How do people make embossing plates?
February 1, 2021 1:35 PM
My niece is studying graphic design
I asked my niece to make me a genuine embossing plate because I figured she had the software and hardware to do it. She said she didn't which surprised me because she has a small 3d printer. So I tried to look up what hardware and software she would need and I can't seem to find any information. I know of at least one company that sells stamps and custom embosser plates and it's run by a young artist who is the sole proprietor so... I figure it can't be that involved or expensive a hobby.
I'm talking about little embossing plates that imprint paper envelopes. https://www.customembosserpro.com/category/replacement-embosser-inserts
I asked my niece to make me a genuine embossing plate because I figured she had the software and hardware to do it. She said she didn't which surprised me because she has a small 3d printer. So I tried to look up what hardware and software she would need and I can't seem to find any information. I know of at least one company that sells stamps and custom embosser plates and it's run by a young artist who is the sole proprietor so... I figure it can't be that involved or expensive a hobby.
I'm talking about little embossing plates that imprint paper envelopes. https://www.customembosserpro.com/category/replacement-embosser-inserts
If she’s into 3d printing then this is one place to start for ideas on how to make it work.
If you search around there are a number of tutorials on 3d printing embossing plates (I’m on mobile so I can’t link them all right now), including a few videos.
A 3D printed embossing plate will be essentially a consumable; it will fail at some point. The print should be run with 100% infill, so that the piece is solid plastic.
If she has access to a laser cutter some people make them by laser engraving delrin or the like.
posted by aramaic at 2:24 PM on February 1, 2021
If you search around there are a number of tutorials on 3d printing embossing plates (I’m on mobile so I can’t link them all right now), including a few videos.
A 3D printed embossing plate will be essentially a consumable; it will fail at some point. The print should be run with 100% infill, so that the piece is solid plastic.
If she has access to a laser cutter some people make them by laser engraving delrin or the like.
posted by aramaic at 2:24 PM on February 1, 2021
→
That's a bit of a stretch: "has a 3d printer" ≠ "can design and make complex, detailed, strong parts".
3d printers don't do detail well. Find a Sharpie and draw your proposed logo in the area of a postage stamp. That's roughly the detail you'll get from a typical printer, and also the area you'll be able to emboss with any strength with a 3d-printed press. There are designs for 3d printed embossing presses on Thingiverse, but I haven't found a good one.
Embossing plates are typically CNC machined or electro-etched. It's the sort of thing that there are a few small shops that do it for everyone, or otherwise you get someone in China to do it and you wait for delivery. The sole proprietor likely doesn't do the work in-house, but manages the artwork and subcontracting process.
(3d printing is what I do for my work, so I'm familiar with the technology)
posted by scruss at 2:40 PM on February 1, 2021
she has a small 3d printer
That's a bit of a stretch: "has a 3d printer" ≠ "can design and make complex, detailed, strong parts".
3d printers don't do detail well. Find a Sharpie and draw your proposed logo in the area of a postage stamp. That's roughly the detail you'll get from a typical printer, and also the area you'll be able to emboss with any strength with a 3d-printed press. There are designs for 3d printed embossing presses on Thingiverse, but I haven't found a good one.
Embossing plates are typically CNC machined or electro-etched. It's the sort of thing that there are a few small shops that do it for everyone, or otherwise you get someone in China to do it and you wait for delivery. The sole proprietor likely doesn't do the work in-house, but manages the artwork and subcontracting process.
(3d printing is what I do for my work, so I'm familiar with the technology)
posted by scruss at 2:40 PM on February 1, 2021
I've been a graphic designer for 15 years and I've literally never heard of a designer *making* (as in, creating the actual plate for) an embossing plate. When someone I knew wanted a custom emboss plate — we got one for the school design journal, a couple friends got them for their small design studios — it was ordered direct from a custom metal shop in China, or sometimes from a local stationery / stamp specialist shop (who then ordered it from China). The small business embosser you linked is likely just dropshipping from a Chinese metal machining business.
I know nothing about 3d printers but from what I've seen the average home 3d printer makes things that are pretty delicate. So they likely won't stand up to the kind of pressure you need to make a deep, sharp emboss into paper. Putting a lot of pressure on it is part of what allows you to get the sharp detail and readable small text. Metal machining equipment is not something the average design student has access to. My school even had a metalworking / welding shop but it didn't have any of the kind of precision equipment you'd need to make an emboss plate.
