Design transfer -- paper stamp

[DJole]

I have a new project, a wallet with a Buddhist design scheme. So I want to put a lotus blossom and an 8 spoked Dharma wheel onto the leather. 

The design looks...well, okay, when I trace it onto the tracing film. However, I really want a lot more precision in the straight lines and curves. Kind of like...well, a stamp!
So, I came up with this idea to make a light stamp:
1) print the design onto paper, at correct size.
2) cut out design, glue onto light cardboard (like a cereal box carton, or something similar). Let dry.
3) using micro-tip scissors, carefully cut the design out.
4) Spray design with art fixative (waterproofing, basically.) Let dry.
5) Case leather, to same dampening for tooling. 
6) Carefully place design onto leather.
7) Use mallet to tap design, stamping it onto the leather. 
And here are the results!

I show the stamp itself, and down below it is the image it created. 

Now I can start tooling, knowing the design is clean and sharp, meaning one less thing I can mess up!

And I can reuse the stamp, if I want to. Another bonus!

[Sheilajeanne]

Cool idea!  And you can always use the impression as a guide, and tool it to deepen it and make it stand out better.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses cereal box cardboard in my leatherwork...except I make templates out of it!

[fredk]

@DJole, very most clever. I never thought of that

5 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses cereal box cardboard in my leatherwork...except I make templates out of it!

oh, I use it for patterns too but also for stiffeners in the likes of the bases of dice- trays, (aka valet trays)

[sbrownn]

This is a perfect example of something that could be drawn in CAD in 10 minutes and printed on a 3D printer in half an hour.  

[Sheilajeanne]

Fred, one of these days, I'm going to get around to making that portfolio I've been wanting to do, and the Cheerios cereal box cardboard will be the stiffener for the covers!  

[tsunkasapa]

If you have a dog, the "Alpo Variety Snaps" boxes are half again thicker that cereal boxes. But they are glued like they need to withstand a bomb. They make great patterns.

[LatigoAmigo]

1 hour ago, sbrownn said:

This is a perfect example of something that could be drawn in CAD in 10 minutes ... 

 ... and cut on a laser in about 30 seconds.

[sbrownn]

52 minutes ago, LatigoAmigo said:

 ... and cut on a laser in about 30 seconds.

Yes, of course but you have to run the laser each time.  Once the pattern is 3D printed it can be used over and over.

My $200 laser wouldn't cut that pattern in 30 seconds but once I printed it on my $200 3D printer I could press it into the cased leather in about 5 seconds.  If time is the consideration and you are just transferring a pattern it's hard to beat a die you can press...if someone has a better suggestion I'm all ears.

One time I tried to print a pattern that would actually cut the leather like a swivel knife.  I could press a pattern deep enough to tool it but it wasn't the same quality as a knife cut pattern.  I could get the edge thin enough but I couldn't get it strong enough to withstand the pressure it took to make a cut over a large perimeter.

[LatigoAmigo]

1 hour ago, sbrownn said:

Once the pattern is 3D printed it can be used over and over.

I guess what I meant to say was that one could cut the die out of acrylic or plexiglass in about 30 seconds on a 100 watt laser, then use the die over and over.

But I can certainly see the advantages of the 3D printed die. A great option if you have access to one.

Edited July 9, 2021 by LatigoAmigo

[tsunkasapa]

 Assuming one has those pieces of tech bullsnot. 

[LatigoAmigo]

45 minutes ago, tsunkasapa said:

 Assuming one has those pieces of tech bullsnot. 

Digital technology was not available when I started doing leather over 50 years ago, but when drawing software came out about 30 years ago, I really embraced it. With drawing programs and assorted computer driven machinery I can do more and better work than I ever imagined. 

But you don't have to own this stuff, you can access it by joining what is called a "maker space", and use their equipment. Of course, you have to be fortunate enough to have one nearby. Some community colleges also own this equipment, plus they offer training in this technology. It looks like the future to me.

[Rahere]

You folks should help Frodo and company on a mandala here, https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/96399-little-help-here/?tab=comments#comment-654914

They see the pattern but not the mantra, so force the flow.

 

[fredk]

5 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

If you have a dog, the "Alpo Variety Snaps" boxes are half again thicker that cereal boxes. But they are glued like they need to withstand a bomb. They make great patterns.

I am NOT getting a dog just so I can buy its food boxes! Its bad enough that I choose cereal for ME by the size of the box!  

 

2 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

 Assuming one has those pieces of tech bullsnot. 

 I don't have any of those fancy toys. But I do have lots of very nice and very sharp knives and scalpels and a DTP comp proggy

 

1 hour ago, LatigoAmigo said:

But you don't have to own this stuff, you can access it by joining what is called a "maker space", and use their equipment. Of course, you have to be fortunate enough to have one nearby. Some community colleges also own this equipment, plus they offer training in this technology. It looks like the future to me.

