CHAPTER VIII
RUBBER STAMPS, DIE SINKING, BURNING BRANDS AND STENCILS
Rubber Stamps
A rubber stamp is type matter molded in rubber which is then mounted on a block with a handle as shown in [Fig. 77]. When the stamp is inked and then pressed on a smooth surface it leaves an impression on it.
Rubber stamps are useful for marking tags, books, boxes, bundles, etc., but it is very bad taste to use them for letter-heads and envelopes.
How to Make Rubber Stamps.
—The Materials Needed.
—To make rubber stamps you will need (1) one or more fonts of type; (2) a composing stick if you intend setting up more than one line; (3) a frame called a chase, 4 × 5 inches on the sides made of a strip of wood 1 inch wide and 1³⁄₁₆ inch high, which is the height of type from its feet to its shoulder; (4) another frame, called the matrix frame, made of a strip of wood 1 inch wide, ³⁄₈ inch thick and 4 × 5 inches on the sides. These two frames are shown at A and B in [Fig. 74]. (5) Two smooth boards 1 inch thick, 6 inches wide and 7 inches long; (6) a tooth-brush; (7) a couple of pounds of dental plaster of Paris, and (8) a ¹⁄₄ pound of pure unvulcanized rubber.
Dental plaster is finer than the ordinary kind and you can buy all you will need from your family dentist for 5 or 10 cents a pound. Unvulcanized rubber for rubber stamps comes in sheets about ³⁄₁₆ inch thick and is sold under the name of signature stamp gum and you can buy it for about $1.00 a pound.[72]
[72] You can buy signature stamp gum of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, 10 Central Park West, New York City. In ordering of this firm ask for No. 4093, ³⁄₁₆ inch thick.