Eye for detail

My grandfather, Arthur Eglen, started the firm back in 1939 and he brought a German en-graving machine; it was the last machine  to be shipped into the UK before the war broke out. We do not have it anymore, but some of the older machines we do have still get used for the more traditional work that we do, although most work is done by computer nowadays.

We used to do engraving the old-fashioned manual way in the past with the old, manual machines and we have gradually moved over to computerised machines. We have a large-format machine to do the bigger work and some smaller machines for smaller engraving jobs. We have also branched into glass, jewellery, cups, and trophies so we can engrave onto that, as well as metals and plastics.

It feels pretty much the same in terms of what is popular now and what used to be popular. We do a lot of work in metals, brass, aluminium, and also plastics. We supply a lot to sign-makers as well as industrial work for engineers and electricians.


There has always been demand for the high quality work. A lot of people go into engraving nowadays and do not know what they are doing, but we have the traditional skills that we can then transfer to the digital work of today. There is more to it than just buying a machine, the traditional skills and the experience really cannot be taken for granted.

The family has been in the business for three generations from my grandfather, to my father, Gordon Eglen, to myself. We are trained in all of the engraving skills and give a fair price for high quality products. You have to have an eye for signs and that sort of thing only comes with experience, the experience that we have at Eglen.

A personal touch


Trotec has identified a significant increase in the requirement for personalised gift signage in recent years, which has become a prominent market alongside the traditional requirements within the signage industry to personalise each product to the customer’s needs.
 
Whether engraving wooden wedding plaques, personalised to the bride and groom in order to stand out from competitors on websites such as ‘Not On The High Street’, branding large-format acrylic company signage or adding unique barcodes and serial numbers to industrial labels, customers are looking to streamline their production methods.


To meet these requirements Trotec have developed industry leading laser engraving machines, which have the ability to link to databases and SAP as well as generate random unique numbers, barcodes, and QR codes. This allows customers to link the data they require to be personalised on the engraved product to the laser with no additional manual input required, significantly reducing time and man power.

Personalised products also regularly require a unique material specification. In order for engravers to personalise a range of products in one laser job, often featuring varying materials, a Trotec Laser is able to automatically adjust the engraving power to accommodate, enabling wood, acrylic, metal plus many more to be processed on one laser bed. This is done by colour coding the design and allocating each to a material on the laser’s extensive database. This gives engravers the noteworthy advantage of being able to complete multiple jobs without pausing the laser to manually change materials, thus reducing production time scales.

Only the best will do


The technology we all carry in our pockets is so smart, our photos can be manipulated in seconds. So, the consumer’s expectations of what should be possible in terms of personalisation services have been raised exponentially. When it comes to printed personalised products, one or two colours just does not cut it anymore, only full colour will do.

Demand for engraving has continued to grow, right through the full colour digital UV-cured print revolution characterised by the Roland LEF range of flatbed printers. The reason for this is that engraving represents a permanence, a classical prestige form of personalisation. It is hard to innovate a technology which has been around for centuries. But, Roland did just that with the introduction of the Metaza impact printer.


Now in its 5th generation, the MPX-90 is a marvel in compact, affordable engraving. What makes the Metaza MPX-90 so innovative is that it has the ability to permanently engrave both vector and bitmap images. If you want a photo engraved on a keyfob, no problem. It does not matter how complex the artwork is, logos, text, and photos can be engraved onto a wide assortment of metal products, including key fobs, pens, card cases, memory sticks, and bar tools. Not having to worry about converting artwork has introduced the reality of economically engraving short-runs or even single bespoke items affordably, dispelling the age old mantra of ‘sorry, you’ll have to buy 100 minimum…’

I joined the engraving industry in 1989, so I have witnessed the transition from manual pantograph engravers through to computerised rotary and laser technology. In that time, the two biggest innovations for me has been the Metaza, and the evolution of engraving design software. All Roland engraving machines are ‘open technology,’ which means they can be driven by all the leading design programs. The work we can produce now is not just a reception sign, it is a multi-dimensional sculpture, high quality, artistic, and highly profitable. If you thought engraving was ‘old hat,’ it is time to have your eyes opened to a new era.

Ahead of the game


We were established in 1989 and have three separate businesses that are advertised separately. One is in trophies and awards, one is in commercial engraving, and one is in industrial engraving. For the trophies and awards, we do anything from trophies for children for a football achievement, to trophies for corporate businesses such as First Direct and Marks and Spencer.

On the commercial side, it is anything from small labels for someone who comes in off the street to large office signs; the latest work we do is with our new Corian plaque range. On the industrial side, we do anything from a small label marking heating and ventilation, up to control panels for power stations, office blocks or railways. That is the scope of what we do here.

We have etching equipment, rotary engraving equipment, laser engraving, digital print, flatbed, wide-format, dye-sublimation print, glass engraving equipment, and computerised trophy engraving.


The market for personalisation is growing, I believe because more people want to mark their equipment with their own name or leave their contact details on products that they are selling or manufacturing. On the giftware side, people are looking to give something that is more personal by putting some engraving onto it.

The technology nowadays is helping to do that, whereas it could not do that 25 years ago when we started. The basics of engraving are not that much different but the technology does make it easier. We combine different formats of print, engraving, and etching to give the customer a product that they actually want.

We started as engravers and have maintained that throughout, but taken on different processes such as print and etching, which assists in the engraving product. We are always looking for new products and always keeping up with the latest technology (there is very few pieces of equipment that are older than five years) that will help us.

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