- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 3 months ago by
shingen.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Home › Forums › Terrain & Scenery in Tabletop Gaming › Are die-cutting and embossing machines any usefull?
Tagged: embossing machine
So my wife got herself a cheap die-cutting and embossing machine to start making cards. She had used it for some time but now the thing happened everybody said would happen with the cheap ones: it doesn’t cut anymore. The bearings are having to much play and you can only do embossing with it. So she got herself a new one, this time a proper one. (This one.)
Now I have the old machine and I’m trying to think of a way on how to use that thing for our hobby.
Do you guys have any ideas?
Making tops for bases or floor/wall patterns for terrain?
Is there a tool for corrugated card to make corrugated sheets for terrain?
Theres a little handheld machine you can get from railway modelling suppliers to make corrugated sheets. Saw it for the first time a couple of weeks back. Thought it was great
@torros for that (corrugated sheets) I have the “Corrugator Tool” from GSW en route via the OTT SW packet 😉
What I would need would be some kind of stencil to press into foam or other materials… like the textured rolling pins but in a flat version
I’m pretty sure I watched my dad use thick foil with corrugated cardboard as a “mould” to make sheets of corrugated iron for something on the train set. It wouldn’t survive wargaming though.
Can you take the machine apart and use it for terrain?
Well “if” you can get square or circular dies, one thought I’ve had in the back of my mind would be to scan a gaming mat and then print out a colour sheet with the texture on. The use a die cutter (mainly you’d need this for circular bases as square ones can be hand cut with a scalpel) to cut and then glue onto a laser cut MDF base (for example a 1″ or 25mm circular base). Thus your minis now have bases that perfectly match the gaming mat, and it’s quick to do (other than the need to drill and pin the mini to the MDF base, but if you get a production line going……)
Can you take the machine apart and use it for terrain?
@Robert I had it apart to see if the bearings could be fixed (they can’t) and it’s nothing really nearly good looking. Just a heavy frame with two heavy rolling pins.
@phaidknott I think circular dies would be doable but… the machine doesn’t apply enough pressure any more to cut…. that’s the whole reason why it ended up with me 😉
I don’t know how the machine is built inside, but I imagine you could use it as engine for texture rollers on soft materials, either self-made (sculpted, milled or 3d-printed) or even bought from GSW – in that case you may want to prepare some kind of interface between the machine and the roller.
On a side note, if you’re looking for a machine that could be used for cutting sheets of material (plasticard, paper, plastic folders or self-printed decals – @lloyd – etc.) into intricate and repetitive shapes, I use Silhouette Cameo, a neat little cutting plotter which can be fed any vector graphics. I don’t want to pollute your topic, but in case you’re interested I can elaborate on that with some examples.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Supported by (Turn Off)
2
Fight On The Carcass Front With New Trench Crusade Boxed Set
6
Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Ogryns & Big Guns Coming Soon
2
New Lumineth Realm-lords Warband For Warhammer Underworlds
1
Cold Blood Themed Bushido Warband Available For AdeptiCon
3
Westfalia Bringing New Deathbringer RPG Minis To Kickstarter!
24
New Warhammer 40,000 Edition Revealed! Armageddon Calls
14
New Spearhead & Cities Of Sigmar For Warhammer Age Of Sigmar!
5
New Plastics Riders Of Rohan & More | Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game
9
The Red Terror Returns To Warhammer 40,000 In New Kill Team Set
14
Yarrick Battles Orks In New Warhammer 40,000 Supplement
0
Winter’s End! Stunning New Founder’s Exclusive Set For Conquest
1
Extract & Fight In Hotzones With Spectre Miniatures New Figures
1
Superheavy Reinforcements Coming To 10mm Armoured Clash
0
The Sultanate Sail Into Warcradle Studios’ Dystopian Wars In May
5
Crooked Dice To Sell LaFig’s Awesome Sci-Fi Space Forbans
4
Smash Defences With Conquest’s Hundred Kingdoms Trebuchet
4
Oakbound Studio Releasing Shivershield Rules & Starter Set
5
Rifleman Harper Miniature Coming Soon For Sharpe Fans!
1
Battle Chaos Fiends In Cubicle 7’s Darktide: The Card Game
8
S.H.I.E.L.D Goes Up Against Sentinels! New Marvel: Crisis Protocol Sets
11
More Details Drop For Atomic Mass’ Marvel: Crisis Protocol Alliances
8
Pre-Order Baylan Skoll & Morgan Elsbeth For Star Wars: Shatterpoint
8
Wargames Atlantic Marcher: Empires At War US Plastic Kits Available!
6
Begin Planetfall With New Five Parsecs From Home Rules
1
Play Out Campaigns With Chronicles Of Midgard Rules
10
Commissar Yarrick Returns To Warhammer 40,000 + More!
4
Pick Up Major Motoko Kusanagi Miniature From Mantic Games!
2
New Dungeon Delving Heroes Available From Tablefigs Range
4
More Beowulf Teasers For Ragnarok Miniatures’ Next Kickstarter
3
Build A Fantasy Hamlet With Micro Art’s New Collection
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Fantasy Tabletop Game Discussions
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Technical Support
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
COG – Chamber of Commerce
Copyright © 2026 Beasts of War Ltd.
All trademarks and images are copyright of their respective owners.