Planning to buy soon but need some help

[fwharris]

If your going to make a stamp I would just do a raster carve with a carve region around the stork to carve out the background to make the stork stand proud.

[wynpotter]

Thanks for the detailed info,
If each stamp were sized to fit on a 2inx2inx.25in depth area and it was laid out on a 12inx12inx1in board, what bit should be used and what cutting rate would you suggest. After the carving I would cut these out on a table saw to make the final pieces.I know bigger machines would be better for larger scale production, but starting small to see if it's a good idea.
Any other thought are gladly welcomed.
Wyndham

[fwharris]

For this stork to be a good stamp at the size you are saying, you would need to use the 1/32" ball nose (carving bit) set at best bit optimization and uploaded with optimal carve quality to get good detail.

[wynpotter]

Thanks, got some learning to do.
Wyndham

[Mike58]

you also need to add "draft" (brown upside down looking T to the right of "feather" on the toolbars) so there is some "meat" below the edge that will be the stamp surface. If it is just carved out it will be very thin and fragile. Stamps are made the same way for durability too. The top surface (as looked at) will be the smallest with everything tapering as it goes down to the base of the stamp.

[lynnfrwd]

Don't forget, if you are making a stamp that it will be reversed when used. So text should be backwards.

[wynpotter]

Yes I can see where it's easy to make a mistake on both flipping the image and how delicate a small cut can be.
This brings me to another question about cutting time.
Is there a method where one board is tapped either with double sided tape or other method where the image is vector cut (cutline) through the first board(1/2 in thich or what ever is correct thickness) down to the tape layer where the "Rockart image" stays in-place as it is cut out, then after the cut out can be lifted from the backing board and mounted onto a different backing block. This would cut down the cut time. Or can the board be turned over ,centered and the base cut leaving tabs to hold the stamp in-place until cut out by hand
If one uses a 1/32 bit it would seem there would have to be multiple passes to get the correct depth.
I realize these are scattered thoughts but just brainstorming to get a handle on this.
Thanks Wyndham

[mtylerfl]

Hi Wyndham,

Maybe I'm not following your reasoning or question, but if I were making stamp blocks, I would just use one piece of 3/4" material, carve around your silhouette down to the required depth (I don't think you need to go very deep for a stamp...maybe between .125" to .25" is all...and maybe not even anywhere near THAT deep, depending if you'll be inking on a stamp pad or rolling ink on manually), then cut out the entire stamp block either using the CW Cut Path feature or if the stamps are plain squares or rectangles, cut them free using my table saw. Am I missing something? If so, holler!

Here's a link to a Blog Joe L. wrote about how he created stamps for stamping T-shirts and cards:
http://www.carvewright.com/carving-t...ristmas-cards/

(some of the image links are broken...CW is changing internet services and still in the process of getting the new website design worked out, etc.)

[wynpotter]

I work in clay and the stamps I use need to be about twice as deep as an inking stamp. I sometimes get caught up in details that turn out to be irrelevant. This usually occurs when I'm working out the details on a new venture.
That being said, i go back to a previous thread where a 1/32 ball nose bit was recommended. Am I wrong in thinking that it would take 4 passes to get to 1/4 deep and 32x4(passes) per 1in x 1 in sq times 4 sq in(2inx2in). I maybe missing a great deal since I have never tried cnc. I'm just in the dark and your solution may be the better way, I sometimes get caught up in numbers that in the end don't really matter.
Thanks for the info & patience
Wyndham

[bergerud]

If you post a picture of an example stamp, it would go a long way. We may even be able to make one for you to see.