Here's a DIY hack to do it with a cricut and layers of cardstock, but the clarity is pretty low. It works for the sort of texture they used but you won't be able to get readable small text or a detailed logo done with that method.
posted by 100kb at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2021
I know nothing about 3d printers but from what I've seen the average home 3d printer makes things that are pretty delicate. So they likely won't stand up to the kind of pressure you need to make a deep, sharp emboss into paper. Putting a lot of pressure on it is part of what allows you to get the sharp detail and readable small text. Metal machining equipment is not something the average design student has access to. My school even had a metalworking / welding shop but it didn't have any of the kind of precision equipment you'd need to make an emboss plate.
Here's a DIY hack to do it with a cricut and layers of cardstock, but the clarity is pretty low. It works for the sort of texture they used but you won't be able to get readable small text or a detailed logo done with that method.
posted by 100kb at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2021
I worked with a man whose father was a die maker. He told me that at that point they started with a block of steel and files, acid, die grinders, whatever it took. When EDM was invented - Electron Discharge Machining - one carved the positive out of a block of carbon and the EDM machine lowered it into the steel over a period of hours, eating away the steel as it went.
Now most of this is done, I believe, on numerically controlled milling machines.
You can also do it by hand. My 18 year-old son needed a plate to emboss leather. He hacksawed the shape out, very roughly, and spent another hour and a half with a set of small files making it perfect. He was done before I knew he'd started. The resulting emboss is completely professional looking.
If you're considering doing this, you can probably find a service on line, look for NC milling.
If you can find a small chunk of metal and some files (and you'll need a small vise to hold it) you'll have it done before you can find and call a shop. Files are much faster and more precise than you'd expect. Brass is probably durable enough, and it's much softer than steel. Aluminum will clog your files.
Don't underestimate what you can do by hand. It's often better than what you can get commercially done. It's always quicker and cheaper.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 3:59 PM on February 1, 2021
Now most of this is done, I believe, on numerically controlled milling machines.
You can also do it by hand. My 18 year-old son needed a plate to emboss leather. He hacksawed the shape out, very roughly, and spent another hour and a half with a set of small files making it perfect. He was done before I knew he'd started. The resulting emboss is completely professional looking.
If you're considering doing this, you can probably find a service on line, look for NC milling.
If you can find a small chunk of metal and some files (and you'll need a small vise to hold it) you'll have it done before you can find and call a shop. Files are much faster and more precise than you'd expect. Brass is probably durable enough, and it's much softer than steel. Aluminum will clog your files.
Don't underestimate what you can do by hand. It's often better than what you can get commercially done. It's always quicker and cheaper.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 3:59 PM on February 1, 2021
This isn't really a graphic design type of thing - it's more of an art/metalwork type of expertise - the tools and knowledge involved are either detailed machining, or chemical etching. I wouldn't assume it's an inexpensive hobby at all just because a sole proprietor is one of the businesses you found - there are many ways to start or invest in small businesses. With your niece's background, she may be able to design the stamp, and then you could easily send that to a company who could create the actual stamping plate. Asking her to make it for you is very likely beyond what she has the equipment or possibly knowledge to do easily.
posted by augustimagination at 6:18 PM on February 1, 2021
posted by augustimagination at 6:18 PM on February 1, 2021
Jimmy DiResta has a some vids on making embossing plates and gets pretty good results but employs fairly specialized equipment - laser and CNC, mainly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tJBczAsjC-I
posted by pmaxwell at 8:15 PM on February 1, 2021
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tJBczAsjC-I
posted by pmaxwell at 8:15 PM on February 1, 2021
Some people have mentioned the manufacturing being in China, but in my experience the shipping & delivery of these custom designed stamps are much too fast for them to be done in China. If I design a stamp today I will generally receive that custom embosser within 3-6 days. Perhaps they are manufactured here instead.
posted by fantasticness at 11:12 AM on February 2, 2021
posted by fantasticness at 11:12 AM on February 2, 2021
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Its from before 3d printers were common, so some of the answers could be changed from "carve it..." to 3d print it...
I don't think it has a complete answer to your question, but should give some ideas.
posted by TheAdamist at 1:56 PM on February 1, 2021