Wildcard Week

Testing embossing effect

For this week I wanted to try making embossed artwork on thin aluminium sheets, inspired by handcrafted metal embossing references.

Inspo:

Pinterest: IMG1 IMG2

Preparing material: flatten soda can

I used aluminium from Sprite and Red Bull cans approx. 0.12mm as it easily available and the material is thin, easy to shape using pressure. Cut and removed the top and bottom part of can, made a vertical cut along the side, and opened it for straightening the sheet using scale repeatedly press it and drag up-down.

Youtube tutorial: Flatten soda cans

Understanding the Embossing Process:

Reference: Embossing Technique Reference How to Emboss with your Cricut!

Setting up the process

Inserting the tool

Changing and inserting tools in the xTool M1 Ultra is simple. The Fine Blade is inserted into the Basic Carriage, while tools like the Cutting Blade and Foil Transfer Tip are inserted into the Multi-Function Carriage.

The tool in which has to inserted in multi-function carriage, it will having a small arrow mark near the end part of the tool - showing the correct insertion direction. Once inserted, the magnetic attachment automatically holds the tool in place securely. After inserting the tool properly, the machine lid should be closed completely before starting the process.

Software Setup

For setting up the process, used the xTool Creative Space software. Inside the software, I first selected the machine I was using and then selected the process type such as blade cutting, foil transfer.

Material Testing

I tested the process on two different materials. One was a normal chart paper whose exact gsm value I did not know, and the other was AuraFold premium 300 gsm paper.

I also tried cutting 3mm thick cardboard using the Cutting Blade tool. However, the blade was not able to cut properly because the cardboard was too thick and hard for the blade-based cutting process.

Framing

Creating the Layered stencil: fine blade tool

To create the embossing effect, I first cut the design shapes using the Fine Blade tool and pasted the cut pieces layer by layer to create thickness underneath the top sheet. I tested both 2 layer and 3 layer setups, where the 2 layer setup used a 1mm offset and the 3 layer setup used a 1.5mm offset around the design.

Then I placed the aluminium sheet on top of these layered structures and used the Foil Transfer Tip pressure to press along the offset paths. Since the xTool M1 Ultra supports debossing, I tested with using pressure and layered surfaces to create a raised embossing effect on the aluminium sheet.

Debossing on Aluminium: foil transfer tip

Created the offset using offset tool, and give parameter only for the offset element. In the machine bed, stick the aluminium coil for debossing with foil transfer tip.

Observations

Cutting the Embossed Letter Using xTool F1 Ultra

Using the xTool F1 Ultra, I tried cutting an embossed letter “O”. I created two embossed “O” shapes and planned to cut them separately and paste them together, thinking the embossed surface would create depth and a hollow structure inside.

Laser Types in xTool F1 Ultra

Blue Diode Laser

Mainly used for cutting and engraving non-metal materials like wood, paper, cardboard, leather and dark acrylic.

Fiber Laser

Mainly used for engraving metals, aluminium, stainless steel, gold, silver and plastic surfaces.

However, the result was the opposite to what i wanted. After cutting, the embossed structure looks flattened instead of maintaining the raised form.

Sketching the Illustrations

I sketched it in paper, later using ardra's ipad created the digital version of illustration.

For sketching and creating the artwork digitally, I used Procreate on the iPad. It is a subscription-free digital illustration, concept sketching and animation app designed for iPad.

Using procreate, traced it digitally, sketched elements in different layers, so that later i can adjust their position freely. I used brush size about 70% for stroke, as it has to get debossed.

For stabilising and smoothing the strokes, lines: click on the brush you wanted >> brush studio >> stabilisation, adjust the values here. And downloaded them in png format.

Software setup and debossing

Koi Fish Embossing

Imported the fish png file and for converting it to vector file, traced it in xtool.

Settings Used:

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Cutting Fish stencil

Debossing aluminium sheet to Fish stencil

Layered stencil and debossing it

Next, I tested the embossing process using a 2-layer paper mould. I cut them twice in sheet, glued one on top of the other, and placed the aluminium sheet over the layered stencil. This time cutting settings were same, only the foil til trasfer setting's pressure value different.

Since the stencil thickness had increased, I reduced the Foil Transfer Tip pressure from 600 g to 500 g. I was concerned that using a higher pressure on the thicker mould might tear or puncture the thin aluminium sheet.

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Results and Observations

The embossing was successful, but the raised effect was slightly less than my previous test using a single-layer mould with 600 g pressure. Although the additional layer increased the mould height, the reduced pressure produced a shallower embossed effect. Other reason could be first fish debossing was done on red bull can sheet and second was on spirite can sheet.

Sloth design

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Adding Vinyl Stickers

Material used red vinyl sheet.

To make the embossed artwork more visually interesting, I decided to add contrasting coloured using vinyl sticker sheets. I cut the stickers using the Fine-Point Blade and carefully applied them to selected embossed areas. I added stickers to the sloth's eyes, the small flowers, and the fish's eyes. I felt that the coloured vinyl created a nice contrast against the aluminium surface and highlight the details of the design.

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