any experience with lasered delrin stamps for embossing?

V

vilePossum

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Jan 14, 2015
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just curious. because i was looking for a set of zodiac sign symbols to use on key fobs.
the only metal set i came about so far was a really ugly tandy level set.
the other stuff i found was being sold over etsy and made of delrin with etched/lasered symbols.
do you guys have any experience with stamps like that?
 
As a matter of fact I just received one from Grey Ghost Graphics. Mine is a paw print 3/4" in height. The stamp is very hard and makes a really good imprint on wet leather if backed up by something very rigid. I'm not into leatherwork so this first sheath has been a learning experience accompanied by a box of band aids.
 
hey, great start for beginning ;) I (like many others) use a slab of granite as base underneath the leather. as for the stamp, that sounds great, sounds like it will do just fine. Thanks!
 
I most recently replaced my makers mark, because the metal pad mine set on left 'borders' with every impression of the base of the stamp and I'd sanded it down as much as I dared. Grey Ghost made me a delrin stamp that does a good job. The first time I hit it, it flew across my shop. The delrin has a lot of bounce compared to a steel stamp and it requires a different multi tap approach for me to get the same impression. I've been using it about 6 months now and that is the only difference for me between the two. Long term I may have to replace this one sooner but it was a lot cheaper so that works out in the wash.
 
We did our own lasered delrin stamp for our new sheath. We didn't wet the leather but we did use a modified arbor press to hold it. Here is the result.

brute-in-leather-sheath__19882.1437606459.1280.1280.jpg


We did a few hundred pieces just fine. I don't know the overall life span of the product but it seems to be holding up fine for us. I would suspect that may vary depending on the complexity of the design and the pressure you're using.
 
Delrin stamps are designed to be pressed not beat on. Jeff at Grey Ghost is great to work with, I have several thousand impressions on the last set he made us with no wear on them using an 8 ton clicker press.
 
Been thinking about these. So it needs a press. Now, what do I look at?

Harbor Freight comes to mind, but I know there's better ideas. ;)
 
The one we used is similar to what you can get from harbor freight. We did need to modify the arm to get better leverage and we made a jig to ensure repeatable placement, something the previous sheath maker we used could not do.
 
Kind of wish those presses weren't so large, my shop is stuffed as it is.

I do have a vise though. Wonder how hard it would be to fix it upright instead of horizontal?
 
I use a delrin stamp from Nick Silva(nicksilva@yahoo.com) for my mark. Marks up to 1.25" are hammer stamps and larger than that are meant for a press. Just make sure you buy the stamp handle as well. I believe I got the stamp and the handle for less than $50 if memory serves.

Chris
 
I have the 20 ton HF shop press in my basement. I use it mostly for straightening out bars of steel before I begin making a knife but it comes in very handy for stamping my mark on my sheaths. My stamp is brass. I haven't tried the Delrin stamps but I think they would work great in an appropriately sized shop press. It's a good idea to case the leather though.
 
With my limited knowledge of leather working I used a mallet at first and it didn't do very well. When I was practicing I found that a deadblow hammer worked better than the mallet. I won't be making many pieces so the press is out for me.
 
Eric@DLT said:
This is a similar footprint to the one we had used

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-3552.html

The foot print is minimal, I don't think it would be any larger than most workshop vises. What you may gain in the reduced size, if any, would be lost in the time it would take to use a vise compared to the press.
Click to expand...

oooooh, nice, this brings me to a question i always wanted to be answered...
i have been looking at these kind of presses but couldn't find any information on how the upper stamp part was mounted (not even the cheapo ebay seller could tell me, would probably cut into his margin to do this kind of work).
the bottom usually has a 12-12.5mm mounting (.50 cal) but no information on the mounting on the moving upper part.
Can anybody help me out with this?
 
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