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Stamp Carving

You can really develop your creative side by carving your very own rubber stamps.

In order to do so, you must have the following articles: An image to carve (it is best to start with a simple figure); blank rubber (rubber blocks and sheets are available); a cutting surface such as ink pad scrap paper for testing your stamp; and stamp carving tools. As for the stamp carving tools, those that are "V" shaped are easiest to use because they raise the excess rubber out as you cut. Some kits are offered with plastic handles and different sizes of carving tips such as straight blades, etc. Another type of kit has a wooden handle and different carving tips plus a block of rubber. The wooden handle sets make a good starter set, but the plastic handle is easiest to use because it is simpler to change carving tips than are those that have the wooden handles.

You first need to transfer your image to the rubber in order to have an image from which to carve around. You may trace an image with a pencil on tracing paper or a use photocopy impression; or make your own artwork. With either image, you must transfer the image to the rubber by putting the paper on the rubber with the image side down and rub with an iron on low heat; then peel up a corner of the paper while holding the remaining paper in position with the other hand, and check to see if the image has transferred. If it has not transferred, keep rubbing with the iron until the image has transferred adequately. This process should not take long, in fact, less than a minute.

If your kit contains a straight blade or craft knife, use it to cut straight down through the rubber, then cut the image from the remainder of the block. Select the proper carving tip to carve out the image. If the image is simple, use a larger tip; a smaller tip will work better for an image that has more detail.

Now carve away the portion of the rubber that does not have the transferred image. Make sure you cut away from yourself so that you don't slip and cut yourself. After you have carved the image, ink your stamp and stamp it in order to test how it looks. You may carve some more, then test it again until you are pleased with the stamp.

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