Antares Instruments, Inc
Antares Instruments, Inc. was founded in 1962 originally as a reseller of engraving equipment and accessories and a manufacturer of engraving tools and master copy type. Antares was purchased in 1980 by D.S. Donaldson, Inc. an engraving company, owned by David S. Donaldson. The two companies were later merged and continued operations as Antares, Inc. The engraving portion of the business was discontinued in 1990 and the company concentrated all of its efforts into the manufacture of cutting tools for the engraving and sign industries.
Johnson plastics has been a distributor and has enjoyed a close working relationship with Antares for well over 20 year. We maintain an extensive inventory of the various cutting tools for rotary engraving applications.
Stocked Antares Cutters
ADA Braille Dot Cutters
Tools to help comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We offer both braille dot cutters and tools for ADA cut-out-letters to meet the strict regulatory standards for signage. Our Braille Dot cutter is a tool that routs away the background material and leaves raised braille dots with rounded tops.
View/Order ADA Braille Dot Cutters
ADA Cut-Out Letter Cutter
The Cut Out Letter tool is a quarter round tool with a 22° cutting angle used to create raised characters in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
View/Order ADA Cut-Out Letter Cutter
Bevel Cutters
Beveling is the process of creating a sloped edge on a plate most often through the use of 30° and 45° cutters and a beveling machine. A tapered cutter with a 45° cutting angle is the most popular choice because it creates a more pronounced cut (more of the core of the material is visible).
View/Order Bevel Cutters
Burnishers
Burnishing is a surface marking technique used to expose the bare metal on coated metals. Burnishers are used without a depth nose. Best results are obtained by using very light spindle pressure and a burnishing attachment.
View/Order Burnishers
Cutter-Bevelers
Cuts out and bevels in one smooth operation. A Cutter-Beveler has a parallel cutting edge which profiles or cuts through the material, while the angled edge produces a 45° bevel for a depth of 1/3 to 1/2 of the material thickness. This can be particularly handy for applications such as cutting out badges (on an engraving machine) or producing discs or odd shaped items, which are difficult or impossible to do with a beveler.
View/Order Cutter-Bevelers
Diamond Gravers (Non-Rotating)
Diamond Gravers Non-rotating tools intended for scratch engraving of trophy brass and aluminum. Special 90° diamonds for marking epoxy coated pens are available.
View/Order Diamond Gravers
Parallel Cutters
A tool sharpened parallel will produce a cut with straight edges compared to the "V" or angled cut from the standard tool. The smallest tip size available is .060. When ordering, please specify the depth of the cut required or material thickness if cutting completely through. Antares Parallel cutters are also available with a point for drilling holes.
View/Order Parallel Cutters
Profilers
A cutter with a narrow profile effective for fine detail engraving and cutting out shapes where a slight bevel is acceptable. The standard angle on a Profiler is 15°. Recommended for applications where the smallest Parallel tip available is too wide or too fragile.
View/Order Profilers
Quarter Round Cutters
A cutter with a secondary split perpendicular to that of a standard half round tool, to provide greater chip clearance. Effective for many applications such as engraving stainless steel and acrylic; and profiling soft materials.
View/Order Quarter Round Cutters
Rotating Burnishers for Pens
For engraving coated pens. Standard tip size .003" for fine engraved lines. Unique side cuts in the diamond help to cut away the pen's hard surface coating. Recommended to use a "feather weight" spring loaded cutter knob to replace standard brass knob.
View/Order Rotating Burnishers for Pens
Rotating Diamond Burnishers
Same geometry as a carbide burnisher, but with diamond cutting edges. For surface engraving glass and burnishing - particularly effective on colored aluminum.
View/Order Rotating Diamond Burnishers
Standard Engraving Cutters
Our most frequently used tool for engraving plastics and metals. Antares cutters are made from Micrograin carbide with our exclusive MicroEdge® finish to produce cleaner cuts and stay sharper longer. Standard cutting tools produce a cut with a 30° side angle for plastics and a 40° side angle for metals. They are available in a variety of tip widths.
View/Order Standard Engraving Cutters
Special Order Cutters
Ballnose Cutters
A cutter with a radiused tip that produces a rounded rather than flat bottom. The cutter is extremely effective for reverse engraved, color filled acrylic. Available as a parallel tool (straight sides) or as a conical tool (angled sides). Parallel Ballnose cutters are available from .060" tip to the full shank diameter. Conical Ballnose are available from .010" to half the shank diameter.
Like 3-D cutters, ballnose cutters are intended for reverse engraving in acrylic. The main difference is the shape of the cutter. The 3-D cutter produces a narrow, "V" shaped groove with a flat bottom, while the ballnose cutter produces a straight walled cut with a rounded bottom.
Ballnose Cutters can be special ordered by calling 800-869-7800
Dovetail Cutters
For making an angled undercut in plastic for applications such as directories with slide in legend strips. Produces a 15° bevel. For directory strips, we recommend the use of a 15° Profiling cutter.
Dovetailing is a method of milling slots or channels that have angled side walls yielding an opening that is wider at the bottom than at the top. This type of groove is intended to hold a piece of material whose edges have been beveled at an angle corresponding with those in the slot. When assembled, the mating piece is retained within the channel, but can be moved back and forth. A good example of a dovetail application is the master copy type and copy slide used on manual engraving machines. The copy slide is a dovetailed channel and the type blanks have beveled edges. The type is retained in the slide, but can be moved easily for insertion and removal.
Dovetail Cutters can be special ordered by calling 800-869-7800
Wide Cut Cutters
Cutters which will cut wider than their shank diameter. 1/8" and 11/64" cutters can cut up to .250" wide, 1/4" cutters up to .500" wide. Wide-Cut tools are for engraving plastics only. They are loaded from the bottom of the spindle and used with reduced motor speed and feed rate.
