Panto-Gravers

Panto-Gravers is a small Minnesota industrial engraving company that has consistently produced exceptional results for over 40 years.

Heinz Hoch and son Klaus purchased the business in 1977 and worked together, along with other family members, until Heinz retired in 2006.

Since then Klaus and his brother, Horst, have run the company.  They have a combined 60 years of experience in producing quality industrial engraving.

Panto-Gravers has the experience and skill to take on difficult projects that others can't or won't attempt.  Stainless steel, heat-treated and mild steel, bronze, aluminum, copper, and other metals, or plastics and wood are routinely engraved.

Please give us a call or email us to discuss how we can help turn your vision into reality!

Pantograph Engraving

Pantographs have been used since the early 20th century. In Germany, Deckel and Kuhlmann were the best known makers. In Great Britain it was Alexander and in the U.S. it was Gorton. Certainly this does not include all the various brands but does introduce the major ones. These early machines were used to engrave fountain pens for the F.W. Woolworth Company, dog tags for every child in New York City during WWII and of course endless metal and plastic parts in America and the rest of the world.

The machines come in 2 dimensional as well as 3 dimensional formats. 2 dimensional are used for ordinary numbering, identification or mold and die engraving. 3 dimensional are used to produce various shapes and contours that are not possible to produce with traditional milling equipment.

These machines have, today, been mostly replaced with CNC (computer controlled) equipment and the skill required to run pantographs is quickly becoming a lost art. However there are still many projects that either cannot be done using CNC equipment or can be done more quickly and more economically using pantographs.


(Left)Gorton 2-dimensional pantograph machine. (Right)Deckel 3-dimensional pantograph machine.