3D Printed Stamps: Further Examples and Works in Progress

We have a number of students who are working on the 'stamp' project that is currently being developed.  In this project we are using the 3D Printer to produce the base and plate for a stamp, including having the name of the person or the organisation clearly marked on the base and then we are using a laser cutter to produce from engravers stamp rubber a laser cut of the stamp design.

Students were asked to choose either a personal stamp or one for an organisation that they were part of or had an association with, as shown by the local rugby club on the left.

The handle and base have been designed as a single print in Tinkercad by students who are ten and eleven years old with limited experience in 3D Printing.   This is then combined with the use of Inkscape to produce a laser cut template which is then cut into the engravers rubber (which was sourced from a speciality engravers shop.    The use of Inkscape has allowed the logo of the organisation to be imported directly into the printing progress without it having to be adapted or created separately.   

The size was left up to the students but the adage that 'bigger is better' was applied to this particularly with the lettering as this was clearly visible in the larger scale prints while it was just holding itself together in the smaller scale prints as seen below by 'Jackie'.    The connection between the top of the stamp and the design on the rubber has developed as well as the students have abandoned the idea of just repeating the

same design twice and instead focussed on having two seperate prints/designs - one at the base and one on the handle/design.   

The prints have ranged in length from three to six hours and the designs have varied in size, the Opunake Surf Club design being effectively twice the size of the 'Coastal Rugby' one.   

Once the process of the laser cutting of the base rubber has been completed the two designs will be combined, via superglue and the design and process will be complete.

This level of project would not feasibly be completed by a classroom due to the length of time that would need to be combined to successfully complete all the prints in the series.    Further updates in the process will continue and be detailed here.

3D Printed and Laser Cut Stamp

Challenge: A student wanted to create an original and customised (for themselves) stamp.

Background:  A version of this project was completed last year.    A student who had an interest in completing this project used the project, detailed on this blog here as their template.   This was a student who had some 3D Printing experience but wanted to stretch themselves further by designing something that was different but had a purpose.   They had seen the previous effort from last year, had an interest in craft related matters and were keen to produce a working stamp.   Previously we had created the entire object using a 3D Printer and made the stamp element from a print as well, however we decided that the quality needed to be improved.   The answer to this was found in the use of a laser cutter to cut rubber.  We purchased this from an engraving shop, who had engraving rubber that could be used with the laser cutter and were able to cut the rubber which produced a quality print for the students.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The student was able to produce the handle and base including the design of their name, and their heart at the first attempt.  There was rafting about the base of the design, as shown in the photo that was easily able to be removed with pliers giving the finish shown.  The student is eleven years old.

Size: The base of the print measure 90mm wide, 60mm deep and was 5mm high.   The handle was a total heigh of 35mm

Timeframe: Two hours to complete the print, the rafting that was required couldn't be avoided to have a working handle as part of the design.   Given the dimensions and purpose the print this would be near the minimum to have an effective design.  

What we would do differently/Next Steps for Student: The obvious next step is the laser cutting.  We purchased the rubber at a small price as an A4 sheet, which would be enough to produce ten stamps easily so its realistic to consider that a class set (assuming 25 students) could be produced during a week of printing, using a single machine.   The positive aspect of this for us is that the student herself has managed the entire project, designed the print was happy with the result and the design via Tinkercad matched expectations (sometimes elaborate prints do not translate well in terms of finish or purpose).

The other thing to consider is the age of the technology that we are using to complete this project.   The Ultimaker 2+ is a recondition printer that is seven years old now, it produces reliable basic prints which are useable in the classroom.

If you are producing prints inspired by this post or have produced posts similar we would love to hear about it and have you share it with us via this blog or by emailing the teacher in charge.

3D Printed (and Laser Cut) Stamp

Challenge: For student who had worked on previous projects to produce a working stamp for a design business (for an adult).   The print was divided into two parts - the stamp itself was produced by using a laser cutter (which is onsite at our school) to cut specifically the stamp design.   The base and the handle of the stamp were then custom made and produced using a 3D Printer.

Background: This student had considerable experience with 3D Printing in the past, and had produced a number of projects in the past, which have been used as prints and examples on this site.   With this print the student was very pro-active in using the printer.   They had the entire design in mind, and having previously seen the examples produced using just a 3D Printer (featured here on this blog) the student was keen to use rubber specific to the task.  We had previously ordered some of this from a commerical supplier located in New Zealand.    Once the component parts were put together the design followed.   The entire project was completed in a morning at school, the time involved with the design was minimal and the results, when used with an ink pad, were extremely positive.    A very successful project.

Degree of Difficulty: The key aspect of this was the collection of the required gear specific to the print.   The stamp specific print has produced a nearly professional quality print which is much more even than the paint and print versions that have been created directly by 3D Printer (see posts about this on this blog).   The actual print for the base of the stamp and the handle was extremely straightforward, just a basic rectangle increased in size to mount the stamp and a handle to.

Size: The base of the stamp is a rectangale 13cm across, 2cm thick and six centimetres long.   The handle part of the stamp extended a further 5cm from its base.   

Timeframe: Three and a half hours to print the base, the laser cutting of the stamp from the rubber took less than fifteen minutes.   Given the goal of the post/project this was an excellent result.

What we would do differently: This was a student driven project that was created with a specific goal in mind, was student driven and completed and the teacher had minimal input into the process.

The completed design, used with stamp ink was able to produce the stamp shown on the left when combining the 3D Print with rubber.

3D Printed Stamp: Project Update

In this project, detailed previously on this blog, the students wanted to create a stamp for use as part of a business day.   The students used creativity, Tinkercad and the 3D Printer to produce a working stamp.  It was suggested that a further design feature could be the purchase of stamp rubber that could then be laser cut to produce a rubber stamp finish and the 3D Printer could then be used for the handle.   The details of the original post about the project are here. 

The photographs that are with this post show the rubber stamp after it has been cut with a laser cutter.

The combination with the 3D Printer to complete this project was straight-forward.      The student concerned who had designed the project created a 3D Print to produce the handle.   This was a very straight forward project with a basic design of a handle and a connection to the stamp by super gluing it to the base.

Left:
The handle in place with the design.   It was a basic design of two simple shapes, the connection to the shape was 5mm thick, the lenght of the handle was 30mm and it was 10mm wide.    It took thirty minutes to print on the regular print settings.   

The student designed the stamp to be used by themselves so the dimensions/size of it were suitable for a ten year olds hand.     The key element of the process was the creation of the process of the stamp and then identifying that a stamp could be produced using a different material and a sourcing and locating it to use the laser cutter.