Category Archives: stamping

You Bring It, This Blings It: Retrofitting a Hot Foil Stamping Machine

Posted on by

Hot foil stamping is a method often used to embellish and emboss premium print media. It’s used on things like letterhead and wedding invitations to add a touch of luxury. The operation is actually quite simple, where a custom die is heated, pressed into a heat transfer foil, and then transferred on to the print media. Some of the very first manuscripts used gold leaf embossing to decorate intricate calligraphy. You can also see it often used to decorate the sides of religious texts.

Professional foil stamping machines are often pricey and the cheaper ones you can get from eBay …read more

Continue reading You Bring It, This Blings It: Retrofitting a Hot Foil Stamping Machine→

Low-Budget Hydroformer Puts the Squeeze on Sheet Metal Parts

Posted on by

Between manufacturing technologies like 3D-printing, CNC routers, lost-whatever metal casting, and laser and plasma cutters, professional quality parts are making their way into even the most modest of DIY projects. But stamping has largely eluded the home-gamer, what with the need for an enormous hydraulic press and massive machined dies. There’s more than one way to stamp parts, though, and the budget-conscious shop might want to check out this low-end hydroforming method for turning sheet metal into quality parts.

If hydroforming sounds familiar, it might be because we covered [Colin Furze]’s attempt, which used a cheap pressure washer to inflate …read more

Continue reading Low-Budget Hydroformer Puts the Squeeze on Sheet Metal Parts→