- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 10 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)
1
BIG Halo: Campaign Evolved News & The Covenant Are Coming!
1
Delve Into The Discworld RPG With Modiphius’ Starter Set
1
Fight For The Falklands With Battlefront’s New Team Yankee Sets
0
Warcrow’s Best Faction? Red Caps For Corvus Belli’s Fantasy Wargame
8
Even More Characters Join The Silver Bayonet’s Venetian Adventure
1
Build Marius’ Roman Mules With Graal Miniatures On Kickstarter
2
Medbury Miniatures Surprise With Fantasy Barbarians For October
5
Kromlech Kick Off Orktober With DUNE-Inspired Vehicles & More
1
Unleash More Alien Invaders On Your 28mm Sci-Fi Battlefields
3
Reinforce Your 10mm Robot Legions In Hydra’s Atomic Tank
3
Play A Love Letter To Classic Mordheim With Black Death City
0
New Darkoath Warqueen Warhammer Day Miniature Previewed
2
Burn Down More Victrix Dark Age Huts In Games Of Pillage
3
Warp Miniatures & Malev Da Shinobi Collab On Greathelm Knights!
8
Secure The Stars & Seas With Crooked Dice’s New Pulp Miniatures
4
New Heroes Drop Into Warlord Games’ Weird Konflikt ’47
6
New Warhammer Tone Pro Paints Coming Next Week
2
Head To The Mediterranean With Warbases New Terrain!
6
Sneak About With Star Wars: Legion’s Guerilla Troopers & More [UPDATED]
0
Pre-Order The New 15mm British For World War III: Team Yankee
0
Pre-Order The New 15mm British For World War III: Team Yankee
3
Adeptus Custodes Pre-Orders Hit This Week For Warhammer 40,000
6
House Orlock Rev Their Engines For New Edition Of Necromunda
15
Dead Earth Miniatures’ Imperial Army Conquers Sci-Fi Worlds
5
The Chittering & Barking Mad Join TTCombat’s Carnevale
2
Armoured Clash Two-Player Set Incoming! Scouring Of Singapore
10
Adventure In Five Parsecs From Home With New Modiphius Miniatures
0
Make Miniatures Weird With Wargames Atlantic’s Monstrous Mutations
0
Black Scorpion’s New Snarling Fantasy Norse Are Looking Amazing!
1
Build Quick WW2 Battlefields With Bandua’s European Village
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
3D Printing for Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Historical Tabletop Game Discussions
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Historical Tabletop Game Discussions
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
Science Fiction Tabletop Game Discussions
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Science Fiction Tabletop Game Discussions
Historical Tabletop Game Discussions
News, Rumours & General Discussion
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Science Fiction Tabletop Game Discussions
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
News, Rumours & General Discussion
Historical Tabletop Game Discussions
Painting in Tabletop Gaming
Copyright © 2026 Beasts of War Ltd.
All trademarks and images are copyright of their respective owners.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Manage your cookie preferences below:
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
These cookies are used for managing login functionality on this website.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Service URL: policies.google.com (opens in a new window)