Making your own stamps and logo's with acrylic and a diode laser.

[RockyAussie]

First up before I start ...I am not a laser expert. I mostly only use a small 2.5 watt diode laser and T2 Laser software. I was asked to share my settings for cutting the acrylic the way I have and what type of acrylic. The local supplier advised me that the 10mm thick black non transparent acrylic is manufactured by Titan Poly Tech Co Ltd. Link - http://titanptc.com/products/cast-acrylic-sheet/

This is just something I tried out like a lot of things and found it worked pretty good. I decided to start with a simple bitmap file and set the resolution to .05mm (that is 20 lines to the mm). For the speed I started with 150 and full power and on some 3mm acrylic  it burnt right. A couple of more tests and speeding it up I managed to get a pretty good result as shown below

I then got the 10mm acrylic and to get about 1.5mm depth I ran the speed at 200mm per minute at full power with z taken up for the extra thickness.

These pics are the result at this stage showing our brand in the positive and inverted styles.

Today for this post in an terrible hurry I came up with a sort of geometric pattern to try out which cut out alright but in my hurry did not line up so well on the leather unfortunately.

Now to finish off I have to warn you that I have modified my diode laser module with a 50 mm fan on top of a shroud to give some better cooling and a little air assist. Most diode lasers only have a silly little fan on top and are not able to run for more than 20 minutes on full power. I have been able to often use mine for 2 hours or more at a time without any overheating or failure issues. This is an earlier post of mine that shows some of the mods I have done.

I hope that is a bit of help for now

Brian

[TomMeyers]

Thanks, I have a diode laser engraver and I never thought it could shape plastic. I have used it to cut leather and engrave leather.

 

I am going to try the plastic.

Tom 

5 w diode 

Lasergrbl 

Fusion 360

 

Thank you

 

 

[battlemunky]

This forum SW really needs a like button...interesting post as usual @RockyAussie!

[RockyAussie]

7 hours ago, TomMeyers said:

Thanks, I have a diode laser engraver and I never thought it could shape plastic. I have used it to cut leather and engrave leather.

 

I am going to try the plastic.

Tom 

5 w diode 

Lasergrbl 

Fusion 360

 

Thank you

 

 

Let us know how you go with the 5 watt. I have one as well but have not tried with it. The narrower beam on the 2.5 watt could be better for the detail but the faster speed would be nice. Try 400 mm per minute should get you close.

 

1 hour ago, battlemunky said:

This forum SW really needs a like button...interesting post as usual @RockyAussie!

Thanks @battlemunky I wish I had more time for more posts like this and I have a whole lot more that I need to get loaded backing up.

[PastorBob]

Thanks for the detail.  I have some 1/4" clear plexi I am going to give it a try.  Thanks again @RockyAussie

[RockyAussie]

12 hours ago, PastorBob said:

Thanks for the detail.  I have some 1/4" clear plexi I am going to give it a try.  Thanks again @RockyAussie

Clear will not work with a diode laser but is good with the tube ones.

[PastorBob]

11 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

Clear will not work with a diode laser but is good with the tube ones.

I have the glowforge.  I believe it has a tube.

[PastorBob]

Here is one I made using 1/4" clear plexiglass (acrylic) on the glowforge.  NOTE:  This is for personal use only. Not for resale.  Very pleased with the results.

 

[RockyAussie]

Very good indeed. I think you gunna master this process real quick and save a whole lot of $$$$$ on stamps as well.

[chrisash]

What sort of size impression plate could a large clicker press use on leather. looking on Etsy they generally seem quite small, but i guess there would be a market for large embossing plates say up to A4 size in the future which traditionally would be done by tooling, a bit like selling prints of artwork rather than the original. Lots of belts are made the same way.

Guess it rely's on the power of the press, bigger size = more power= more cost

[RockyAussie]

17 hours ago, chrisash said:

What sort of size impression plate could a large clicker press use on leather. looking on Etsy they generally seem quite small, but i guess there would be a market for large embossing plates say up to A4 size in the future which traditionally would be done by tooling, a bit like selling prints of artwork rather than the original. Lots of belts are made the same way.

Guess it rely's on the power of the press, bigger size = more power= more cost

And the design has a lot to do with it as well. In the Wild Harry pictures above you will see where in one the letters are pushed in and the other where the letters are protruding out. There is something like 3 times more pressure needed to press the background in. Good thing though is that it costs maybe a one $ of material to find out against $100 for a metal one you cant push in either. Also great for testing the design before committing to getting a metal one made up. Also great if you want to print the font of your choice out and make your own letter set. WAY more options to explore.

[chrisash]

Thats true Brian

My problem is after trying 3D printer and small Laser, what would the sensible way to go

3D resin printer where you get exceptional details Limited resin choice

Diode Laser slow but good quality limited to Acrylic in most cases

3D CNC router can do ally and acrylic

Life gets complicated especially if your a hobby person rather than investing in assets for a company

[sbrownn]

On 9/27/2021 at 10:04 PM, RockyAussie said:

Very good indeed. I think you gunna master this process real quick and save a whole lot of $$$$$ on stamps as well.

A 3D printer works for making dies but I think the quality of the press with your laser cut dies is better.  How long does it take compared to 3D printing?

[RockyAussie]

10 hours ago, sbrownn said:

A 3D printer works for making dies but I think the quality of the press with your laser cut dies is better.  How long does it take compared to 3D printing?

The laser is quicker and the acrylic is harder than the pla+ and therefore does a crisper neater cut into the leather. keep in mind that a 2.5 watt laser is still pretty slow and a 5 watt would be 2 times faster and a bigger tube type as @PastorBob showed above would likely do the job in only a few minutes. I have not tried it yet but I think it MAY be possible to even make a press knife out of this acrylic for light weight leathers. I have been able to get an impression left behind in the hdpe cutting board and that surprised me a lot.

[RockyAussie]

14 hours ago, chrisash said:

Thats true Brian

My problem is after trying 3D printer and small Laser, what would the sensible way to go (You asking me )

3D resin printer where you get exceptional details Limited resin choice. I don't have a resin printer but  the filament printer I have does way more than i could ever do with a laser or cnc machine if we are talking 2 axis.

Diode Laser slow but good quality limited to Acrylic in most cases

3D CNC router can do ally and acrylic. I don't have one yet but would love to get one that can do metal. A lot of my stamping is done on chrome tan and needs the heat to keep the impression well and more so if using gold foil etc.

Life gets complicated especially if your a hobby person rather than investing in assets for a company

 

[PastorBob]

6 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

The laser is quicker and the acrylic is harder than the pla+ and therefore does a crisper neater cut into the leather. keep in mind that a 2.5 watt laser is still pretty slow and a 5 watt would be 2 times faster and a bigger tube type as @PastorBob showed above would likely do the job in only a few minutes. I have not tried it yet but I think it MAY be possible to even make a press knife out of this acrylic for light weight leathers. I have been able to get an impression left behind in the hdpe cutting board and that surprised me a lot.

Yeah, it doesn't take long at all.  I think the one above took about 15-20 minutes to create.

[sbrownn]

On 9/30/2021 at 4:10 AM, PastorBob said:

Yeah, it doesn't take long at all.  I think the one above took about 15-20 minutes to create.

Thanks, that makes sense since you are only cutting out a small part of a pattern instead of creating the entire part.