Making Braille Holes

[Sotos Patistas]

I'm in the process of establishing a method that works consistently for me regarding adding the Braille section to ADA signs. What I have achieved the most success with is resizing all the Braille dots individually (PITA but manageable) lasering them, then hand drilling the holes to 1.5 mm then placing a Braille ball on each hole, placing a 1/32" tall fence/shim around the braille section, topping with a granite tile and pressing them in with a clamp. This gets them all inserted to a uniform depth where they usually, but not always, stay inserted.

My questions:

1. I know a rotary engraver makes quick work of drilling the braille holes, but in the meantime, is anyone using their CNC router to drill the holes? Doable? Precisebits.com sells a 1.5mm bit with a 1/8" shank. Thought I'd ask before buying the bit and collet set.

2. Are there better ways of inserting the balls? I don't mind doing them via the Outten Method, one at a time, but they never seem set to a uniform depth that way.

I know you guys have beat this to death over the years, I've been following all the ADA Signage threads, and read all the old ones as well, but I could use some advice in these areas.

I'm grateful to all who share their knowledge here.

Sotos

[Ross Moshinsky]

The issue with a rotary engraver and CNC machine is the fact the material may vary in thickness and in flatness. When you're talking about drilling essentially 1/32" deep every time, it can be tricky. I think the answer is a really flat table with a good vacuum source if you want to do multiple pieces at once.

As for inserting the balls, I found Keith's method worked well enough. He suggests using a #2 punch from Stanley. When the holes are drilled the proper depth, a light tap with a hammer keeps the balls in well. They key is getting the holes deep enough though. My first attempt I forgot to make the spindle on my rotary really stiff and it resulted in too shallow of holes. When I went to tap in the rasters they didn't go in far enough. I hit them harder and then they basically got destroyed. The regulations do allow some variation in depth (unless if you're in California) but the reality is, it's very doubtful that anyone is going to test the actual depth to make sure the balls are only raised .025-.037". You just have to do your best.

Personally I know if I got a big order or if I started to do this regularly, I'd either get the pen or more likely get the CNC attachment. They have videos on YouTube of various options that can be fitted to nearly any CNC machine. Maybe Keith or someone else with more experience knows better than me about those devices but to me they seem like a life saver and worth the $2000.

[Scott Shepherd]

The rotary engraver works because it drills down until the nose cone hits the top of the work, so no matter the thickness of the material, the holes are always the same depth.

[Ross Moshinsky]

The rotary engraver works because it drills down until the nose cone hits the top of the work, so no matter the thickness of the material, the holes are always the same depth.

For thin material or flexible material, yes. For something like Corian, not so much. I'm also not a fan of the nose cone because it can leave rub marks on materials. We basically stopped using nose cones years ago because it caused more problems than it solved.

[Scott Shepherd]

Maybe your nose cone works different than mine. Our nose cone doesn't move. It acts as nothing but a stop for the bit to cut the braille. Soft and hard materials, it works fine for us. Never left a mark on a single braille sign.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Same thing as ours. Braille it might work fine. Any time of engraving it's not worth using IMO. If you're doing a border for instance, it's obviously dragging the nose along the material. If it gets to a high point it starts to push the material down a bit and digs in. You can get some really nasty rub marks.

Maybe since there is no dragging and its just dropping and lifting the nose cone would work in this application. For engraving, we've found it to be worthless. I wouldn't want to try to do the vector cutting on it with the nose cone either. Still going to cause the rub marks. I'd guess most use lasers for that anyway.

[Scott Shepherd]

I agree with the dragging on engraving. I never mentioned engraving, just answering a question about putting holes in and how we do it. We don't engrave or vector cut our ADA signs on a rotary, we only use it for putting holes in them for the braille. Works like a champ.

[Sotos Patistas]

Thanks for weighing in guys, much appreciated, helps a lot!

Sotos

[Gary Malone]

Ditto what Scott said, I have the same Xenetech machine and it is a breeze to drill the holes all to the perfect depth and I too have never had a scuff mark from the nose cone. Same is true engraving plastic, no scratches, but any metal and it will drag the filings into the surface and scratch it badly.

[Mick A Martin]

I have been using my CNC to drill the Brialli holes in Corian ..... No problem

[Sotos Patistas]

Thanks much for letting me know. One sign at a time is good enough for now. Bits are on the way, I'll report back if I have success.