I decided to do some test stamps today. However before I started I decided to clean up the stamps to see if I could yield a better result.
Here is the stamp before I worked on it. You can see all of the excess rubber around the B.
First I drilled out the holes in the B with a 3/16 drill. Here you can see the holes drilled in the B & The P.
Next I trimmed the excess material around the cut out Letters with a razor blade.
Then I tried a few test stamps with some latex paint and a piece of plywood. Not an ideal situation, but enough to indicate if I am going in the right direction. As you can see I used a foam brush to apply the paint to the stamps. I found that the key is to apply the least amount of paint possible. Next time I will try an even smaller foam brush and thinner paint on a metal surface. That should give me a better idea of how close I can get to what I am looking for.
The test turned out ok overall. The second one from the bottom was the first test and the driest. I also pressed the lightest on that stamp. The harder you press the more distorted the stamp will be. The rubber stamp is fairly form, but the black rubber underneath the clear rummer is very soft and compresses quite easily.