Rotary engraving is the term used to describe engraving
done with a rotating cutting tool in a motorized spindle. The tool, or cutter,
cuts into the surface of the material to a predetermined depth and produces a
groove of the same shape and dimension of the cutter. Rotary engraving can be
performed on a wide variety of materials with plastic, brass, and aluminum being
the most common in the awards industry.Rotary engraving can be done using the simplest pantographs to the most complex computerized engraving machines. The principles are the same on all. On a pantograph, the operator lowers the cutter into the material and then forms the character by tracing a master (copy type, template, etc.). On a computerized machine, the cutter spindle (Z-axis) is lowered mechanically and then is moved laterally (X-axis / Y-axis) by stepper motors to form the characters.