It means to mark, for instance, steel plates with a punction, also in steel.
Imagine that you buy several ton of steel plates and, depending on the purchasing requirements, they must be delivered marked, duly identified, according to 3.1B certificate /DIN.



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Note added at 2004-03-10 17:14:28 (GMT)
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Unfortunatelly, it may happend that one / several/ all plates, for some reason or other, do not have this engraving. In the presence of your supplier or of a recognised entity like TÜV, etc, your people will have to do it, so as to comply with specs.

These engravers = punctions, simply explaining it, are contained in a little box; they are also made out of steel, each with a character or a number engraved at one of the ends. Easy... with the help of something heavy, you start to build the mark you need. It will never come out in spite of shotblasting and/or painting operations. Traceability...

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Note added at 2004-03-10 17:25:43 (GMT)
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Granete: Un granete es una especie de puntero, dotado con una punta \"chata\" cónica. Se utiliza sobre todo para marcar el lugar exacto del metal donde se va a taladrar.


v. t. 1. To perforate or stamp with an instrument by pressure, or a blow; as, to punch a hole; to punch ticket.
[imp. & p. p. Punched ; p. pr. & vb. n. Punching.]


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Note added at 2004-03-17 08:37:55 (GMT) Post-grading
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thank you, Maureen, very happy to have been of help to you