Making Leather Stamps

[dprezgay]

I know I'm opening a can of worms here but here it goes.

I want to make some custom leather stamps.  The kind you make with a piece of metal and a cnc machine.  I know that I can get them made but I need to make a lot of them for some projects I want to do.  These would be for personal use or for use in the leatherwork classes I teach with Scouts.  Some will be used once or twice and others might be used hundreds of times.  I will probably recycle them, after I'm done with them, by melting them and turning them into "raw" material to make more stamps.

Example 1 - My wife is a High School math teacher.  She also runs the Rubic's Cube club along with having a bridge building competition team.  She was born on 3/14 which is considered Pi Day and also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday.  I want to build a portfolio briefcase that incorporates all this onto it.  I plan on making a border with a meandering stamp with as many digits of Pi that I can fit going around the whole front and back piece.  There will be a Rubic's Cube, a swivel knife portrait of Einstein (the one with his tongue sticking out) and lots of common math formulas for the different classes she teaches.  Some will look very formal (like they were typed) and some I want to look like they were written. 

Example 2 - I want to make custom stamps for the different events that are held in our local BSA Council.  Like one for the 2020 Summer Camp so scouts can make something with the 2020 logo and year on it.  

Example 3 - I want to make some custom stamps (like the Craftool 2D/3D stamps) that you use a mallet on.

This is only a few of the ideas I have.

What I would like to know is:

    Who should I talk to about this?  The same companies that do the "Maker's" stamps don't want to talk to me because they think I want to do this as a business. 

    Would it be a machinist? 

    Someone that runs a trophy store?   

    A mechanical engineer? 

    Who can tell me what equipment and software I should use?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dale  

    

 

     

 

[HaloJones]

I have made only 1 stamp (a tiny mule foot) which I 3D printed using PETG filament, I expect it to last some years 

I used free software called Tinkercad as I have zero CAD skills.

if you have, or want justification to get a 3D printer it’s a viable option to do it yourself 

Recycling 3D filament is possible but I personally don’t think the effort justified the saving, I think in materials my stamp cost 10p!

If you just want numbers then many existing options exist, see any leather tool supplier  

[dprezgay]

I don't know what type of detail I could get from a 3d printed stamps.  I just watched some videos on it and it looks promising.  I'm going to anchorage at the end of October and there is a makerspace there.  I'll do some testing there and see what I can come up with.  The formulas I want to make into stamps might be as simple as 2+2=4 or complex trigonometric equations or geometric symbols.  I might want it to look like it was typed, like from a textbook, or I might want it to look like it was written on a chalkboard.  I might want it small or large.  The mass produced alphabet and number sets would be totally inadequate for this project.  But if I could get the right amount of detail, this would be the cheapest way to go.  

Sure, someone with skill could effectively use a swivel knife and carve formulas and math symbols all day and it would look fantastic.  But I have done almost nothing with a swivel knife.  With Scouts, we only work on small projects and the classes are not long enough to do anything but stamping. 

If 3d printed, I wouldn't be able to recycle them for my own reuse.  Only if I was making them out of brass or some other metal would I be able to possibly melt the stamp and metal shavings to reuse.

Also I wanted to use metal on some stamps so we can use them with a mallet and not a press of some kind.  Mainly for a camp logo or event logo that the Scouts can use.  It might be used hundreds of times.

Thanks for the response.

 

Dale

 

[HaloJones]

I used the PETG one with a mallet & have seen logos done the same way too

[chrisash]

For the numbers of each type of stamp , it would be hard to beat Tandy's price and no doubt they would give you a good discount for a large order

That BK and others charge four times the price or more gives some idea that its not a cheap option to have them made unless serious quantities ordered or long established firm, 

Yes i know bk and the likes looks for higher profit, but i guess sell far lower sales numbers in stamps

Edited September 30, 2019 by chrisash

[mikesc]

BK and Arbalet12 etc are more expensive, because ( amongst other things ) their stamps are far far far better than the Tandy ones, it is not merely a question of "profit" margins, and , or final retail price over initial materials price.

Edited September 30, 2019 by mikesc

[chrisash]

Agreed, but OP was looking at cheap stamps, which must mean cheaper than Tandy, and only real choice is to get them made in the far east or negotiate with Tandy, I cannot see a US maker doing them less than Tandy 

[mikesc]

No one is going to "custom make" ( not even in the Far East ) for less than the Tandy "off the shelf" price..But for better "off the shelf quality" than Tandy, and cheaper..Goods Japan.

[dprezgay]

Were a little off topic now.  

I'm not interested in making any figure carving stamps like Barry King or any of the others.  I want to know how to make custom 3D stamps like the Tandy stamps.  Not to mass produce them.  I'm talking making one offs.  The kind of stamps that are commonly referred to as "Maker's Stamps".  It is the same principle weather you making a stamp with your name on it or some graphic image to stamp into leather.  I'm not under the illusion that they are going to be cheaper to make.  I know they are going to cost me more.  But, if I make several hundred of them over the next few years, it might be cheaper for me to purchase the equipment than to send them out to get made.  Not to mention the fact that I could have something made within a couple hours instead of days.

So how can I take a  1" thick piece of brass and make it into a stamp using a cnc machine.  Not melting it and pouring into a mold.  Not using hand tools to shape it into what I want.  But taking a 3D image from my computer and have a nice finished stamp come out the other end.

Thanks,

 

Dale

[mikesc]

Ah..if you don't already have a 3D modelling program..
Try FreeCad ..which is free and "cross platform"
it can output Gcode to run a CNC machine.
using path workbench

A CNC machine can also ( by switching the head to a laser, and using a different program, such as laserweb or lasergrbl ) be used as a laser engraver.

You might also want to look into grbl .

There is other software, but if you want "free" those are a start..

HTH :)

You'll find some useful tutorials and items on youtube and instructibles, and there are many dedicated fora.

Edited October 1, 2019 by mikesc