Making rubber stamps on the laser cutter

[Helen Roche]

Two questions: firstly, does anyone have any small scraps of laser rubber I could cadge or buy? It's about £10 per A4 sheet but I only want to make a stamp of about 2 inches in size...
Secondly, are there any other, cheaper materials which are good for making stamps, which are OK to cut on the laser cutter?
cheers, 

Helen

[Mark Robson]

Hi,

I have some EVA foam which might work. I think it's about 8mm thick and it cuts ok on the laser.

Mark

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[Helen Roche]

Ooh - thanks Mark - you just reminded me, I have some of that too! I'm not sure it is dense enough to make the rather detailed stamp I want to make. But good to know it can be cut on the laser cutter!

[Paddy Duncan]

I have a spare piece laser rubber you are welcome to, 6 x 3 ½ inch ish…

Not sure when I’ll be in next but next Friday at the latest..

Paddy

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[Helen Roche]

Thanks very much, Paddy, that would be excellent! Could you leave it in the drawer for me?

[Tony Short]

Laserable rubber is nasty stuff, and our laser is a bit high powered for good results.

As for alternatives it depends on the design, the substrate to be printed on and the medium.

T

[Alex Gibson]

It smells terrible – but I had good success with it pre-COVID for a project for UCL, very precise cuts.

The designs I had were simple, rounded rectangles, but had to be very dimensionally accurate, this was no problem. 

 

Tips:

1)      Pick a quiet moment when you don’t have to apologise to everyone for the smell – it lingers a good 10 mins after cutting.  Not overwhelming but a bit acrid and just unpleasant.  Leather was worse!

2)      Put masking tape on the top and bottom surface.  Seems to not only help keep the part clean but even reduce smoke overall?

3)      Get the focus right in the middle of the material – I used the usual focus tool, then raised up about 0.5mm – and did this before adding the masking tape from 1) which will slightly raise it.  This results in the point of focus being within the material.  You then create a smaller volume of smoke for the same cut!

4)      Have the part right at the back of the cut area – this helps the fume extraction!

5)      Don’t worry about laser being over-power, if anything use to advantage, cut somewhat slowly so you’re vaporising the material nicely as you go rather than scorching it.  This is partly how to get away with 2) as this requires the speed to be below the speed at which you are 100% vaporising as you go.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Alex Gibson

 

+44 7813 810 765    @alexgibson3d    37 Royal Avenue, Reading RG31 4UR

 

admg consulting

 

edumaker limited

 

·         Project management

·         Operations & Process improvement

·         3D Printing

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[dz]

have you tried hand carving ?

The method I used here is CNCing the material out . 

does not smell and you have full control thou it is a bit finicky as the material have some flex in it.

Sounds a bit nasty to me to have it laser , suspect the rubber smells afterwards for some time and might transfer to your work piece 

[Helen Roche]

Thanks for comments, all. I've decided to order some natural lino and try that!

[Helen Roche]

Has anyone laser cut on lino, and do you have any tips?

[Helen Roche]

Also, thanks Alex for detailed info. I'll give it a go on Paddy's scrap of laser rubber!

[pad...@padski.co.uk]

It’s now in the drawer, under the packet of pretzels.

Paddy

 

From: reading-...@googlegroups.com <reading-...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Helen Roche
Sent: 28 September 2021 13:31
To: rLab / Reading's Hackspace <reading-...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: pad...@padski.co.uk
Subject: Re: [RDG-Hack] Making rubber stamps on the laser cutter

 

Also, thanks Alex for detailed info. I'll give it a go on Paddy's scrap of laser rubber!

On Tuesday, 28 September 2021 at 13:26:32 UTC+1 Helen Roche wrote:

Has anyone laser cut on lino, and do you have any tips?

On Tuesday, 28 September 2021 at 13:26:02 UTC+1 Helen Roche wrote:

Thanks for comments, all. I've decided to order some natural lino and try that!

On Saturday, 25 September 2021 at 10:38:21 UTC+1 dz wrote:

have you tried hand carving ?

The method I used here is CNCing the material out . 

does not smell and you have full control thou it is a bit finicky as the material have some flex in it.

 

Sounds a bit nasty to me to have it laser , suspect the rubber smells afterwards for some time and might transfer to your work piece 

 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

 

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[Helen Roche]

Thanks Paddy! I also got hold of some lino, so I'll try both and let you all know how they compared.