Making Stamps with Inventables Linoleum

[cjbissonnette]

Wanted to try my hand at creating stamps out of linoleum. I got a lot of good advice from:
From this topic thread (@henryhbk, @joe), but ended up using different settings which seemed to work better for me. A lot of threads had many negatives associated with using this material which made it sound like more hassle than it was worth. I did not find this the case at all. By lowering the power and doing multiple passes I was able to get a great depth without a large amount of black gunky residue (which does happen if the material over heats). I also coated the linoleum with masking tape to further protect the non engraved areas (although I do not think this was necessary). The final result photo’s show the before, then after me giving a quick rinse under water for a minute. The stamp cleans up really well. To finish it off I mounted it to two layers of thick draft board, and gave it a spray of clear coat. Turned out extremely well, I can’t wait to make more. As a side note I used this service to generate the logo, which was quick and fun.

I purchased unmounted linoleum from Inventables:

Linoleum

And used the following settings:

Engrave:

Cut

To produce the following results:

Directly After The Cut

Close up on the soot build up

After rinse under water

Final Product From Three Angles:

And the results of using the stamp (my stamping form got better as I practiced):

[userk999]

Great idea, I can see it as an way to integrate our high school’s Art class with the school Shop where our Glowforge is located. I know that linoleum print making is a traditional art project, it would be nice to see it incorporate a new technology.

Is linoleum Glowforge safe?

Does it produce a lot of smoke? It seems like a material that would plug the fans rapidly.

Thanks
K

[cjbissonnette]

Not all linoleum is laser safe, the one I linked I verified to be through inventables. Most linoleum is actually extruded PVC which is extremely toxic and dangerous to burn. The smoke/smell was not bad at all. The smell I would categorize as similar to acrylic, and the smoke is less than what I get when engraving wood. It is far better than leather which is the worst smelling thing I have lasered to date. When engraving anything, a fair amount of smoke is produced however.

[bansai8creations]

Be sure not to confuse real linoleum (which is linseed oil based) with many other sheet or tile floor products (vinyl) that over the years people refer to as “linoleum” (akin to “kleenex” for facial tissue).

If you use the correct terms, and verify the product is defined correctly, you’ll get the right stuff.

And I’ll have to give this a try–I have a linoleum printing block I’ve not yet used (had done a lot of hand carving for embossing a few years ago). You can also get the blocks at good art supply stores.

I think acrylic is a lot worst smelling than any of the leathers I’ve etched & cut to date… but we all have different noses & way we respond to what they pick up!

[joe]

Great job! I see you didn’t make our mistake of not mirroring the artwork. I want to say that it was only time I forgot to mirror the artwork for a stamp. I want to say that.

This reminded me, I was going to post my file for the stamp base!

[joe]

Here it is!

Stamp Base

One of my Christmas projects was a stamp. I decided to design a base to mount my stamp to, than add a nice handle to it. I really liked how it came out, so I decided to share it. [image] [StampBase] Here is a zip file as well, just in case. StampBase.zip (1.3 KB) A couple things to note: The base can be resized to what ever you want, just make sure to recenter the 5 mating holes. They are grouped together, so it should be easy to do. [image] This was designed for thick Draftboard, bu…

[cynd11]

It came out great!

One thing to keep in mind when designing stamps is that you will get better stamping results if you taper the engraving away from the top surface so the base is wider than the stamping surface. It is especially important for fine details, which have a tendency to wiggle when you stamp them due to lack of support.

I put together a quickie guide for doing this (created for clear stamp polymer but the principles are the same):

Art Laser Polymer Stamps How To

Hey folks. I had need of a stamp saying Thank You for some cards I’m making, so I thought I’d walk folks through the process in case you want to try it. First of all, I’m using Art Stamp Laser Polymer from Jackson Marking Products. I prefer it for my stamping as you can mount it to an acrylic block and see through it to where you are stamping. They do also supply the opaque rubber laser stamp material as well, and you would prepare the file the same way, but your settings would be different …

[cjbissonnette]

Thanks for the tutorial. I wanted to keep it easy for my first trial run, but look forward to improving it using this technique!

[Goobdoob]

@cjbissonnette I should just start having notifications pop up anytime you post a new discussion based on testing new materials. Everytime I think of something I’ve done or used in the past prior to and go I wonder what setting I would have to use to make or do this, you’ve apparently just tried. Thank you again for trying something and posting what worked for you (aka might not work for everyone/thing).

[cjbissonnette]

Made a stamp of our dog… One of my favorite laser projects to date.

[davidgal2]

I love your dog’s expression.