Making Seals with a Laser Engraver

Seals can be easily manufactured on a laser engraver using 1/16" thick Delrin plastic. A seal consists of two pieces - a male die and a female die - both shown above. The male die consists of white lettering on a black background and the female die is an inverted and mirrored image of the male. Inverting and mirroring are easily accomplished in most graphics software packages. Simply duplicate the male die, invert the black and white colors, and mirror the image.

The male image should be produced without the use of outline around text or graphics. Add a .007 inch to .010 inch outline to the text and graphics of the female die. This outline creates a large enough void between the male and female dies to emboss paper without tearing. Apply a .001 inch outline around the seal to define the outside edge of the seal. Use the combined engraving/vector mode to first engrave the seal, then to cut out the seal.