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I am an art rubber stamp maker, using a vulcanizer to make art rubber stamps from molds that are usually created with a magnesium plate.

The normal process is to send artwork off to an engraving firm to acid etch the magnesium plate (11 pt depth is desired) and that metal plate is then used with uncured matrix boards (a bakelight type material) that is "cured" in the vulcanizer that is then used over and over to make as many images of the rubber stamps as one would want. The vulcanizer heats up to 300 to 320 °F, and one usually uses 2000 to 2500 p.s.i. of pressure for 10 to 15 minutes to cure a mold. Once the mold is cured, it is impervious to the heat used in the vulcanizer, and the heat is used to cure the unvulcanized rubber (again, 300 or so degrees, 2000 psi, or so, for 8 to 10 minutes.

In reading up about the melting points of PLA and ABS, the 200 °C equates to around 460 °F, so there doesn't seem like the heat of the vulcanizer will be an issue, and the pressure isn't applied all at once, one usually allows the uncured matrix board to heat up before the high pressure is obtained, I'm just curious if any other stamp makers have had success with this method and/or have any suggestions about STL files for this type of printing, if there needs to be 2 or 3 degree shoulder angle added to the file configuration, or any other suggestions.

0scar
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B.Lyon
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3 Answers3

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This would likely not work. ABS has a glass transition temperature of 105 °C. It doesn't have a melting point because it's amorphous. Rather, as you heat the part up, it gradually transitions from a solid to a viscous liquid, but there is no "hard" transition from solid to molten at one particular temperature.

The glass transition temperature, at 105 °C, is significantly lower than the 200 °C "melting point" of ABS you quoted. At 160 °C, while ABS would not be molten sufficiently for 3D printing, it definitely becomes flexible and would deform easily.

I do not think it would hold its shape very well over the long period of time it has to spend in your vulcanizing machine, under high pressure and well above its glass transition temperature.

The surface of 3D printed objects also usually has a somewhat rough finish. If you wanted to make satisfactory stamps, you would probably need to spend a long time manually finishing the 3D printed master before making a mold from it.

Greenonline
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Tom van der Zanden
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PEI filament has glass transition temperature higher than or close to 200 C. It is difficult to print with as it is printed about 350 C and requires heated chamber reaching to 90 C.

Cem Kalyoncu
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I don't know if I understood your question properly. You using the mold to create a rubber stamp and then you use that to stamp over stuff? If so, you simply can use 3D printing to create the stamp, if not, my answer is rubbish.

You can use a flex material to create the stamp itself and then use some hard material to create the handle. Also, you can create a mold around the stamp and use resin to fill it and/or create a resin mold and then use that mold to create the stamps by filling the "holes" with more resin.

Luis Diaz
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