Braille Inserter

[Kat Gilland]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Braille inserter other than the one from Accent?
I recently purchased a new one to replace an old one that has been wearing out. The new one arrived defective but the company expects me to pay for repairs.

 

[JBurton]

You mean like the fish tank motor with a rubber hose? Or the actual pen with braille bead reservoir?

 

[Kat Gilland]

You mean like the fish tank motor with a rubber hose? Or the actual pen with braille bead reservoir?

LoL the pen with the bead reservoir. I'm poking around and not seeing much on the market

 

[JBurton]

Not really, we just got one ordered in from johnson plastics, finally upgraded from our old vacuum style, I swear to god it's a fish tank bubbler pump that has the intake reversed, hose goes to a metal pen, you vacuum up each bead individually and place it, then go to the next. Did you order direct from accent?

 

[Kat Gilland]

Not really, we just got one ordered in from johnson plastics, finally upgraded from our old vacuum style, I swear to god it's a fish tank bubbler pump that has the intake reversed, hose goes to a metal pen, you vacuum up each bead individually and place it, then go to the next. Did you order direct from accent?

No, Johnson Plastic Plus

 

[JBurton]

So I would contact accent about it, let them know you purchased new, provide the serial number, and find out what they'd offer as far as warranty or repair costs. The only other one I know of is really a downgrade, or the automated one that goes in the spindle, that requires further tinkering or upgraded software to get it to work.

 

[CanuckSigns]

That's odd, about 15 years ago we lost everything in a fire, when I called accent they sold us a new inserter pen for a reasonable cost since we already paid for the license (which is what the pen is, I believe the patent is on the inserter)

I would call accent directly, they are really good people, Johnson Plastics are just resellers and don't have the authority to make these types of decisions.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Not really, we just got one ordered in from johnson plastics, finally upgraded from our old vacuum style, I swear to god it's a fish tank bubbler pump that has the intake reversed, hose goes to a metal pen, you vacuum up each bead individually and place it, then go to the next. Did you order direct from accent?

You can step it up (from DIY) a notch with "electronic tweezers". Never mind the list prices -- I picked up a couple on eBay for about $100/ea., years ago. They work great! (I also use them for pulling ink through lines)

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/chip-quik-inc/TV-1000/3645048?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20232005509&gbraid=0AAAAADrbLlhvC0IPqFY9YBKIILK6chYz9&gclid=CjwKCAjw3f_BBhAPEiwAaA3K5JSOmpUQMvXK6VI0vTdMMF803ymTIUpkv2khdyI7DTvnDwziFBMU5BoCDoQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[B_Rollins]

You could also try the Quill ADA applicator. It is UV curable resin and can be installed on a cnc or engraver. https://www.quillada.com/

 

[tulsagraphics]

You could also try the Quill ADA applicator. It is UV curable resin and can be installed on a cnc or engraver. https://www.quillada.com/

Interesting!

 

[citysignshop]

...oh, I'd totally go crazy!...just watching that little Quill thing.... poop tiny dots all day!.....its'........so.........mesmerizing..........can't ........stop...........looking......

 

[Jrassel]

All we use are accent inserters. Usually 3 on backup. Would take a ton of inserters to justify dedicating an entire machine bed to a quill

 

[JBurton]

All we use are accent inserters. Usually 3 on backup. Would take a ton of inserters to justify dedicating an entire machine bed to a quill

In theory you can hot swap it. The main drawback I see is needing a clean bed, otherwise dust will contaminate the dots until they get cured.

You can step it up (from DIY) a notch with "electronic tweezers".

Ya know, I've never really thought about the setup much, but I believe it was bought vs rigged. I'd never heard of electronic tweezers until now, but that's exactly what the setup does, except ours has a brass tip for pushing them into place, not sure if these tips are rubber or hard enough plastic. I can't for the life of me find a picture of a similar setup, so you may be right.

 

[tulsagraphics]

In theory you can hot swap it. The main drawback I see is needing a clean bed, otherwise dust will contaminate the dots until they get cured.

Ya know, I've never really thought about the setup much, but I believe it was bought vs rigged. I'd never heard of electronic tweezers until now, but that's exactly what the setup does, except ours has a brass tip for pushing them into place, not sure if these tips are rubber or hard enough plastic. I can't for the life of me find a picture of a similar setup, so you may be right.

About 25 years ago I worked for an electronics company (PCB board mfg. and board population -- aka soldering parts to motherboards). Employees used those "electronic tweezers" to handle the tiny parts for soldering. That's where I got the idea.
The tips are aluminum -- straight tips are plenty strong for applying downward force. Dip the vacuum tip in the bead bottle and go. It's pretty fast.

 

[JBurton]

Dip the vacuum tip in the bead bottle and go. It's pretty fast.

Wait, I didn't think you were actually using this? I mean, it's not bad, but if you find yourself doing more than a handful a month, the accent pen is about 3-5x faster. Also, saves on the carpal tunnel feelings...

 

[tulsagraphics]

Wait, I didn't think you were actually using this? I mean, it's not bad, but if you find yourself doing more than a handful a month, the accent pen is about 3-5x faster. Also, saves on the carpal tunnel feelings...

I don’t do much braille, so I couldn’t justify the inserter cost. Maybe 10-12 small signs per year. I mostly use my EGX for routing acrylic and ACM letters.

 

[CanuckSigns]

All we use are accent inserters. Usually 3 on backup. Would take a ton of inserters to justify dedicating an entire machine bed to a quill

I'm not sure what you mean by this?
I've used the raster system for about 10 years, it's a solid system and definitely made us some money over the years.
About a year ago we decided to give the quill a shot, we regularly get orders for 200+ signs with braille and the braille was always a bottleneck, mostly because Noone wanted to insert the beads for 5+ hours a day.
The quill system is easily 5-10x faster than we were with our raster setup. We can now apply braille to 200 stairwell signs in an afternoon, and if something messes up you just wipe the uncured resin off the sign and try again, with the raster system, if a single hole isn't drilled deep enough, it's a major PITA to fix.

When we first got the quill, there were a few bugs that needed to be ironed out, but they do take feedback seriously and have worked out most of the issues.

I can't imagine going back to drilling holes and inserting beads!

 

[tulsagraphics]

CanuckSigns Just curious... how do folks send you orders for big ADA jobs?

In my experience, 95% of the big jobs literally start with a GM walking in with a big stack of blueprints "Here, figure out what we need to be compliant and bid it". Oof. Who has time for that?
(This was great when I had an architecture student working for me -- I'd just give it all to him. He loved it. lol)

Was I just unlucky with clients? Or is that how most ADA jobs go?

 

[CanuckSigns]

CanuckSigns Just curious... how do folks send you orders for big ADA jobs?

In my experience, 95% of the big jobs literally start with a GM walking in with a big stack of blueprints "Here, figure out what we need to be compliant and bid it". Oof. Who has time for that?
(This was great when I had an architecture student working for me -- I'd just give it all to him. He loved it. lol)

Was I just unlucky with clients? Or is that how most ADA jobs go?

I've lucked out, my 3 largest ADA customers are commercial door companies that specialize in high rise condominiums, they get hired to install all the doors, they put a list together of what they need, then they install them when the doors are installed, takes their installer an extra 5 minutes and they add a very healthy markup, so they are happy to do it.

 

[tulsagraphics]

I've lucked out, my 3 largest ADA customers are commercial door companies that specialize in high rise condominiums, they get hired to install all the doors, they put a list together of what they need, then they install them when the doors are installed, takes their installer an extra 5 minutes and they add a very healthy markup, so they are happy to do it.

Nice!