Hi,
last year, my friends gave me a nickname "Humorist" because of some of my jokes nobody understand (I admit it's quite fair).
But I realised that I'm not the only one to make strange jokes and sometimes I want to approve some of those jokes!
So why not creating my own LABEL?
And I went with the idea of making my own STAMP!
Stamp somebody : IT'S HUMORIST APPROVED !!
This Instructable shows how to:
-Make the stamp itself ( of course )
-Make a very fine tool for engraving
-Make a nice inkwell for your Rubber Stamp
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Signing UpStep 1: Preparation.
First step; preparing your job.
We will need a plaster tile to engrave the stamp.
But plaster has tu cure and dry before being engraved.
so let's do it first.
All you need is a plaster tile in which your stamp can fit ( lets say 15cm X 15cm ),
with a thickness of 1cm (thicker will be too long to cure, and thinner too fragile).
To get a flat surface I poured the plaster in a cereal box cut in halves.
(if you're a bit impatient like I was, accelerate the drying process by putting the tile in your oven at 50°C)
finally you'll get this
We will need a plaster tile to engrave the stamp.
But plaster has tu cure and dry before being engraved.
so let's do it first.
All you need is a plaster tile in which your stamp can fit ( lets say 15cm X 15cm ),
with a thickness of 1cm (thicker will be too long to cure, and thinner too fragile).
To get a flat surface I poured the plaster in a cereal box cut in halves.
(if you're a bit impatient like I was, accelerate the drying process by putting the tile in your oven at 50°C)
finally you'll get this
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This is a great instructable! Especially because of the use of silicon for the actual stamp.
I have a question, though. For us lowly mortals without direct access to a cnc router:
Would it work if I -instead of engraving the plaster/skipping the whole plaster part-
1- send to laser-cut a 1mm mdf with the design (this would be cheaper than cnc-routing)
2- glue the design to a base
3- continue your instructable , framing, filling with glue?
My primary concern beeing if I would be able to get the sealant/plastic/silicon of the mdf.
Do you think it's posible that way?
Plot-cutting the design out of vinyl would not provide enough depth(less than 1mm) for the stamp to work, would it?
Thanks!
Do you know why elephants travel in groups?
The one in the center carries the radio.
Do you know why an elephant stampede gets started?
They have run out of battery.
It a good question! And I would have the same concern about the sealant/silicone sticking too hard to the mdf.
(I keep in mind that sealants are originally made for clinging hard to anything!!)
But I think it must work in certain condition : Not clean surfaces!!
I would try greasing/coating the contact surfaces ( all exposed mdf and base ).
I'll try at home next WE with oil, butter, paraffin oil, wax, dish washing liquid, soap... and post results!.
For the vinyl idea, I think you're right, if should be too thin.
Unless you cut several vinyl sheets and pile them. ( then it might be ok for stamping flat and hard surfaces.)
( I didn't knew the 2 part of elephant joke, very funny)
I used ( from the left to the right ) Paraffin Oil, Sunflower Oil, Wax, Soap, Dish washing liquid.
RESULTS!!
Oils are absolutely not appropriated.
Wax and dish washing liquid are ok,
And SOAP is FABULOUS!!
To get this perfect result you see ( it's a capital M )
you just take a dry soap, and rub it against the wood to cover it perfectly.
I used then a brush, to remove excess of soap. (part of it is stuck to the wood, we want this, and the other part is kind of powder we want to remove, especially in the corners
If you tried something else, share your experiences!
I had fairly big sufaces and went with a poliester plaster (the one used for cars before paint). I have that stuff lying around in 1kg cans I never seem able to finish.
When sanded relatively fine (like grit 600+) you get a hard and smooth surface which is ok for pulling out the silicon. I used oil(cooking) and had a much easier time to get the silicone off.
It didn't occur to me to use just soap. looks like extremely good results! I will definitedly try it out. Next is a rather intricate design..
Thanks for the testing!! I never have the patience to do it that throughout.
