Blade mark stencil ideas

S

shane justice

Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
1,606
Guys,

After years of indecision on marking my blades I have come down to 3 possible ideas.

#1.) Use only my last name in a simple clean font.

I am including choices #2 and #3 with the attachment.

#2 uses a bowie knife with a set of scales as the guard. This comes from the "Justice" coat of arms which is actually a sword with scales balancing on the tip. I decided to do an American version of the idea instead. I included the blacked out version which is how it would appear on small blades since trying to do a detailed stencil that small would probably cause it to be mostly black anyway.

#3 was a suggestion from my good friend Bill Burke. One of the bowie ideas I sent to him used the longhorn steer skull as the center of the scales' balance beam. Bill suggested just using the steer skull with scales and my name between the horns. In the small version this would probably be blacked out also.

Can anybody give me some "thumbs up/down" on these ideas?

I will use the finished blade mark on business cards and printed forms so this is an important decision for me.

Thanks for your help.

Shane
 
shane justice said:
Guys,

After years of indecisionon marking my blades I have come down to 3 possible ideas.

#1.) Is to stick with using my last name in a simple clean font.

I am including choices 2 and 3 with an attachment.

#2 uses a bowie knife with a set of scales as the guard. This comes from the "Justice" coat of arms which is actually a sword with scales balancing on the tip. I decided to do an American version of the idea instead. I included the blacked out version which is how it would appear on small blades since tryin to doa detailed stencil that small would probably cause it to be mostly black anyway.

#3 was a suggestion from my good friend Bill Burke. ONe of the bowie ideas I sent to him used the longhorn steer skull as the center of the scales' balance beam. Bill suggested just using the steer skull with scales and my name between the horns. IN the small version this would probably be blacked out also.

Can anybody give me some "thumbs up/down" on these ideas?

I will use the finsihed blade mark on business cards and printed forms so this is an important decision for me.

Thanks for your help.

Shane
Click to expand...

Shane,
FWIW I like the steer with your name and scales. I'm not sure how that would look on the blade though. While the other symbols are cool looking I'm a big believer and from what I understand, collectors, are believers in the maker's name being on the blade. It drives them batty trying to keep up with all the squiggles, shapes and other touchmarks we use.

How about the small bowies flanking your name? Or just on one side of your name because 2 of them may be a bit busy? Or using the bowie/scale as the "t" in your name?
 
I would go with the text only and the font that is with the steer looks good.

I'd stay away from the scales of justice unless you're some really hard core law enforcement or adjudicator type.

On edit; the reason I say that is because I think you may be trying to use a play on words with the 'scales' being that knives have handle scales but for what it's worth, that may only be a valid pun to another knifemaker. Unless I am the only person that was a knife 'buyer' that had no idea what a knife 'scale' was before coming to this site.

What I'm trying to say is that a knife buyer might not get it and that is your demographic; knifemakers will get it but you probably won't sell many knives to makers. Then again, once buyers do get it, it may be a selling point.
 
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Shane, first of all, don't listen to Bill Burke ;) :p

I'd say just your name in a clean and clear font. Those images you came up with are really cool, but they would have to be awfully big to show up in an etch on steel. So big they would be gawdy (IMHO) Make them small enough to get away from that, and I don't think the detail would show up.

Put one of those symbols on some nice stationary and include it with a knife and note of thanks or knife specs when you sell it. :)
 
ps- You can listen to Burke if you ask him about what a marketing genious I am. HAHA ROFLMAO! (we need that little rolling head smiley on this forum!!!) :)
 
Ok guys...I appreciate everybody tossing in there responses.

The scales ida was not something I chose for myself, but something that was chosen before I was born. Since my Dad's people are from Scotland the heraldic "scales" is a sort of birthright.

What is even more interesting is that my Dad's mother's people are from Ireland and the family name from either side is O'Neil...or Kennedy. As the story is told I have some claim to use the "Red Hand of Ulster" in my coat of Arms as well. Something about using a bloody hand on a knife logo chafes me a bit.

If I was going to choose a cool logo I would have been born, "the Green Lantern". Since I got shafted in that respect I have tried to make what I do got work for me.

My father-in-law says stick with the last name and toss the rest. But the artist in me keeps reaching for something more.

I have also considered using the Japanese Kanji charcter for my last name...or at least for the word, "justice"...it looks like the word, "if"...
which anybody who knows me, understands that my entire life has been one bif , "IF".

I told you i have been thinking about this for a LONG time.

My head is going to explode if I keep at it much longer.

Shane
 
First off I would like to say Justice is a cool name and I personally think just that would be best. Your last name alone sounds serious to me and kinda dramatic. My name Crump on he other hand is kinda a silly sounding name that has turned into slang for a number of different things. This is why I use W. Crump:)

On the other hand I do like the other ideas, especially the bowie with scales. It may not be a bad idea to use one of them for other things, maybe a stamp on your sheaths.

I have heard some folks complain about makers who have to much going on as far as logos on their knives. I have never heard the opposite opinion.
 
Hey Shane as far as listening to me goes Wheeler may be right. (damn that hurt) I would tell you to try and decide before Nick goes for His MS. stamp but I know you want to decide in the next ten, no five, well maybee next year, Oh I had something come up yeh that's it, No I missed my flight, uh Had to work out, Uh the shop pixie yeh that's the ticket the shop pixie kept him to busy.
 
See what I mean Shane... Burke and all that crazy talk :rolleyes:

:D :D :D

I'm still thinking about the same thing about stencil detail. The idea of using it on the back of your sheaths as a stamp is an excellent one.

*** and just for the record, I deserve all that ribbing and more that I got from Bill :D ***
 
Guys,

I always stumble into the middle of these private jokes...all I can do is ort of nod and pretend I know what's going on.

More soon.

Shane
 
Shane,

Don't worry about Bill & Nick's little inside jokes... Both of them have been smoking way too muck steel dust!!
I used to use my initials as my mark, but got away from it and went to my last name. The reason was because I found out that there were about 5 or 6 other people/companies using the same initials. It got really confusing for people. I was constantly getting calls and e-mails from people asking if the knife they had was built by me...
That has pretty much gone away since I switched.

Steve
 
Here's the font I was thinking about for my last name stencil.

Clean, clear and simple.

I think it will fit in about any style blade. It should remain clean when I need a smaller size.

The top font size is 10, I stretched the letter spcing a bit...the second is font size is 16.

What do you guys think?

Should I go with a different font?

Shane
 
I would thnk that you may be able to get away with the steer and scales of justice theme only on large knives, but I agree with Nick that it is too large for most knives.

As for using a small simple font of just your name on small knives and the steer and scales of justice on larger knives, I'm not sure that having two different marks is a good marketing idea either. The artwork might look good on larger knives, but it might confuse some buyers/collectors as your name and reputation are growing. It might leave some people thinking that there are two different makers names Justice.

This entire post boils down to.........I agree with Nick! Damn, that was hard to say....lmao....
 
Dang, does Nick ever say anything you guys don't agree with?

Nick, do you got naked pictures of these guys in compromising positions or what?

Shane
 
Getting a nice clean stamp on your blades is hard enough with only a simple stamp, fancy ones will need a dam hard wack with the hammer or press.

Richard
 
Getting a nice clean stamp on your blades is hard enough with only a simple stamp, fancy ones will need a dam hard wack with the hammer or press.

Richard
 
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