Custom seal for use with sealing wax

[Pat Kearney]

Hello
I was sent an email this evening by a person looking for a
custom seal for use with sealing wax. They go on to say "It would need to be deep enough for wax to collect in; perhaps 1/16" or so. The size would be need to be a little larger than a quarter."

We are an agent for a manufacturer of medals, lapel pins, etc which is where this person got my name, but this process is not be feasible for this application. I have read a little about the wax sealing process and tools and all of them appear to be metal. Anyone have any idea if this item can be made using the laser? Corian maybe??? Also I read about Delrin for notary stamps & embossing. Is this something that can be used for wax seals?

Thanks.

Pat

[Keith Outten]

Pat,

Aaron played with the idea a few months ago and was trying to make a paper press mold stamp. He engraved the logo he wanted to press on a piece of Corian using the Epilog rubber stamp driver. He then placed the stamp in a hydraulic press on top of the paper he wanted to press. The results weren't masterfull but the technique could be pefected I think with some more experimentation.

Based on Aaron's experiment I would expect that Corian would work very well for a wax stamp since you don't need high pressure. You can engrave very fine detail and at about any depth you need using multiple passes if necessary. Using the rubber stamp driver you get beveled edges which would make the wax stamp work better than straight edges I expect.

.

[Bill Cunningham]

the laser won't make a good one.. The striations at the bottom of the cut will collect wax and will not leave a clean impression.. I get the odd ceramics person also wanting one to make their mark on wet mud before it's dried and fired.. The rough bottom on the 'stamps' pick up clay and make a mess, wax will do the same.. I usually make these from vulcanized rubber.. The hard polymer master used to make the stamp molding matrix for the vulcanizer gives the flat recessed surfaces a very smooth finish that will not pick up wax, and will not pick up clay when the stamp surface is wet.. The laser is just not able to do this.. But, what you can do, is have a 11 point unmounted magnesium hot stamping die made. This when mounted on a turned handle, will do a great job..

[Rodne Gold]

We do lots of these on our laser using perspex and using stamp mode to give a shoulder , mainly for limited usage stamps for weddings , events etc.
We recommend spraying the pex with some cook n spray when doing the stamping , as a release agent if the stamp has very fine detail.
For permanent stamps we either etch magnesium or CNC engrave brass.
1/16ths is quite deep for a wax sealing stamp tho , we generally go in about .7 to 1mm (25mm to an inch)

[Pat Kearney]

Technology never ceases to amaze me. The fact that I can post this while sitting here in the middle of the North Atlantic and receive this much knowledge and experience so quickly from all around the world is truly amazing. Thanks everyone for the info.

PAT

[Mike Null]

Delrin is in common use for seals such as those for use by a notary public. I don't know that it would work for wax.

[Frank Corker]

I've made seals from Delrin for use with the hot sealing wax, they come out really fine and very detailed. I've really not had any issues where the striations have caused a problem.