Custom printed erasers

DMS General
1

I realize this is (another) long shot, but does the space have the facilities to custom print erasers?

I looked online, and I found things like this:
http://www.branders.com/product/customized-rectangular-jumbo-erasers-prdid-062127/

I’m willing to shell out a few hundred dollars for this; cost is not such an issue, but the erasers I see do not look like the best quality erasers. They look reasonably ok, but I’m not only trying to promote my name, I’m trying to make the point that you can do better math if you use a quality eraser. I, personally, don’t use anything but mars plastic or hi-polymer (I’m a Ph.D. minus epsilon in math, I’m a pro, I use high quality tools for my trade). It’d be great if I could buy a huge stack of them, arrange them in a grid, and hit them with, say, the silk screen machine, or whatever printing tools we might have that I’m not aware of.

Again, it’s a pretty long shot, the silk screen thing probably isn’t what I want at all, but it’s worth asking. I also plan on making some phone calls to print shops later, and see if I can get some samples.

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2

These guys show a picture of the Staedtler® Mars® Plastic Erasers in their promotional shot of laser etched goodies…
I’m not sure if that’s the right Mars Plastic, nor do I see exactly how to order from them, but maybe provides a source, or ideas for getting it done…

3

It’s the stuff, sure, but where do you see that they laser etch it? I can’t get to their home page.

4

Actually I ended up there from here.
I don’t suppose they HAVE to be laser etched, I just assumed.
Actually, that web site is kinda crappy for figuring out what they ACTUALLY offer. It kind of seems like they want you to call and ask…

5

So Staedtler® Mars® Plastic Erasers are actually Polyvinyl chloride or PVC which is not a good idea to run on the laser cutter.

However Staedtler does seem to make a PVC free version. I can’t seem to find a MSDS or data sheet on it but I think it would be safe to laser etch.

http://shop.staedtler.us/c/accessories_erasers_pvc-free-erasers?action_type=switch_product&selected_cat_keys=56.5316.1098135.0.0&selected_product=6429f73de5980e64f07ca07ad0b625bd&redirected_post=1

P̶S̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶’̶P̶P̶’̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶c̶k̶a̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶P̶o̶l̶y̶p̶r̶o̶p̶y̶l̶e̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶a̶f̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶.̶

PPS. Both the Regular Mars Plastic eraser and the PVC free one have the PP on the side so I have no clue what it means.

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6

Good find! All I managed to find was “vinyl”. I don’t know enough about “vinyl” to know how many other versions might be around, and whether they might be laser-safe or not…

7

just throwing this out there, ever think of just buying the erasers and creating a new wrapper? I’m sure it would be cheaper and easier and you can do a lot more like printing on all sides.

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8

Yes, that is the obvious question, and I appreciate you asking the obvious question. Basically people rip off those wrappers and get rid of them. Now I’m really trying to kill two birds with one stone here: one, I’m trying to promote my name, and two, I’m trying to get them to TAKE THE DAMN ERASER that I offer because the one they’re using has been in the drawer under their phone since 1965, has the texture of a doggie chew toy, and is smudging a hole through their homework and into the desk under it. I figure if it looks like I have an ulterior motive, then they might take it and use it. A wrapper with my name on it accomplishes that, and I’ll use it as a fall back, but if I can get it directly on the eraser, there’s a better chance my name will show up the next time they reach for an eraser.

The PVC free stuff is interesting. I will definitely look into that.

If I find an MSDS, are there people here who have the expertise to read it and green light a material for laser testing? Frank seems to be implying pretty hard that he could.

Lasering erasers sounds like fun, profit or no.

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