Laser engraving leather stamps with Ortur Laser Master 3 or LaserPecker 2

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Welcome back to HTPOW Creative Studio! In this project, we will laser engrave some MDF and acrylic materials to create debossed leather stamps. And materials for making various medals with laser engraving machines.

Welcome back to HTPOW Creative Studio! In this project, we will laser engrave some MDF and acrylic materials to create debossed leather stamps. And materials for making various medals with laser engraving machines.

Ortur Laser Master 3

With an Ortur Laser Master 3 or LaserPecker 2 machine you can achieve some very unique, crisp engravings on leather (see our leather page for more information), but this stamp engraving technique is a great alternative , which can give you different end results. Pressing leather with a stamp preserves the material's surface appearance and texture to a large extent, and is a fast, viable alternative to hand engraving, CNC routing, or 3D printing stamps.

Let me introduce the engraving process using Ortur Laser Maser 3

Prepare pictures to be engraved

We started with a few pre-cut leather patches, with some pictures prepared beforehand. If you have prepared graphics for your Ortur laser engraver and cutter before, this stage should be familiar. Our graphics are black and white, with the black areas indicating where the lasers are firing. We will engrave away the material around the logo and text so that the graphic remains and forms the "raised" part of the stamp.

Ortur Laser Master 3

The most important thing about the graphics for this project is that we need to make sure that the picture is mirrored. At this time, LaserPecker 2 was used to enter and adjust the pattern. When a stamp is pressed into a material, the imprint produced on the material is the reverse image of the stamp. So if we want the image on the leather patch to display correctly, we need to mirror the graphics on the stamp. Any laser engraving machine used in this project can be purchased at HTPOW online store at a cost-effective price.

For convenience, we designed the stamp to be the same size and shape as the leather patch. This is not a required step, but will help us align the stamps later. Since the edges of the stamp line up with the edges of the patch, we can match them exactly and easily position the graphic. The benefit of using a laser is that we can cut the stamps to any size or shape desired, so we can create custom, easy-to-use stamps for any number of products.

Print Our Stamp

We used the latest machine for this project, the Ortur Laser Master 3 at 10W. This machine is equipped with our built-in Lens System, allowing us to easily click and drag pictures and copy paste them onto our material. This is a very handy feature of the Ortur router, but this project can be achieved with any of our machines.

Engraving Settings

Ortur Laser Master 3

We masked the MDF and acrylic panels to protect the material surfaces. We recommend that you use pre-masked materials, or apply your own masking to the surface area where the stamp will be engraved and cut. This isn't a required step, but it will simplify the process by reducing the amount of cleaning you have to do after engraving.

Reach Deeper Depths

We want to make sure the stamp's raised graphic is deep so that when the stamp is pressed into the leather, the back of the stamp (the area where the material has been engraved away) doesn't simultaneously press into the leather and leave an impression. To achieve this depth, we performed a secondary sculpt. The final depth depends largely on the wattage of the laser machine and the type of material used to make the stamp.

Another factor to consider is the material you will be engraving. If you're using thicker materials and/or want a deeper impression, you'll need to make sure the graphic's protrusion height is high enough for your needs. However, if you're working with thinner material and only need a very shallow impression, you don't need to worry about the thickness of the stamp.

When performing multiple engravings, due to the change of the focal length of the machine lens, we recommend that you fine-tune the focal length of the laser machine before performing the next engraving. Since you have engraved a certain thickness, raising the table slightly ensures that the laser remains focused on the surface being engraved for the best results. The height you need to adjust will vary based on how much material was removed in previous sculpting, depending on your wattage and material, but in any case the adjustment is likely to be small.

Cutting And Cleaning

After the engraving phase is complete, we will cut out the stamp.
Since we removed a lot of material to achieve the desired depth, our stamps were dirty. We put it back in the sink and cleaned off the residue.

LaserPecker 2

We recommend that you keep the MDF stamps out of too much water when cleaning. MDF is absorbent and absorbing too much water can cause it to break down. Our stamps were only in contact with water briefly so they remained intact, but yours may vary. So to be on the safe side, you can choose to clean the MDF stamp with a dry or wet brush.
LaserPecker 2 When we're done, we'll peel off the protective covering from the surface.

Soak Patch

The final preparation is soaking the leather patch. This may not be necessary for every material, but we have found that soaking the patches in water prior to debossing makes them more pliable and more receptive to stamped content. This didn't take too long, we soaked the patch for about a minute.

Intaglio

Now it's time to put our stamp to the test.

In order to get a clear, deep impression, we need to press the stamp firmly into the leather. We'll be using multiple clamps to do this, but a vise works just as well. We'll use a couple of wooden blocks to protect our material from damage caused by the clamps and to distribute the force evenly.

Ortur Laser Master 3

We'll apply constant pressure for a short amount of time (should take a few minutes or so) and then release the clamp to see the effect.

As you can see, MDF and acrylic both produce excellent results in these patches. Both materials mark well, so feel free to experiment with whatever material you have. Acrylic is a more expensive option, but using clear acrylic meant we could see the graphic on the stamp, making it easier to align the image. If you use a fiber laser machine, you can try wood or plastic steel, or even metal materials.

We put some leather conditioner on the debossed patches to help finish the pieces, and improve contrast. If you're using raw leather, you might also consider using some leather dye. Seriously, there are no limits to creativity; let your creativity shine.

When finished we had some very distinctive debossed patches. At first glance, you might not know they're laser-engraved, but they are! If you own a laser machine, or are looking for one, then hopefully this project has shown you another way that a laser machine can be a very versatile device.

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