Embossing with the Robo?

[silverst170]

I'll believe Robo embossing when I see it! Everyone (well not quite) is selling embossing tools, but I've yet to find any instructions or examples - it so far appears to be a mythical beast like the unicorn, so get to work Tina!

Rosemary

I can't do anything till I get my parcel and believe me Rosemary I cant wait to see it either


Tina x

[Wingus]

I can't wait to hear the outcome of this too! I always thought the CR didn't have enough pressure to do embossing?

[Senorita Lynn]

This sounds really interesting and I can't wait to hear more!

[Mystery Woman]

Is this meant to work on the original Robo, or the newer models only? Thanks

[Janet1]

I did these on the Pro yesterday.

I used double sided crafting metal ,held down with masking tape, on a piece of Funky foam and an ordinary embossing tool in a drilled out pen holder. On the silver one I used a force of 31 and the red one a force of 21.

I think the results are pretty impressive.

janet

[kingmuma]

Wow - I'm impressed looks wonderful!!

Regards
Pat xx

[Wingus]

Janet that does look good. I had thought about using a normal embossing stylus in the pen holder, but wasn't sure what to put underneath the paper/card to get the embossing effect. I guess Funky Foam would do it! Does it fit underneath the rollers with ease?

[Lucille]

I can't wait to hear the outcome of this too! I always thought the CR didn't have enough pressure to do embossing?

I don't think it is the pressure that is the problem, it is not having a soft mat underneath to allow it actually emboss. It's like trying to use and embossing tool on a cutting mat, it doesn't really work.

[Janet1]

Janet that does look good. I had thought about using a normal embossing stylus in the pen holder, but wasn't sure what to put underneath the paper/card to get the embossing effect. I guess Funky Foam would do it! Does it fit underneath the rollers with ease?

I don't know if you can get different thicknesses of Funky Foam but mine fit under the wheels no problem. I trid it with the rollers running off it and that also worked. You need to make sure that it is well stuck down though. I've just tried some gold mirror card. The right one was set at Force 31 and the left I used 27.

Nowhere near as good as the Cuttlebug folders, but I'm sure that with a good combination of card/metal and embossing tool, that you could get a better effect than the ones i've produced .

Janet

[dozyrosy]

Hi, What is the max pressure for the Craft Robo, if I have that info I will try it out at those settings for you.
Oh, and it uses a special mat that has a type of foam on top, this is what allows the tool to press into the card.

OK:
Maximum cutting force:

Small Robo (CC200-20): 230g

(original model apparently has 50% less force so 115g??)
Robo Pro (current model): 300g
All KNK models: 500g

The KNK cutters have a thin rubber/foam strip which is stuck on top of the cutting strip for embossing (this is the vital bit!), and I believe this can be left in place without any problem when you're cutting.

I thought I'd have a try, seeing Janet's success with the metal. I used one of my black Wizard embossing mats since these are fairly thin, and are similar to the mats that are used for embossing in parchment craft. I used a couple of different embossing tools and some pearl card. The mat stuck to the carrier quite well and I just used a larger piece of card which stuck down on the carrier round the mat's edges. The first tool (3mm ball) poked well out - too far actually as it scored the card regardless as it moved into position, did some embossing on the back at full force that was just about visible from the front - nothing that was at all acceptable. Smaller tool (1.8mm) poked out less (about as much as you see of the pen nib when using the holder for drawing), was useless on the card at various pressures. I also tried on a scrap of thin metal sheet at full pressure with the smaller tool, and this definitely gave good results. So it's doable, but I think also very hit and miss! Remember that too that I (and I believe Janet too?) have the Pro and it's a much more powerful machine than the small Robo, and the KNKs (which have the embossing kits) are much more powerful again...

I don't know if Janet found this with hers , but the machine was noisier on my first attempt, which made me feel it wasn't happy with that particular setup, and was probably having to work too hard.


Rosemary

[hellma]

Tina i have been looking at the embossing tool (on the net) and there is also a mat required which is sold seprately, hope this helps.
Helen

[silverst170]

Yes I sell the mat too


tina x

[gentleflower]

I did these on the Pro yesterday.

I used double sided crafting metal ,held down with masking tape, on a piece of Funky foam and an ordinary embossing tool in a drilled out pen holder. On the silver one I used a force of 31 and the red one a force of 21.

I think the results are pretty impressive.

janet

Hmm well I have funky foam and embossing tools .... I did think about the embossing tools but wasn't sure what to put beneath so thank you Janet!

Your examples look very impressive!! Well done you!!

Linda

[claireb22]

Hi do we have any update on if this worked or not? please x

[dozyrosy]

Well from my experience trying on the Pro using a firm embossing mat and a standard embossing tool in the pen holder: embossing on pearl card is a complete waste of time, but embossing on soft metal does give nice results, and it's worth having a go with this. Janet seems to have had better results with her attempts on card though. Whether or not custom tools and mat give a better result does still remain to be seen.

I'm intending this afternoon - if I can find my mat again! - to try on a piece of parchment and possibly vellum to see what results are like for that.

I've still not seen any examples of embossing other than the few we've produced here, which may be telling us something! But I'd just like to add that in spite of all my negative comments on this, I would actually like to see that the Robo is capable of doing some decent embossing...