In addition to all the other cool ideas here, I’m excited about the potential for making embossing folders. For those unfamiliar with these tools of the papercrafting hobby, you have a folded (usually A2 sized) piece of plastic that has a positive image on one side and negative on the other. You put a piece of paper in the folder and run the sandwich through a rolling system (like a Cuttlebug or Big Shot). What you get is a dry-embossed raised image. I’m wondering what type of plastic would be best to use for this.
I’d also like to make art stamps, preferably by cutting photopolymer rather than rubber, because you can see through it to position your image. I understand you can laser cut silicone, but silicone does not hold ink well for an art stamp. Anyone know if there is a laser cuttable photopolymer substrate out there?
Delrin works well for embossing and is laser engravable. Never tried in a folder but it is used for embossing quite regularly.
A source for a clear laserable polymer is rubberstampmaterials. The standard laser polymer or art stamp laser polymer will both work. While you’re at it you can laser cut and make your own acrylic blocks for the stamps as well.
In Japanese woodblock printing (Ukiyo-e) they do this all the time. I theory you could engrave a positive image on wood and rub a piece of paper on it and it will emboss. Here is a fantastic example of my hero carver David Bull http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0019.php
you could use the laser to cut out the design in a medium weight plastic and use the cut out pieces as the raised by gluing to one inside of the folder and the cut out to the other side so when folder is closed, the pieces go into each other. Similar to making an embosssing folder with the silhouette using ceral box cardboard, some type of plastic sheet cut with the GF would be more sturdy however,
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