Linoleum Stamp
For this project, I carved a linoleum stamp using the Carvey CNC milling machine.
Reflective Log:
2/14/19
Today I considered designs for my linoleum stamp. This took a decent amount of time because with a 3x2 inch stamp limitation, intricate designs scaled down on Easel would not be entirely carved even with the smallest bit size (1/32 inch).
2/19/19
Today I continued looking for a design. Knowing that the design could not be too intricate, I eventually thought of my high school mascot logo. Because we were the Spartans, I added a Greek border around the logo with an additional plain ring around that border. Like my previous problem of not being able to carve intricate designs, I did have to scale my drawing in Easel to a certain size such that the design (specifically the greek border) would carve as I envisioned. This, as a result, slightly cropped the bottom of my design. If asked, however, this was artistic choice.
2/20/19
Today I made final adjustments to my design from yesterday which included slight resizing and aligning of layers. In addition, I made sure to horizontally flip my drawing in Easel due to the nature of linoleum stamps printing a flipped image. Considering carving, I was able to designate a roughing carve and a detailed carve in Easel. The purpose of the roughing carve is to remove as much material as possible so that the detailed carve will only handle the “nooks and crannies” or details of the image. If this was not done and one small bit was used for the entire job, the cut job would take a much longer time. With this being said, the roughing bit is always larger than the detailed bit. For my project, I used a 1/16 inch bit for my roughing carve and a 1/32 inch bit for my detailed carve. Unfortunately, during my detail carve, the bit snapped halfway through the job. This was most likely due to my path speed being too fast and putting too much stress on the bit. This was almost unavoidable considering the path speed I used was the recommended path speed. Luckily, the remaining part of the bit was long enough to finish the job once I decreased the path speed. Having my completed linoleum stamp, I then prepared to make test prints. Trying for the best print possible, I tried adjusting variables such as the amount of paint on the stamp, the amount of pressure applied when pressing on the paper, and how clean the stamp was prior to applying new paint. After several trials, surprisingly, my first test print was the best. This, I assume, was due to the fact that my stamp was clean prior to applying new paint.
Conclusion:
Looking at my final product, I think my linoleum stamp looks great. As for the actual painted print, the result was not entirely perfect. Although some parts were unexpectedly unpainted, one reason for a section that was unpainted is due to the clamping my linoleum block too tightly to the milling machine bed. This resulted in two of the corners of my stamp to be slightly compressed and distorted. Nevertheless, watching the CNC milling machine in action was definitely interesting and satisfying. Considering what went wrong and what I would have changed, one thing I should have done, but never considered, was slowing the path speed to put less stress on the drill bits, especially the small 1/32 inch bit. Another flaw I would have fixed was cutting my stamp too “shallow.” The reason for this is because when I applied paint to my stamp, paint would occasionally get stuck within the tiny crevices of my design, resulting in negative spaces being painted. This goes back to my initial statement of experimenting with prints with the stamp cleaned or not. In the end, I thought this was a fun and useful project.
Reflective Log:
2/14/19
Today I considered designs for my linoleum stamp. This took a decent amount of time because with a 3x2 inch stamp limitation, intricate designs scaled down on Easel would not be entirely carved even with the smallest bit size (1/32 inch).
2/19/19
Today I continued looking for a design. Knowing that the design could not be too intricate, I eventually thought of my high school mascot logo. Because we were the Spartans, I added a Greek border around the logo with an additional plain ring around that border. Like my previous problem of not being able to carve intricate designs, I did have to scale my drawing in Easel to a certain size such that the design (specifically the greek border) would carve as I envisioned. This, as a result, slightly cropped the bottom of my design. If asked, however, this was artistic choice.
2/20/19
Today I made final adjustments to my design from yesterday which included slight resizing and aligning of layers. In addition, I made sure to horizontally flip my drawing in Easel due to the nature of linoleum stamps printing a flipped image. Considering carving, I was able to designate a roughing carve and a detailed carve in Easel. The purpose of the roughing carve is to remove as much material as possible so that the detailed carve will only handle the “nooks and crannies” or details of the image. If this was not done and one small bit was used for the entire job, the cut job would take a much longer time. With this being said, the roughing bit is always larger than the detailed bit. For my project, I used a 1/16 inch bit for my roughing carve and a 1/32 inch bit for my detailed carve. Unfortunately, during my detail carve, the bit snapped halfway through the job. This was most likely due to my path speed being too fast and putting too much stress on the bit. This was almost unavoidable considering the path speed I used was the recommended path speed. Luckily, the remaining part of the bit was long enough to finish the job once I decreased the path speed. Having my completed linoleum stamp, I then prepared to make test prints. Trying for the best print possible, I tried adjusting variables such as the amount of paint on the stamp, the amount of pressure applied when pressing on the paper, and how clean the stamp was prior to applying new paint. After several trials, surprisingly, my first test print was the best. This, I assume, was due to the fact that my stamp was clean prior to applying new paint.
Conclusion:
Looking at my final product, I think my linoleum stamp looks great. As for the actual painted print, the result was not entirely perfect. Although some parts were unexpectedly unpainted, one reason for a section that was unpainted is due to the clamping my linoleum block too tightly to the milling machine bed. This resulted in two of the corners of my stamp to be slightly compressed and distorted. Nevertheless, watching the CNC milling machine in action was definitely interesting and satisfying. Considering what went wrong and what I would have changed, one thing I should have done, but never considered, was slowing the path speed to put less stress on the drill bits, especially the small 1/32 inch bit. Another flaw I would have fixed was cutting my stamp too “shallow.” The reason for this is because when I applied paint to my stamp, paint would occasionally get stuck within the tiny crevices of my design, resulting in negative spaces being painted. This goes back to my initial statement of experimenting with prints with the stamp cleaned or not. In the end, I thought this was a fun and useful project.
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