Varieties of Rubber Stamp Making: The Benefits and Disadvantages
Varieties of Rubber Stamp Making: The Benefits and Disadvantages
Laser engraving method is truly costly, but gives a 100% assurance of being of high quality and accuracy. Someone who would want to be successful in the rubber stamp making business may have second thoughts at first as to consider laser engraving because of its “expensive-ness” however this method is beyond comparable.
Another rubber stamp making method is achieved with a use of a chemical or photopolymer process. This, just like laser engraving demands high start-up cost that may range from $400-$4,000 depending in the kind of materials you will use. The following is the step by step procedure on how to create rubber stamps using photopolymer process.
Create a negative of the image or graphic that you need to engrave. How is this done? You have to make an entirely black image/graphic on a plain white background. For colored graphics, the image should be stored or altered to a 2 color format. You can use windows OS “paint”. This switches the colored image into black and white bitman format. As soon as the graphics is entirely black and white, the paint will work on it by altering the hives. A white image is then created on a black background. The process of rubber stamp making depends on the metal plate. The metal plate and matrix board can be made on a partial board through this is not a 100% reliable material because it has a tendency to make the molds and stamps become uneven. Hence, metal plates as much as possible should be obtained from an engraving company. The metal plate is put in a machine together with the matrix board to undergo the process of vulcanization; after this the matrix board becomes not a mold. Rubber is incised to the dimension of the mold, then it is vulcanized thereafter rubber stamp is created likewise through vulcanization. The mold may only work for 40-60 stamp vulcanizations to maximize its efficiency in creating rubber stamps because it is continuously put under heat and pressure.
Single stamps are produced after the rubber has been pushed Kai scissors are the most reliable scissors type to use in cutting the rubber to produce individual stamps. Kai scissors has more than 15 styles of dimension. Moreover, a mounting foam is essential to guarantee that the stamp is intensified well and will not touch the facade of what is stamped.
All that have been discussed are the processes of making rubber stamps with the use of chemical means. The discussion that follows talks about creating rubber stamps when you are just staying at home.
This is the customary or traditional way. This process may also make use of both chemical or non-chemical means, the distinction that this process has compared to other processes that have been discussed is that the materials you will use are those that can be easily found at home. A flat eraser is the artist’s palette. For the non-chemical process, you should create a sketch of the image that you need to etch. Then, with the use of a cutter or knife, carve away the non-inked part of the eraser, this will then leave an embossed or raised graphic that the rubber stamp will impress. If you believe that your drawing skills are not that effective, you may make use of a tracing paper. Draw through tracing the graphic of that you want your rubber stamp to have. Turn the trace caper over then chafe the plan onto the mark. You may also use pin or fork to create indentions of the traced exterior. Although this is not a totally a accurate method, this can still be used. But if you want a more exact method, a chemical process can be done. The graphic should be photocopied in a clear black and white. The image should be damped with acetone. Wet the cotton ball with acetone then push the shady area of the graphic on the eraser. After this, the paper of the photocopied graphic should be taken off from the eraser; hence the image of the desired design has already been transferred onto the eraser by this time.
With the use of a cutter, carve away the areas of the eraser that are not touched by ink, thereby the raised surface of the image you want to impress is created. You may intensify the rubber stamp on a small piece of wood so that your rubber stamp will stay for a longer use. Another advantage of mounting a rubber is that it reduces the possibility of the user’s being in contact with the ink while stamping.
This custom way of creating rubber stamps is indeed attractive but you have to remember that it is too complicated that a simple mistake may lead to a lot of differences – you may even end up working over again. It also takes so much time to be able to produce a rubber stamp. In terms of the cost, compared to other stamp processes, this process may also require you to spend but not so much of a money. Roughly you need $10 for a 1”x1” wooden – mounted stamp: $.75 for the 1”x1” wood block, $.50 for the rubber eraser, $6.0 for the knife or cutter and $2 for the acetone.
A stamp sold online costs around $4-$6. So think it over more carefully because customized rubber stamp making requires a lot of time and careful designing; do you think it would even be better if you just buy stamps from an online or trade supplier?
