At my wits end re stamping my name on a knife UPDATED PROBLEM MAY BE SOLVED

Col Defender

Col Defender

Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
1,398
Hey Guys - thanks so much for your help here. Maybe not perfect but this is much better by far than ever before:



What I did was to heat the blades red hot with a propane torch and then use my same setup as in the other picture but with a four pound hammer. I was even able to strike the stamp four times on each knife. Before when the steel was cold I would hit the stamp once but then it would jump a little and I could never hit it again without getting overlapping letters. I considered an eight pound hammer but that was too heavy for my skinny wrist. Anyway I am happy with the results and owe you all many thanks.

Please help/advise!

I almost never get my name evenly stamped on a blade. My name is Kelley and what I generally end up with is "Kell" or perhaps "lley" and so on. I am using a name stamp from Infinity Stamps which is supposed to be for steel, with a holder for the stamp and also a machined steel block to lay the blade on. I use a 3# dead blow hammer. Obviously I am either striking the stamp unevenly or not holding the stamp straight on the blade but I cannot figure out how to fix the problem. Here's a pic of my setup:



Maybe what I have is not the right tool for the job? (There's about $150 worth of stuff in the picture not counting the hammer so I'd hate to replace it all but....if I need to...). Is there some sort of jig which would hold the stamp better?

Hopefully some of you guys can tell me what I am doing wrong or what I need to do better or (even) what better tool it might be wise to get.

Thanks so much.
 
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One thing I just thought of...you can see in the picture that the stamp itself has a rounded top. Would it help if I ground it flat to provide a better striking surface?
 
I think you need to use a heavier hammer. I use an 8 pounder. Also you might want to use something bigger and heavier under the blade. I use a 115 pound anvil. ;-)

Even with all that I have to use multiple blows to get the depth I like.

I wouldn't grind the top of the stamp flat. They grind them round for a reason.
 
Stamp it hot and it will drive as deep and even as you want it to. Stamp it cold and it will laugh at you...and sometimes split the blade across the ricasso.

A guided holding system for the stamp with a heavy base plate for the knife to sit on is also a good idea.

The ultimate way to get good stamps is to use a hydraulic bottle jack. It can be hand pumped or air operated. Make a very basic H-frame press with the bottle jack raising the plate that the knife is on. The stamp sits in a holder on the top bar.
 
Thanks Stacy - any chance I could see a picture of the setup you are describing? Great idea about stamping it hot! Should I do that as I begin to heat the blade for heat treating, like get it red hot, stamp it, and then back into the forge to go for non-magnetic Orange hot?
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Stamp it hot and it will drive as deep and even as you want it to. Stamp it cold and it will laugh at you...and sometimes split the blade across the ricasso.

A guided holding system for the stamp with a heavy base plate for the knife to sit on is also a good idea.

The ultimate way to get good stamps is to use a hydraulic bottle jack. It can be hand pumped or air operated. Make a very basic H-frame press with the bottle jack raising the plate that the knife is on. The stamp sits in a holder on the top bar.
Click to expand...
 
IMO, stamping hot is a good way to ruin your stamp and burn yourself. Stamp cold, in the annealed form, prior to hardening. Take your time, use at least a 2.5lb hammer(not a dead-blow) with more mass underneath(anvil). I would also ditch the holder. You get more feel with a bare hand. Like Phillip, I often stamp multiple times to get it just right.
 
Stamps are ground to a dome because it automatically focuses the force of the blow to the core of the tool.
 
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