Converting the image into a 3d mold

We used the very handy website 3dp.rocks/lithophane to convert any gray scale image into the model we'll need for creating the putty molds. Before importing the we'll need to resize to image to fit the stamp size. Use an image editing program to properly scale the image. To scale an image to a dollar note, we measured the image to 35mm x 45mm.

Make sure to scale the image before creating the 3d model. You may loose details if you scale the 3d model afterwards. 

Model settings

To create the negative parts for the mold, we'll need to edit some of the options in the model settings. 

First change the thickness to 3mm

Set the thinnest layer to be 1mm

Change vectors per pixel to 2

Image settings

When making a stamp, keep in mind that the image must be reversed to have the correct orientation. You can adjust that in the image settings option if you forget to in your image editing program.  

Stamp Walls

Next will need to add walls for the putty to fill in our mold part. We built this simple wall design that you can easily edit  to fit the dimensions of your stamp. The design also includes a handle to attach to the completed putty mold. You can edit the handle design measurements to match up to the stamp mold.

Combine wall to design 

After we size our walls to our mold part, we'll need to combine the geometry in to one solid object for printing. We used meshmixer to align and combine the mold and the walls objects.

Select the stamp mold and then shift select the wall geometry to invoke the boolean options. Select "boolean union" and then click on the accept button to finalize. Now we can import the solid model into our slicing program to create the tool paths for the 3d printer.

If the meshmix has errors creating a union between the two objects, we'll need to first select each object and then use the "make solid" option. 

If you still get errors, we can use the combine option. First select stamp, shift select the walls and then click on the combine option. Now we can click on the "make solid" option.