best time to stamp blades?

It won't stamp well after...well, if they're HT'd properly. :D I stamp, sand the raised "displaced" metal flat, then HT.
 
I stamp my blades during heat treating. I normalize 3x just prior to hardening, and on the 3rd normalizing cycle, while the blade is hot, I stamp one side of the ricasso with my name, and the other with my MS stamp. About the only time I run into difficulties is if the blade is very thin (1/8" or less), then you have to be careful that you don't stamp over the imprint on the opposite side...otherwise it will push that stamp back out a bit and you can easily loose it during clean up.
 
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