Here is another repurposed bike part that you can get a lot of creative mileage out of.

The old worn out bike tire can be turned into a killer rubber stamp set.

Yes, indeedio…interesting impressions and easy to make.

You’ll need scrap wood to mount your tire material to, contact cement, (can also use nails/tacks but the cement works best), and wooden finials make nice handles for your DIY stamps, or you can use a larger piece of wood and carve a handle.  I’m thinking drawer pulls would also work great.

Just be sure to give forethought to what you’ll be using for a handle, so that you use a thick enough piece of wood to secure it to without interfering with the rubber stamp portion or if you need to drill your holes through it BEFORE gluing down the rubber.

Some tire material may have a steel/wire band that runs around the entire tire and it’s a good idea to remove it so that it’s easier to work with.

I simply cut it in two with wire nippers and then trim it away from the rest of the rubber using heavy duty scissors. Can work in sections or just remove the entire thing.

When using old tires, be sure to give them a good cleaning so any dirt or debris is removed.

(You could also purchase new tire material–but you didn’t hear that from me) hee.

Determine the size of your stamp and the wood you’ll be using to mount to.  I seriously use whatever scraps I have lying around.  Some are smaller with just one piece of tire material…some of the larger blocks can have a few different strips of tire material mounted to it.  Gives you the opportunity to change up your patterns…you’ll be surprised at the variety of tire treads there are to pull from.  Make sure the wood is not warped in a way that will keep your material from making an impression.

Mount with contact cement..clamp if necessary, and let cure.

Stamp away, my friends!

These are excellent art tools to use with inks or paints.

Cheers to artful repurposing…such fun and always original!

michele.