Rubber Stamp Art is becoming a popular hobby and is being helped by many across the nation that sell art stamps extremely reasonable

Computer101 for Dummies	CONSTRUCTION OF A RUBBER STAMP
THINGS TO KNOW AND HOW IT APPLIES TO YOUR CRAFT

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS: What you get compared to what you need. Page 2

Rubber vs Polymer: What's better?

6. Halftones don't work well with either rubber or polymer for a hand stamp. Requires superior inking and exaggerated pressure to get a good impression normally done with a machine. Suggest restricting your design to line art.
7.Quality: The polymer has a sharper image if viewed under magnification but not normally visible. Cost should be your deciding factor if light use is expected. Heavy use, would recommend polymer.
8. Most wear and tear as in clothing comes from cleaning. Being gentle cleaning the stamp will prolong the life of the stamp measurably. Note: even if your only use the rubber stamp on paper, the stamp should be periodically cleaned as it gathers follicles of paper that reduces the quality of the image when printed. Some think the stamp is just wearing out when it only needs to be cleaned.
EMail: jerry@didyouseethis.net or Phone 503/585-2528 Salem, Oregon

1. Polymer is more durable and resistant to more chemicals than Rubber.
2. Polymer is cheaper and less labor intensive to create than Rubber in regard to a single art stamp. Rubber is cheaper and less labor intensive if you mass produce an art stamp. Laser rubber cutting is expensive to offset the cost of the laser equipment with less labor cost and normally shallow.
3. Rubber Stamps that you pick from a gallery already have the mold and art made and therefore have a price advantage whether rubber or polymer.
4. Large art stamps: rubber is normally more reasonable than polymer in a pick list. If custom, polymer should be less cost.
5. If you are hobbyist, it is not likely you would wear out a rubber stamp and not need the durability of polymer. Cost would then be the fundamental choice.

How an Art Stamp is made:

DEPTH OF STAMP IMAGE

Polymer: Black & white image is photographed, negative is sandwiched between 2 plates of glass, liquid polymer is poured into dam construction on glass which constitutes the thickness of the polymer plate, exposed to UV light and washed out. The polymer die is then mounted.

RUBBER: Black & white image is sent to engraver to make a zinc, magnesium or hard polymer plate or done in house. The plate is sandwich in a vulcanizer with a matrix that makes a mold of the plate. The mold is than sandwiched with gum rubber in the vulcanizer under pressure and cooked. The Rubber die is then mounted.

Depth of die plate is only critical if not deep enough to avoid problems. Inking of none image areas suggest those areas will print when used. Potters like the stamp as deep as possible when embossing clay with an image. Fact: it saves time and material to manufacture stamps that have a shallow depth. If depth is important, ask the manufacturer what the height of the image from the floor of the stamp. Many factors are involved in processing both a rubber and polymer stamps that influence the image depth of a stamp. You should be concerned with the end product that you may buy and then try to use. Our polymer die thickness is 1/8 inch (.125) and an image height of about .106 inches which is 85% of the total thickness. It is common to have 1/2 of that image depth. Larger the stamp, shallow depth becomes more problem prone to use and more skill to get satisfactory results.

Mountings: Problems/Solutions

Cushion vs Hard Surface.

Mountings and Alignment:

Cushion mountings are normally the standard mount. The addition of the cushion allows an uneven stamp to print in it's entirety because of the additional flexibility. Stamps that come from lead type have a history of not being on the same plane and therefore need the additional flex, pressure and crush factor to print. Unfortunately, the additional flex will allow the background of a shallow art stamp to print or mark as well even though the plane of the art is perfect. Large art stamps that require more pressure will have this problem if there are spaces in the art where the background will be inked while using an ink pad. Remember the die has flex as well and the cushion will push the background into an ink pad thus applying ink to areas that should not be inked. After inking look at the stamp to see if background is inked. If so you are likely to print those areas as well.
The cushion provides another function. Wood or plastic mounts are not economically configured to the shape of your art and therefore the cushion will create a buffer between the mount and the die. Gives a little more visibility for placement but not much.
SOLUTIONS: background/cushion printing
1. Get deeper dies
2. Cut the cushion to fit the art.
3. Cut the background out where inking
4. Use mount without cushion (Hard surface) Use hard spacer material if needed
5. Change how you ink your stamp. Avoid the pad. Get roller and roll ink out on plate of glass and then roll onto just the printing surface of your stamp. Recommended for oil base printing inks. Printers must have water based inks as well by now. Easier clean up.

Mountings may not have a straight plane as a result of warping or defects in the cushion. If the stamp is not printing correctly, check the plane of the stamp for cupping or high center with a straight edge, view visibly or lay face down on white paper with a light on the far side. The rule is that the larger the mount, the more likely the plane of the mount will not be true. It is recommended the hand rubber stamp size does not exceed 4" x 4". Do not mistake this statement as recommending a 4 x 4 size as being satisfactory as they are hard to control as well depending on a number of factors such as the percent of image being stamped, ink and inking method used. Long lengths pose a similar problem. The last thing to suspect is the die plate of an art die. Lettering die plates are suspect if made from lead originals like foundry type and Linotype slugs. They either produce molds from type that has wear and tear from use and manufacturing and/or alignment problems when they are locked up. This process is rarely used any more.

Acrylic Clear acrylic mount and semi- transparency of polymer die allows better alignment for the user to view placement of your print that opaque mounts do not afford. Polymer also has a natural adhesion to acrylic if clean. You can use the same mount for different die plates by just removing and replacing with another die. No glue build up to contend with. We can provide the die and/or clear acrylic mounts. We have plastic handles for those who want to shape their own mounts from local materials. A straight edge will let you know if the plane of the mount has any significant highs or lows. Rubber Stamps may be added to acrylic with an adhesive.

Wood mounts are a little on the blind side printing. Guess and by golly but less expensive. Wood mounts exposed to a damp climate condition as in garages may absorb moisture and change enough shape to cause you grief with your large impressions. Stored in the house which is normally drier than the Sahara Desert is appropriate care. Note: Rubber dies exposed to sun's UV rays from windows will measurably reduce the stamp's life.

Optional Mounts: Roller Rocker

Inking:

There is a variety of inks that you can use with both rubber stamps and polymer dies. The easiest is water soluble rubber stamp ink and a pad. Easy to clean the stamp with plain water, and the ink doesn't dry in the pad. However, it requires the material that it is printed on to be porous and absorb the ink and aid the drying process. Plastics, Metal, Glass and Coated paper stock require evaporation type of ink similar to paint. Printers have special inks to print coated stock if you want it to stay. Plastics, glass and metal require special formulas for satisfactory impressions.

Jerry Anderson
Anderson Graphic Division
P O Box 70
Salem, OR 97308
jerry@didyouseethis.net
Phone 503/585-2528

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