03/20/04

There are many sites dedicated to this pastime and as yet I haven't attempted  to carve my own stamp.   That said it is something I will try and I am always inspired by the intricate and impressive stamps, which many letterboxers create.

Basic requirements are some quality rubbers / erasers and a set of hobby / modelling knives

Take a nice white plastic rubber / eraser (Staedtler Mars) and transfer Xeroxed letters or images onto it.

To do this roughly cut out the xeroxed letters (or image) you want to use then selotape it, face down, onto the rubber, being careful not to tape over the image, (it won't transfer if you cover it with tape). Then I take a piece of cotton or a napkin, whatever, and saturate part of it with nail polish remover (NPR) or acetone.

Rub this wet thing gently onto the back of the Xerox copy ensuring that you don't move the copy. You will need to apply some pressure however.  Wet the copy well to get the toner to transfer.

The other option, is to draw your image or lettering on the eraser with a pencil, remember it is a reverse image !

Then carve away everything that doesn't look like an elephant.

RULE #1: Always try to angle your cuts AWAY from the design. If you undercut the image it won't print properly and it just might break off a critical component of the stamp. Straight down is okay but angled away is stronger. These things will last 20 years if you aren't terribly rough on them.