Laser Engraved Rubber Stamp

So you want to make a Rubber stamp... I made this at Tech Shop (Pittsburgh). Perhaps you want a Return address stamp, a unique design for your scrap booking, or I just wanted to try out the laser engrave-able rubber so i make my new logo from my business. Follow as I walk you along, and point out a few of my missteps.

You can order some of the engraveable rubber at laser bits.

http://www.laserbits.com/index.php?main_page=index...

Make your design on the computer, I used my logo and adobe illustrator.

Once it was ready I sent it to the laser software and adjust the settings to acheive the settings to the desired speed and power. These will be different for every laser engraver.

The steps to get to this point have been well documented in instructables, if you need help getting to this point it should be easy to find.

I will say * be sure to mirror or reverse you image. (i forgot to do this and the stamped image was backwards)

Now that you have your stamp. Find some scrap wood to create a base. I got mine from the scrap bin in the Tech Shop wood shop area.

Trace out the area you need for the stamp to mount to. Then Cut the shape to size, find the center and use the drill press to put a hole about half way through on the opposite side (from where you plan to mount the stamp).

Now the fun part...

Find a nice piece of hard wood scrap... to make the handle.

Measure the hole you drilled, at the end of the handle you are going to want to make a peg slightly smaller then the hold.

Once you get to the shape you are happy with, I recommend grabbing some sandpaper while it still on the lathe and let the machine do the work for you. You can also use some of the shavings held against the spinning piece to burnish the handle.

Assembly and Stamping

Using some wood glue applied to the peg on the handle and in the hole of the base insert the peg and hold them together until dry. a belt, rubber bands, or clamps can be useful here.

Also using some multi-surface glue I mounted the stamp to the base, after spray painting the assembled base and handle.

Now Stamp away!