Cutting A Stamp

I thought I would have a go at cutting my own stamps.

Can anyone tell me what rubber blocks to use and where to get them?

Additionally can anyone tell me if there is any reliable way of transferring the image produced by a bubble jet printer onto the rubber block?

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, if you go into the Index - than Stamps, you will find the info you need has already been posted on here. The Wandering Artist is one of the very few people who now hand carve, and his stamps are literally works of art. There is nothing he doesn't know about hand carving

Thanks. Found all the information I need.

Its not that hard to hand carve stamps. What hard is carving art. I hand carve but my style is " rustic" compared to the wandering artist.

Hand carving isn't difficult, getting it right can be - patience is the virtue that is needed.
As for the rubbers - you just have to look around for them

I'm hoping to have a go soon too - speedball stuff is easier than lino right? Is there anything better than speedball or is that what is recommended?
Thanks!!!

speed ball pink stuff is nice and easy, but some rubbers are even easier... I got the rubbers that became my last 3 stamps at the cheapo bit n bobs shop. at 1 pound for 4 I wasn't going to complain if I messed up and had to start again.
I then glue mine onto plastic recycled from a sale board.

Oh ok - do you have to be careful as some crumble (think I read that somewhere???) can you tell a crumbly rubber from a suitable one???

I've found the cheap nasty plastic ones to very good for carving, not very good at rubbing out tho... 3 have been out on the moor for 6 month plus now and they were still fine when checked.
Mind you, that particular box ( belstone cricket club) and bonus hadn' t been found by anybody at that point, so it'd been a pretty quiet 6 months sat in a box.

The availability of 'rubbers' for cutting stamps is always changing and over the last 20 plus years I have used so many types, too many to mention. You get to 'feel' if the quality of the rubber with take an image and cut good. Smiths did a good one but was too expensive. Trago mills did a rubber that was good and cheap and I used hundreds of them back in the 90`s. Hard work to fit them together for a largerr stamp though! Best of all has been Stationary Box - again bought hundreds and cut 'quite a few' stamps from them. Still got a small pile left though. Sorry to say that source of rubbers has dried up.

Happy to say that I stll have 'a lot' of old stamps on the moor that have been out for over 15 years! and still good as the day sited! Mind you, the LBT seems have got some of my clues as the boxes have gone missing in the last couple of years.

TWA