10/29/19

Stylus and Backing Plate

In order to make braille that conforms to size standards, each dot must have a base diameter of 1.44 mm and a height of .48 mm. In manual braille embossing, this is achieved with the use of a stylus with a hemispherical end of the right diameter and a backing plate which prevents the stylus from going all the way through the paper.

We created the first prototype of a stylus and plate out of an m3 machine screw and a thin aluminum plate. We put the screw in a drill press and filed then sanded it down until it had about the shape and diameter we wanted. We then used this stylus to create the plate by pressing the stylus into the thin aluminum to the depth of the dot that we wanted. The dots we get out of this are pretty good and are definitely readable, but we need to find a more precise way to manufacture these in order to get within standards.