Hot foil stamping machine for the space?

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#1

For my project in Applying foil to bookcloth? thread, I’m looking into possibly buying a cheap hot foil stamping machine (£170) because it seems like most UK-made, high quality machines are way outside of “hobbyist” price ranges. (Used for £350+, new for £800++).

However it does seem like this type of machine might be something useful for the space? These types of machines can apply foiling or even just nice deboss/emboss effects to cloth and leather projects, and if they get hot enough can help do branding on softwoods or even hardwoods.

So with that in mind it would bring some synergy between the Mini CNC and the laser + sewing spaces, as you can use the Mini to carve the aluminum and bronze stamps used on your lasercut or sewn projects. [1]

I never have any contention when booking time on the Mini so I’m not sure if we consider it underutilized. (I’ve had members tell me that most tasks the Mini can do are usually better suited for the laser or the Big CNC.)

  1. Do we think this would be worth the space such a machine would take up?
  2. Do we usually plan for somewhere a machine could go before organizing a pledge drive?
  3. And critically… Is there even space for a hot foil press somewhere?

[1] Admittedly the on-loan heat-press can do this too, but I’m not sure if we have guidance on how much pressure we can safely apply, and if it can be used with alu/brass stamps where the pressure won’t be spread evenly across the entire press’s face: Small Heatpress (Swing Arm)

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#2

Personally I think it would be a good addition if we can find the right place to host the machine. I wanted to start assembling some book binding equipment/tool chests for the space since I started but never managed to make time for it. Feasibly part of the screen printing area? Re-name the area print making and binding?

I always think it is a good I des to have machines that don’t get cross contaminated with other areas, plus they tend to do their job better Than some thing that ‘can do’ the job

#3

I think I’ll let this post simmer for a week but my most likely route is going to be to but the cheap machine myself and familiarize myself with it, then try to make enough fun stuff with it that i can convince the space to crowdfund a better one.

(and if someone in the future finds this post and wants to use it, I’ll loan it out for sure, just dm me)

#4

I’d at the very least be interested in using it if that’s okay? I’m binding a book at the moment and would love to do some foil pressing

I’m new to the space so I’m still working how everything fits together, and don’t feel like I can really chime in on how good an investment it would be.

At the same time, can you achieve the same thing with a hot plate, and a stamp (which I think you’ve already made)

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#5

Oh yeah your project is looking great. I’ll let you know when it comes in. (no clue how long it takes, I’ll probably place the order in a week to make sure I’m available when it gets delivered)

#6

To future readers, I’ve ordered the cheap machine with a 10cm x 13cm plate, should get to me in a couple weeks. I’ll document how it goes in a separate project thread linked above!

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