It is a very common application to directly engrave on stamp rubber. Most Laser cutting/engraving software lets you import graphics in vector or bitmap format. The stamp function automatically mirrors it and makes a negative. You only need to determine the engraving depht and flank angles.(The default depht and angles are usable for most stamps, only if you have very fine details, you may need to tweak there.)
I'm selling and servicing Lasers for this and other applications for over 10 years, so i made my share of fun stamps during that time ;-))
thanks for appreciating.
From what I see on internet and on Instructables, lots of people, and I'm one of them, build their own cnc machine because they have neither access to a cnc router nor to a laser engraver.
but I agree with you, it would be easier with a laser cutter/engraver, and as you said, it's how half of the stamps in the world are made.
And honestly I'd love to have a Laser cutter; Don't you have one for me?
Those refilled tubes cost more, than a comparable machine from China.(Well, at least comparable from the raw numbers...)
I was once called to a customer with such a chinese machine. I really got the creeps. No security interlocks at all, you could open the cover with 110W of invisible laser rays rummaging around. I wished the customers retina much luck for the future...
So given the fact, that you need to refill the tube after a certain time, it's maybe not such a good idea to have one around privately. If you share it with maybe 10 people, the cost can be divided. I have heard, that in the U.S. there are centers, where you can use such machines and that's what i meant with having access to it.
They are very service-friendly as well.
We sold these machines into industrial production and also on campuses comparable to the MIT. (also to Mom and Pop operations, especially in the stamp business ;-)
These people evaluate thoroughly, before they buy something.
But i also hear good reports about Epilog and also GCC.
So if you get your hands on one of these "brand" machines, you should be ok.
It would be so amazing!
The joke isn't about having a French name on an English stamp, It's more about stamping people who made strange jokes.
That way, with an "Humorist Approved" on the cheek or on the forearm you can't deny you made that weird joke; And it's fun to see it.
I'll try to get you a picture of someone being stamped!
I may not change my profile picture for the reason you said ( and because I love my little light bulb )
but yes, I would definitely insert a stamp picture in future replies, if the joke deserves it.
And from what I've seen all jokes that are already here deserve it, and should be considered as approved!!!
Thanks for the idea!!
Thanks for sharing!
Draw circle.
Leaving compass set at radius place point anywhere on circumference, mark a line crossing circumference, place point on new line at circumference intersection, repeat around entire circle.
Connect lines across from each other, they should intersect in the middle.
One tool, no measuring.
//Your explanation is unclear to me. May I ask you to put a drawing to illustrate?//
OK, sorry, I just understood while writing the end of this reply.
However, is the radius you use ("Leaving compass set at radius") the radius used to draw the circle?
In that case, if you have drawn the circle, wouldn't it be easier to refer to the small hole left by the compass pin?
Here are a couple of my favorites:
What's brown and sticky?
A stick.
Haiku's can be fun.
But sometimes they don't make sense.
Hippopotamus.
Like the Haiku's.
I just made it to sb sitting next to me, he didn't catch it.
However I didn't catch the stick one.
Does "a stick" have an other signification I wouldn't know?
Q. What is brown and "sticky"?
A. A stick!
"sticky"="Stick like".
lol
It's so obvious, I didn't thought about it!!
But any acid should do the job, from WHITE VINEGAR ( good and safe one) to sulfuric acid (Dangerous one).
How many SURREALISTS does it take to change a light bulb?
FISH
How many PERFORMANCE ARTISTS does it take to change a light bulb?
Five, one to scream at the lightbulb while wearing a Viking helmet, one to sing "Baa,baa, black sheep", and four to fill a bathtub with brightly colored power tools.
I especially like the first one!!
the other one is quite true too!
I think you totally got the concept! and if you were close enough to me I would stamp your forearm!!
Two cows are in a field. One turns to the other and says, 'have you heard about that mad cow disease that is going around?' The other cow says, 'what do I care? I'm a helicopter.'
Cheers!