Congrats on the exhibit. Really cool stuff.
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This is outstanding…in its pupose and in its process. I really love the finished paper.
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This turned out beautiful!
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For this project, I used my etching press to make the 12" x 12" snowflake embossment. In the photo below, which shows the paper already pressed,
I first place the negative acrylic mold and a sheet of dry printmaking paper inside of a plastic bag that has been cut open. This allows me to use more pressure from the roller without tearing or cracking the paper. The plastic absorbs some of the pressure and preserves the smoothness of the paper.
Above the plastic is a sheet of foam paper, an 1/8" sheet that can be found in the children’s art section of craft stores. Above that are two thin blankets that also put pressure into the foam sheet, the plastic cover and the paper.
For smaller paper embossments, I use a vacuum system, like a FoodSaver, but this snowflake acrylic panel is too large to use this system. For a detailed explanation of how I make embossments this way, you can watch my YouTube video “Make Detailed Paper Embossments Using a FoodSaver.”
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Could the embossing system pick up small details, like if you wanted to put the braille in the engrave design itself?
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The lines read:
Open
Your
Eyes
Wider
This is a metaphor for exploring new ideas, new ways of presenting things. Those are clay half-spheres on the wall. The artist who make this is Mary Ann Tokars-King.
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Yes, you can create a file for the braille to be shown on the embossed paper. I use a braille transcriptionist person because braille, done correctly, is pretty complicated. You have to know how to modify uncontracted braille (each braille cell represents a letter or symbol) to contracted braille (combinations of letters like “ing”, “sh”, and others) because most braille readers use contracted braille. But, you have a good idea: I have made braille output using my Glowforge. My braille transcriptionist couldn’t find any difference between my Glowforge braille and her output from a professional braille-making machine which is called an embosser.
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Hmm there was a project that used proper braille pins here. Who did that one? Searching…. Here we go
Nice work there too
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Wow, that’s really interesting regarding the braille beads. I didn’t know about this at all. I was able to create braille by experimenting with different diameter holes that the GF drilled into 1/8" plywood. I had to create the braille holes backwards (left to right reversed) so that when paper was pushed into the holes and turned over, the braille read correctly. With the bead system, you could position the braille beads in the correct reading position, not reversed. Thanks for bringing this method to our attention!
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Love it! Great project and grate conversion
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This is great! I love paper projects.
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What a wonderful project! And with the acrylic negative, you can always generate a fresh paper print if the original one gets soiled or damaged.
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Spectacular work! I hope we get a chance to get up there to see it!
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This is awesome!
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Very nice. Is the press necessary? Or can I just set encyclopedias on it?
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I don’t believe you could get enough pressure from stacking books atop the paper and the negative template. If you make the negative template smaller than 11 inches, you could use a FoodSaver tool that utilizes a vacuum system. I have a YouTube video titled “Make Detailed Paper Embossments Using a FoodSaver” that shows how this is done. Hope this helps.
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Very nice work! Could you cut the snow flakes out of the acrylic and have some nice tree ornaments? Maybe add a hole for hanging?
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Yes, you can make snowflake ornaments using acrylic sheets. You could create an svg file of the snowflake’s outline and any holes that needed to be cut out of the design, including the hole for hanging the piece. If you look at the SHOP portion of this website, go to the HOLIDAY section and search for “snowflake.” You will see four or five examples of acrylic snowflakes made by Glowforge community members. Hope this helps.
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Thanks for this link to “An Atlas for the Blind.” Be fascinating to see how they made the original mold that makes these kind of pages. Presently, heated vacuum presses are used with sheets of plastic-like material to produce images somewhat like those shown in this book.
Below is a contemporary page in a graphics book for visually impaired or blind people. It shows a weather map of the United States and uses braille and other raised symbols to indicate various weather conditions.
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