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View Full Version : Embossing, Delrin



Aaron Koehl
03-13-2007, 12:42 AM
Does anyone have any pictures of an embossing die they've engraved from Delrin?

I'd like to emboss some heavier paper I haven't had the chance to play with the technique yet, to see what kind of detail and such I can get. I'm having trouble finding pictures and weeding through the search results, as every engraver on the Internet lists Delrin as an engravable.

Any pictures of the the final (embossed) product made from said die would be incredibly helpful as well.

Thanks!

Frank Corker
03-13-2007, 5:52 AM
Hi Aaron,

Unfortunately I can't show you pictures of the seal as it is embedded in the embosser, but you are quite welcome to have a look at my logo, the detail is extremely good.

Delrin is quite a hard plastic and although the settings for this is 100 speed to 40 power I think I actually ran this one through three times to get a good depth. You have a couple of things you have to consider when you are making your 'moulds' and the biggest one is. How thick is the material that you intend to emboss. If it is one thin sheet of paper then you will get a very fine line drawing from the press. If it is 2mm thick cardboard, then the outer one has to be less detailed.

I have attached my logo so you can have a go of it yourself. You don't have to go right out and buy Delrin to see the effect, you can do it with normal acrylic, just remember that Delrin is much more durable and will not crack.

Bill Cunningham
03-13-2007, 10:34 PM
Don't forget to put a outline on your female die.. I use about .010 This allows room for the paper to actually fit into the groove and emboss. If there is no room, the paper will spilt.. The more detail you have, the more effort it will take to emboss. Too much detail, and you will not emboss it with a hand embosser.. How much is too much.. If your wife can't squeeze it hard enough to make a good empression, make another one with less detail.. In an office, it's usually a woman doing the seals..

Aaron Koehl
03-14-2007, 10:42 AM
What's the largest you've done?

Would it be feasible to use a shop press for a large embossing die, say, greater than 4"? (e.g. would the pressure be even enough not to leave 'light' spots and soft enough such that the paper won't rip)

Any experience in this regard?

Rodne Gold
03-14-2007, 11:40 AM
You can make a male only and use a piece of hard silicon rubber as the back piece and you will get a nice impression on paper with a shop press.
You need to back the sheet of whatever you use for the male die (you dont have to use deldrin , you can use acrylic) with something that will not bend as the plastic is not thick. Like a steel plate.
You dont have to have a press if you samwhich the die and the rubber with 2 metal plates , you can use a few "c" or "g" clamps to apply the pressure

Aaron Koehl
03-14-2007, 12:07 PM
Rodne,

That sounds reasonable enough-




___________
/ \ <-- Shop Press
/ \
---------------
|____|

[---Steel plate---]
[v-engraved male-v]

[---heavy paper---]
[-----rubber------]
[---steel plate---]


That gives me an idea.. How about coloring before pressing? Assuming you align your paper to your plate properly, you might just be able to make a colored embossed print. Assuming, of course, that the ink absorbs deep enough so that the paper fibers won't show when it's embossed.

Rodne Gold
03-14-2007, 12:28 PM
Well , its the same principle as the early printing presses , so i suppose if you inked the male , it would work.

Aaron Koehl
03-14-2007, 12:37 PM
Well , its the same principle as the early printing presses , so i suppose if you inked the male , it would work.
If I am understanding correctly, inking the male would leave the inked text recessed, rather than in relief. (My thoughts were that the male plate would be pressing the backside of the paper, leaving the text in relief)

I suppose I'll try it out; printing on paper using a computer printer, then creating the relief from the back side after the fact. That way, if it works as planned, there is no cleanup necessary on the plate.

Rodne Gold
03-14-2007, 12:58 PM
Yeh . what you propose would work real well if you register correctly. The maleness of the die is the letters sticking up . If you were forcing the paper into engraved recesses (also possible) you would be using a fem die.
The male dies always penetrate the fem dies ;)

Bill Cunningham
03-15-2007, 10:26 PM
I'm not sure of the final size you want to emboss, but a rubber backing as Rodney has said will work.. I have used a hand and air operated hot stamping press (without the heat), and a old HB windmill with a rubber backing to press the paper using engraved plastic dies upto 2.5" diameter. The only thing you may have to tinker with, is if the rubber is to soft, or the pressure to high, or how deep the plastic has been engraved, you may split the paper. Depending on the stock you are embossing, it can become a bit of a balancing act until you get your pressure/rubber/stock combination set right. And, if your using only the male die, make it with the rubberstamp function. This puts a slope on the edges, and the paper has less of a tendancy to split at the letter edges..

Andrea Weissenseel
07-16-2010, 2:55 PM
I'm trying to engrave Delrin for my Seal press - so I digged up this old thread.

Frank, do happen to still have your Corel file, you mentioned here - I tried to open it, but still have Corel 11 so it wouldn't open




Unfortunately I can't show you pictures of the seal as it is embedded in the embosser, but you are quite welcome to have a look at my logo, the detail is extremely good.


About the settings you wrote that you engraved it at 100 S and 40 P this is referring to %, correct ?

I made 0,25mm outline on the negative and the engraving looks pretty deep, but when I use it I get a real nice paper mark only in the top 20% of the seal the rest does nothing :confused:

Thanks in advance for any hints

Cheers, Andrea

Frank Corker
07-16-2010, 4:03 PM
Hi Andrea, this should open for you, it's in version 11. Yes I was referring to % in my original post. To be honest, I haven't had a call to do one of these and I have only done the one, but it did turn out perfectly.

You should be getting exactly 50/50 depth with the top and bottom in order for them to meet correctly in the middle of the impression. The file might help you understand it more clearly. Also I would recommend that you check your black setting, turn it into RGB instead of CYMK where the black is much brighter and not really black at all!

Mike Null
07-16-2010, 11:25 PM
Aaron

Epilog used to have a how to on their site. I wasn't able to locate it but i do recall having seen it.

AL Ursich
07-16-2010, 11:38 PM
I can't find my CD but Roy Brewer has a Excellent "How To" in his Corel Training Series of 3 CD's.

AL

Andrea Weissenseel
07-17-2010, 4:42 AM
Thank you very much, Frank :) I saw that you used an outline of 0,353 mm - I'll try it with that. My color palette for engraving is RGB.

Andrea

Greg Bednar
09-27-2017, 5:27 PM
Yes, I know this is an old thread - but FWIW - this photo is of a seal made with white acetyl 1/16th inch thick engraved with an Epilog Mini 40Watt. Paper is OfficeMax small notepad - settings for acetyl are as follows:Raster 600 DPI, Speed 25%, Power 100% - Vector 600 DPI, Speed 13%, Power 100%, 2500Hz., One pass only on Raster and Vector - Size of seal is 1 3/4" - Outline was set to .015625 inches for the female side. Verrrrrrryyyyyy small tearing because of extreme light weight of paper and big muscle from embosser operator. LOL
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