Not available in N.I. afaik. I've asked about and whilst some colleges have equipment its non-accessible to outsiders at all, just to enrolled students on Tech courses and they can only do stuff on their course. Talk about being in the 'dark ages'?!

Edited July 9, 2021 by fredk

[Rahere]

12 minutes ago, fredk said:

I am NOT getting a dog just so I can buy its food boxes! Its bad enough that I choose cereal for ME by the size of the box!  

 

 I don't have any of those fancy toys. But I do have lots of very nice and very sharp knives and scalpels and a DTP comp proggy

 

Not available in N.I. afaik. I've asked about and whilst some colleges have equipment its non-accessible to outsiders at all, just to enrolled students on Tech courses and they can only do stuff on their course. Talk about being in the 'dark ages'?!

There's one in Belfast. https://www.hackspace.org.uk/

[tsunkasapa]

2 hours ago, LatigoAmigo said:

Digital technology was not available when I started doing leather over 50 years ago, but when drawing software came out about 30 years ago, I really embraced it. With drawing programs and assorted computer driven machinery I can do more and better work than I ever imagined. 

But you don't have to own this stuff, you can access it by joining what is called a "maker space", and use their equipment. Of course, you have to be fortunate enough to have one nearby. Some community colleges also own this equipment, plus they offer training in this technology. It looks like the future to me.

Nothing I have any interest in. As I said, tech bullsnot.

[fredk]

That place does not actually exist anymore. Its what we call a ghost.

When it was open, it was only a meeting place with high prices. They did not have either any equipment nor experienced advisors. We have a lot of these types of business who's only aim is to get public money to run empty places

Edited July 10, 2021 by fredk

[Sheilajeanne]

That's sad, Fred.  

[LatigoAmigo]

2 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

As I said, tech bullsnot.

Well, that's a happy thought.

[fredk]

Deviation over

Back to the main subject; if you were yo increase the card thickness, say, by gluing on another layer or two you could impress the design deeper

[DJole]

4 hours ago, fredk said:

Deviation over

Back to the main subject; if you were yo increase the card thickness, say, by gluing on another layer or two you could impress the design deeper

That is true. But I only wanted a light impression to guide the swivel knife cuts. 

[chuck123wapati]

12 hours ago, DJole said:

That is true. But I only wanted a light impression to guide the swivel knife cuts. 

its a great idea very easy and simple.

[DJole]

11 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

its a great idea very easy and simple.

It just takes time and patience to cut all the fiddly bits out carefully. I'd LOVE to have the time/tools to make a 3-d printing, as others point out above, but this was dirt cheap, and available in about 15 minutes.

[chuck123wapati]

6 hours ago, DJole said:

It just takes time and patience to cut all the fiddly bits out carefully. I'd LOVE to have the time/tools to make a 3-d printing, as others point out above, but this was dirt cheap, and available in about 15 minutes.

No more than cutting out a regular pattern. I have spent most of my whole working career over 30 years learning computer technology all the way from dos and a floppy disc to cad drawing, i have had enough of that crap. Learn, update, relearn, update, oops now its obsolete, spend more money, relearn ,update blah blah blah  etc not for me any more i do leather because its fun and relaxing. If i wanted to learn another program it wouldn't be for building more plastic junk to throw in the dumps. Anyway enough of my tech rant  I bet you could also make them out of wood ,similar to the stamps they use for printing on cloth or paper.

[kgg]

On 7/9/2021 at 5:17 AM, DJole said:

So, I came up with this idea to make a light stamp:

I think this is very ingenious, a true "KISS" solution. Yes, this could be done on a 3d printer or laser but I like the simplicity of your solution. Even through I have multi 3d printers, which I dearly enjoy using, your solution for a one of or so is a good practical low cost solution that anyone could do. Not everyone wants to invest the time, money, effort or can afford the investment into more complicated solutions.

kgg

[spacedog]

8 hours ago, kgg said:

I think this is very ingenious, a true "KISS" solution. Yes, this could be done on a 3d printer or laser but I like the simplicity of your solution. Even through I have multi 3d printers, which I dearly enjoy using, your solution for a one of or so is a good practical low cost solution that anyone could do. Not everyone wants to invest the time, money, effort or can afford the investment into more complicated solutions.

kgg

Exactly what I was thinking. Neat idea.

 

16 hours ago, DJole said:

It just takes time and patience to cut all the fiddly bits out carefully. I'd LOVE to have the time/tools to make a 3-d printing, as others point out above, but this was dirt cheap, and available in about 15 minutes.

I feel the same. 3D print stamps would be cool, but this is something I can do with a limited budget and technical know how.