Material for Impact Engraving?

[Steve Clarkson]

I met with a decorative concrete engraver today. He needs stencils cut out of a material that is 1/2" thick and the best I can describe it is that it appears to be made out of old recycled tires.

His engraver looks/acts more like a jackhammer......pounding out an image in the concrete. Therefore, he said wood would splinter. Acrylic would obviously shatter under the pounding.

So is there some type of reasonably priced hard rubber material that we can cut?

He pays anywhere from $40-$100/sq ft for SIMPLE designs.

[Dan Hintz]

I've seen the stencils... my parents had their back porch embedded with a design. You've pretty much nailed the description of the rubber. It's very flexible overall (you can bend a 4' square back upon itself without a problem), but it's also stiff enough to transfer the pattern with the pounding.

Considering the depth the pattern needs to be (some of those stencils have a 1"+ thick edge), though, I don't think the laser is the best tool. I would lean towards a slow-spinning rotary.

[Mike Null]

There's a very good chance that these are hand cut.

[Dan Hintz]

Mike,

You can order these stencils from a catalog and they look formed, not hand-cut. My dad had a long conversation with the guys who did their porch. They were in a very closed mindset that only a couple of patterns could be made (evidently not the brightest bulbs in the pack), so when he showed them you could mix and match and angle them in different ways, they guys were ecstatic! They now took a couple thousand $s worth of patterns and could now create several times that amount. The stencils were expensive, so they didn't buy very many.

[Peter Meacham]

Steve

This company in the UK sells ready made stencils - check out their brochure.

http://www.creative-impressions.com/assets/pdfs/Stencilcrete.pdf

And here is a US company that makes custom stencils as well.

http://www.decrete.com/gallery/custom-stencils/

Pete

[Garrick David]

could you cut and stack thinner materials? I would consider cutting them with something like a V bit (something that would cut away a lot of material in a pass)

[Steve Clarkson]

could you cut and stack thinner materials? I would consider cutting them with something like a V bit (something that would cut away a lot of material in a pass)


That's what I was thinking......that I might be able to cut a thinner (say 1/4") material and glue it together.

[Bill Cunningham]

Steve if your going to cut that much 1/4" rubber, I'm thinking your neighbors might be forming a lynch mob..:eek::D

Rubber with holes in it could be responsible for taking you 'out' of this world too:p

[Steve Clarkson]

I agree Bill.....which is why I'm looking for an alternate material.

[Andrea Weissenseel]

How about silicone ?

Andrea

[Steve Clarkson]

That might be a possibility. I have to stop by a plastics distributor today.....I'll see if they have any suggestions.

[Mike Null]

Steve

A monument supplier or a sandblasting media supplier is more likely to have answers.