The Armour Archive

I am interested in making a seal of my designed heraldry, but as the design is quite detailed I am sure there is a better way using modern technique than the historical methods that were used. In fact because I am going to make it probably quite a bit larger than the size of a seal I could almost call it a stamp.

I started to etch a reverse image into plaster, then left it and went looking for a better way on the net and found this http://www.art-rubberstamps.com/ halfway down the page where it says HERE IS HOW TO MAKE ART STAMPS! looks like a great way to do it but I'd like to see if anyone here has made seals, etchings or 3D heraldic designs, what method and materials you used and how they turned out.


Thanks,
Wyrm

I made a set for visiting West Kingdom royals a few years ago. I used brass blanks that were etched with ferric chloride and then cleaned up with a dremel tool. I then attached them to carved soapstone handles.

They turned out alright I guess, and looked ok on sealing wax impressions. The detail was not as crisp as I had hoped for though. I think I had some problems with the etchant undercoating the design to much, and then I lost some detail as I tried to sharpen up the undercut areas with the dremel.

I think I might have pics some where, If I can find them I'll post

My seal looks like a river stone glued to a stick. It was $5 and was made by a lady that engraves headstones. I think you can put any design you want into the machine and it engraves the stone. You might contact your local headstone maker.

Look in the phone book for a commercial etching firm. They can etch about 1/8" deep into magnesium, and the result is very clean, VERY detailed and not very expensive. All you have to do is provide the artwork, and probably cut and sand the outside edge of the seal. (It gets etched onto square or rectangular plates)

Some shops will do bronze as well, but the design can't be cut as deep as with magnesium-- some thingie about the way the machine works.