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| This is a guide to making rubber stamps on the laser cutter.
| | These are notes and files relating to the 'Learn To Solder' Robot Badge. |
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| == Stuff required ==
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| Firstly you will need some laser rubber, which can safely be cut on the laser cutter without loads of fumes.
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| There are only a couple of suppliers that I have found (please add any, if you know) in the UK:
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| *[http://www.laserprouk.com/laser-rubber.htm Laser Pro UK]
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| *[http://www.grafityp.co.uk/ GrafityP UK - where I bought my laser rubber from]
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| I had to buy this in bulk as shipping was quite expensive. Its around £7 a sheet, plus £6 p&p, plus VAT.
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| If you would like a small bit to try then I am selling the excess from mine at £5 for an A6 piece (1/4 A4 - enough to make a load of stamps). Email matt_AT_re-innovation.co.uk.
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| Laser rubber is pretty boring and looks like this:
| | == Links == |
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| [[File:laserrubber1.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| You will also need a rubber stamp ink pad and some structure to hold the stamp (a block of wood with a handle). I used this automatic inking rubber stamp as it was going up for grabs.
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| [[File:laserrubber2.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| == Make your stamp image == | |
| Make your image on your favourite graphics package. The image should be just black and white, as there is no graduated colour on a stamp. Make sure its the correct size.
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| Remember:
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| *It needs to be printed white where you want the image and black where you want it cut away (generally invert the colour on the image)
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| *Also remember is to mirror the image, as it will be printed in reverse (I didn't do this on my first one).
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| Export it as a bitmap or jpeg.
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| == Cut out the stamp with the laser cutter ==
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| We will be using the laser cutter as a laser engraver (actually thats what this laser machine is).
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| Import the image into the laser cutter program (The amazingly named 'Newly Draw' in Nottinghack case).
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| Test it out on a piece of wood - does it look OK?
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| To cut the rubber, the settings I used are: <del>speed 50, power 200. This made a reasonable depth (around 1mm).I would suggest using even slower speed to make it even deeper. I will check next time with just 20 as the speed.</del> '''Edit:''' Making the laser go slowly makes the rubber heat up and expand and causes distortion on the cut surface. After loads of attempts, I have found the best settings to be high power (400) and high speed (200) and then do two passes with the laser.
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| [[File:laserrubber3.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| [[File:laserrubber4.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| Cut the stamp out with a sharp knife. Any point edges might affect the stamp, so go pretty close to the raised surface. You can see in the next photo that I get a load of ink around the edges. I should either cut it off or stick it down onto a more rigid surface.
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| Glue the stamp onto some wood backing (with handle added). Prime with ink and stamp everything in sight.
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| [[File:laserrubber5.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| Some of the rubber stamps I have made recently:
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| [[File:Rubberstamps_small.jpeg|400px|center]]
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| == Links ==
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| *[http://www.epiloglaser.com/sc_stamps.htm Info from Epilog Laser]
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| *[http://learn.adafruit.com/laser-custom-stamps AdaFruit Laser Stamp tutorial]
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| [[Category:Projects]] | | [[Category:Projects]] |
| [[Category:Projects (complete)]] | | [[Category:Projects (complete)]] |
| [[Category:Featured]] | | [[Category:Featured]] |
These are notes and files relating to the 'Learn To Solder' Robot Badge.
Links