I tried using some craft foam in the Silhouette Cameo (hobby-grade desktop plotter) to make a serial number stamp for a GTB Gold Strike I'm repainting. It turned out pretty good, so I thought I'd share with others.

Months ago, before stripping the paint off the cabinet, I scanned the serial number from the top of Gold Strike's litebox. Initially I tried to find a good font to match the Gottlieb stamp. None could be found, so I ended up tracing the scanned serial number in Adobe Illustrator. Before bringing the shape into Silhouette Studio for cutting, I mirrored the image so it would print correctly.

I then cut the number on a sheet of 22cm adhesive-backed foam I picked up at Michaels. This stuff is a little too thick for the Cameo, but it still cuts most of the way through. I used an x-acto knife to trim the remainder of the foam. This resulted in some jagged edges, but it was confined to the bottom of the stamp. Only the top half needed to be sharp to make a good impression.

The butt end of a 2x4 was the perfect size to accommodate all the numbers, so I affixed them to fashion a good stamp. To figure out the right amount of acrylic paint, I made a couple of test impressions on a piece of cardboard. I learned the second impression yielded the best results. The first was too dense. Three and four were too light. But two was just right.

Here are some pics. One pic has Gold Strike sitting in front of Centigrade 37, which has a factory stamp on it for comparison.

Silhouette Studio
2x4 Stamp
Test Results
Gold Strike and Centigrade 37
Serial Number Stamp

Thanks, Chris!

I have a Dimension cabinet to do next, but the serial number is gone from the top of the litebox. It would be great if a font was found that matches the style used by Gottlieb. Then I could cut entire sheets filled with numbers 0-9 to use on future projects and share with other restorers.