on the machine. This puts
the gauge on the regulator of the machine at around .5 MPa and works fine there.

NOTE: DO NOT EXCEED 135PSI

B. It also runs on electricity, so plug it in.

C. Use the USB connector to plug into the power supply and driver. (The smaller red
box with the Green Off/On Button)

D. Insert one end of the canon plug and gently tighten the connector. Note the canon
plugs are indexed on both ends, do not install the cable without properly indexing the
cable.

E. Turn the power supply Green button On.

F. Open the “ThorX6” application using the desktop icon

2. Determine Part Mark Size and Position on the Part

A. Self Explanatory, determine where the part marking needs to be.

B. Measure the area the part mark must fit as seen in the image below.
Length/Height/Etc:

NOTE: All images have the part marked for reference. Imagine if the area was blank.

Length: Conservative numbers are suggested here. A smaller part mark will give you a
larger margin of error when you actually mark the part. Remember, this machine is
made in China.

Here we see we have roughly 30mm worth of length to use as a conservative number.
Jot this number down, we will use it later. We know we should not exceed 30mm for
any line of text in this area.
Height: We need two lines of text and have an area to work with of roughly 8mm. Use
good judgment and account for having about 1mm between each line of text. In this
case we should make each numeral no taller than 3mm. This gives us some room to
work with and 1mm in between the lines for an overall height of 7mm.

Save that height of 3mm, we will use this number later.

As you can see in the finished product, the height of the text is roughly 3mm. More on
this later.

3. Part Marking Positioning

A. The machine can mark anything inside of a 140mm x 80mm rectangle. This is
divided into 14 10mm boxes for the X-Axis and 8 10mm boxes for the Y-Axis. You have
also likely noticed this is exactly how the program has the location set up.

B. Place the part marker grid down on the surface of the machine as illustrated in the
image below.
C. Position the part to be marked on the grid. This will give you a rough idea of where
and how the part should be positioned under the machine.
D. Take note of where the part mark needs to be in relation to the grid.

a. If the marking wasn’t there already, we know it can be no longer than 30mm,
and we wanted numerals roughly 3mm in height from our previous
measurements.

b. The length that the part mark will occupy should start in X,Y coordinates box
(3,5) and should not go past box (3,2) in this case.
 c. The height of the part mark with 2 lines of 3mm numerals and 1mm spacing
between gives us 7mm. So the height of the part mark should not be wider than
one box width (10mm).

d. Note the relationship of the part relative to the base, make a note or an outline
so it remains consistent when you go back to mark the part.

4. Using the Program

A. The program doesn’t translate to an actual language making things a bit difficult. It
operates somewhat simple, using text boxes you can rotate and adjust in size. The
following will show you the basics.

NOTE: The program can do a lot more than what will be shown; we are just putting
numbers and letters on metal in a straight line.

You should see a screen like the in the image below. Note each box represents 10mm
and there are 14 along the X-Axis and 8 along the Y-Axis. This is why we placed our
part over the grid. We will now know where to put the text in the program!
B. Getting started, we will need to add text, use the Blue icon drop down menu

Then select “ABC”

C. A cross hair cursor will display, click to a rough location on the grid where “ABC123”
will now appear. Double click the box and a new text box will appear where you can
input the numbers and letters for the part mark.

NOTE: The rounded arrow in the upper right corner of the text box is used to rotate.
NOTE: The program will only do one line at a time, to add another line of text, repeat
the above steps.

Now we have our text but it is entirely too large. The next step will address this. Select
a text box to change and the information for this box is displayed at the top.

D. Change the length of the text box to our “30mm” Measurement from before

E. Change the height of the text box to our “3mm” Measurement from before
Now our dimensions are correct for this one. The shorter line “MFR 7TT37” will need
some playing around to make it look correct. The height will be the same “3mm” but the
length will require some playing with to make it look correct. You can use the arrows on
the text box in the lower right corner of the box to keep the aspect ratio the same. This
will keep the numbers from looking compressed or stretched. Then use the height box
to input exact “3mm” when you are satisfied with the look of the length of the box.

F. Click a text box to move it around. In this case, we rotated the box to reflect the part
mark image above. Remember it is a lot easier to keep the writing vertical or horizontal,
and then secure the part as needed in lieu of playing with angles on the program.

Note the position of the text in the boxes relative to where we estimated with the part on
the grid.
5. Starting the Machine

A. Now we’re almost ready to mark the part. But first a few notes on setup:

- The depth of the part mark is controlled by the four screws on the side of the plate
holding the base to the machine. DO NOT ADJUST THIS. The height has been set to
40mm from the base to the bottom of the machine side plate on all four corners. This
gives us the proper part mark depth after much trial and error.

- This means that marking parts of different heights we must shim the base of the
machine to the height of the part.

For instance, a part is 5mm thick. A 5mm spacer must be placed on either side of the
base to compensate for the increase in height. If you’re lucky, the part is flat and you
can use the parts as a shim for the base!

- Secure the machine to the base or table using a C-Clamp on both sides of the base.
The black switch on the side of the machine turns the electromagnets on. They work
well, but no sense in taking any risks here, secure it properly. See image below.
Take note of the parts being used as shims. Don’t forget to place paper or something to
protect painted surfaces (if it has them).

- The white switch on the left controls the operation of the pneumatic head. In the off
position as displayed the head will not engrave when the start button is pushed. This is
used for tracing. We will only turn the white switch on when we are ready to engrave
and have made sure there will be no interference with the engraving head and the part.
More on this below.

- The black switch controls the electromagnets on the base of the machine.
- The small green button on the side starts the machine. With the white switch turned
off, pressing the green button will make the machine trace the area of the part mark
without actually marking it. This way you can see if any bends or clamps interfere with
the machine.

- The machine can also be operated and controlled from the computer as seen below

- Go to the third tab from the left and note the buttons below

- After either the green button on the machine has been pressed or the start button on
the program has been selected, the stop button will turn red on the program. Use this
button to stop the machine.

- Use the reset button to the right of the stop button to reset the machine to the starting
position.
- After you have used the trace feature to ensure there is no interference with the part
and machine, turn the white engraving head button to the on position.

- Use either the program or the green button on the side of the machine to start
engraving!