silhouette mint anyone?

[Heide Monster]

Recently I ran across the "mint" which is a small 3d printer for making stamps.  

"Silhouette Mink stamp maker: specialized machine for producing stamps with the help of thermal printing abilities that result in 3D designs. The system is powerful and customizable, combining a small and easily transportable machine with software, allowing you to create your own stamps in a matter of minutes for use in all your projects."

Does anyone have any experience with these?  It is tempting, the price is come down quite a bit, Amazon has them for under $40.   I'd like to hear your opinion.

 

 

[Jean-Philippe Gilliot]

Good morning,

I was checking it. It's tempting for sure.  But I don't understand if we need to use their ink or if we can use any inkpad.

I was also checking more expensive (but not so...) laser engraving machine.

Did anybody already use them ???

Thank you and have a nice day

[Heide Monster]

I've had one for a couple of months  and I come to a few conclusions

First of all, I bought it on sale on Amazon for about $36- but the local arts&craft places have the same thing for over $100. Then I bought refills on closeout  on line.  The started kit includes the software, the machine, and inks but only 2 blanks. Silhouette sells stamp "kits" which have a handle or sheets which are just the part you actually need. I believe Silhouette is following the razor company policy: sell the original thing cheap and then the refills are the profit.  

The cons:  The blanks cost between $2 and $5 each.   A custom stamp ordered on line is just a little more money.  But if you only want a few stamps that might be cheaper.  The starter kit only comes with 4 colors of ink, so that is a limit. There are a total of maybe 20 colors available, but you buy them separately.   You ink the stamp before using it and then its good for 20 or more good dark stampings.  

The pros:  It is easy to set up.  Plug in the power and the computer and you are ready to go.  The software is easy to understand but has its own quirks.  Its probably worth it to watch a YouTube video first.  I had downloaded the most recent version of the software before I bought the Mint.  The kit comes with a disk but I wanted to see it before I bought it.  It comes with a few (rather twee) images, but you can buy more (ha! not me) or use your own jpegs and several other formats. It uses what ever resident fonts you have.  Making stamps is fun and quick.