Pantographing

[Vetus Ossa]

Hi.

Does anyone know where you can get bike parts pantographed these days, ie: stems and chainrings please?

Cheers

[outontwo]

Many precision mechanical engineering workshops specialising in small batch work would have the equipment & skills to do this. Companies who carry out work for the Ministry of Defence or the Nuclear industry often have to engrave NATO stock numbers and other information using this method rather than identify by stamping or electro-engraving.
My advice is to search for Precision Engineers in your area and give them a call. Failing that, frame restorers like Mercian would probably point you in the right direction.

If you get a chance to watch it being done then do so. It's an ingenious machine!

Cheers

[531colin]

So what does it mean "pantographed"?
.......it doesn't mean "making an exact drawing of...."

[Vetus Ossa]

Pantographing as applied to cycling parts means deep engraving as in the picture below.

[Vetus Ossa]

Thanks outontwo, a couple of good ideas there, and I will contact Mercian, or maybe Argos. There is a vid I have seen somewhere of a stem being pantographed, probably on YouTube of a stem being done, not difficult if you have the right equipment I think.

[Ayesha]

I don't honestly think councils in the UK are going to put up cabling for overhead pick-up electric bicycles.....

[andrewjoseph]

I thought a pantograph was my garmin heartrate readout!

[Slidingpillar]

A pantograph is an affair that takes a master, follows it round, and produces a replica. See Wikipedia for rather full explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph

I bought a few badges produced that way from an old man who supplemented his pension with earnings from this and a few other activities.

You could produce an engraved cycle part by this means, or a few other means to my mind, I'd not call it 'pantographed' unless it was.

[Vetus Ossa]

Thanks all for the advice, and for those obviously too young to understand...this may clarify matters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykMgxNLGYRI

[axel_knutt]

Pantographing as applied to cycling parts means deep engraving as in the picture below.

It's risky engraving highly stressed components, sharp discontinuities can serve as a seed for fatigue fractures.

[andrewjoseph]

Pantographing as applied to cycling parts means deep engraving as in the picture below.

It's risky engraving highly stressed components, sharp discontinuities can serve as a seed for fatigue fractures.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to carve out my bars, stem, seatpost, cranks.