Cookie Stamp

thingiverse

This was a project to create numerous Cookie Stamps for my wife's cutout cookies. Instructions To produce items such as this Cookie Stamp, I used Graphtec's Silhouette Studio to design it because it offers an excellent tracing mechanism and the ability to wrap text along a path like a circle. I also utilized Autodesk 123Design to import an SVG file as a sketch and then extrude the sketch into a 3D object which could be exported as an STL file. I mentioned earlier that I have a MAC Mini and would prefer to use it exclusively, but I also have various flavors of Windows Operating Systems running on it as virtual PCs in Parallels Desktop. What initially seemed so simple turned out to be quite complicated for reasons I will explain. Silhouette Studio, unfortunately, will not allow you to export SVG files with the latest version, so you need an older Version like Version 1.9 to accomplish this. You must also use the premium paid version of Silhouette Studio Designer Edition in order for it to work. There are articles on the internet showing how to run both versions of Silhouette Studio for those who want to utilize all the latest features that version 3 provides. While AutoDesk 123Design is available (free) for MAC and PC, the MAC version does not properly import SVG files containing text; however, the PC version does work with no issues. The problem with that is my PC is a virtual PC, and Autodesk 123Design runs very slowly and is nearly impossible to work on in the virtual environment. I am using Windows 8.1 as my virtual PC. Given the above issues, here's how I go about making a 3D STL file using these tools: Open Silhouette Studio Designer Version 1.9 on the PC and create a new project. Create your design using the tracing tools; save the file by changing the extension from .studio to .svg. Import the SVG file into AutoDesk 123Design (PC version). Save it as a 123 file. Now you can open the 123 File on the MAC and complete extruding the components and exporting the resulting project to an STL file. When creating a cookie stamp, the text must be reversed or mirrored in order to be viewed properly when used to stamp a cookie. Silhouette Studio allows you to mirror the text and place it on a path; be cautious when forcing it onto a path as I created a circle as a path, and pulling the text to the circle sometimes places it on the inside rather than the outside of the circle. For the handle on the cookie stamp, I placed a cylinder on the grid of Autodesk 123Design and then placed a sphere on top of it. Pulling the sphere down till it was halfway through the cylinder produced the handle which I exported as an STL file. I glue the handle to the cookie stamp using PVC cement. I also made several versions of the handle by modifying it in AutoDesk MeshMixer. This has been a learning experience, and took me two days to sort out all the issues; but now I can easily create Cookie Stamps in any flavor I like. Some have pictures of glasses on them, others feature different sayings. Oh, by the way, I scale the STL file to 35% before printing. You can adjust it to suit your cookie size preference.