#$^$#&^ Double stamps!!

CUTS LIKE A KRIS

CUTS LIKE A KRIS

Joined
Sep 28, 2005
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Got a set of stamps, and the holder from Evers. Tried it out on scrap steel, micarta and blackwood. Everything is good. Go to stamp 6 knives (one of each stamp on each= 12 stamps) and 5 of them get a double stamp!!! GRRRRRRRR........... Don't know what is going on- hit with medium pressure as a very hard hit seemed to start the double- nope another get doubled. Grind off the stamp on a couple and on others just grind off enough to get the faint double off. These are my first real batch of knives (#2-7 that I have completed from scratch), and one is the first real knife that has been ordered from me, along with our wedding cake knife and groomsmen knives (I am scared to do my fiancee's garter dagger now in case I mess it up). I know that I have to get a press sometime but I thought that the stamp holder that Evers sells would work well, and I kept the stamp in the holder as they shipped it to me.

Just had to vent- thanks for listening.
 
Need an arbor press, or a real solid guide, or both. Maybe a deadblow hammer in the mean time, to cut the bounce?
 
I know how you feel. I have an arbor press and I still have trouble with one end of my name stamping shallower than the other sometimes and other sundry problems. I just ordered an electro-chemical etcher and shall be placing an order for stencils with Ernie Grospitch shortly.
 
Dead blow hammer and an arbor press. Use the arbor press to hold it in place then strike the press ram. Use heavy pressure to hold to stamp in place. It also can depend on the stamp. My Initials do not double stamp but my JS does almost every time. I started doing them hot and it helps a great deal. Now I have gone to a jewelers engraver, no doubles there.
 
I have an etcher if any body would like it. I would like to get $50 out of it. It has enough chemicals to last forever. Might need a new pad but it was not used all that much. Did not like the results. It bled with damascus also. That and poor stamp repeatability is why I have gone to a jewelers engraver.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. My first blade was engraved but I was not too happy with the choices of font, placement etc. I got my brother to get me the stamps in exchange for a series of knives to give away as advertisement for his concrete business. Just thought that by spending the big bucks on the right stamps and holder would take most of the rookie errors out of the equation. What was even more frustrating was that all of the scrap tries have been fine but on actual knives it doubles. Guess luck will have a bit to do with it until I can afford an arbour press (and find where to get one).
 
I bought a stamp from Evers with the holder. I put the holder and stamp in the arbor press, place my blade in, hold the pressure down with my left hand and beat the crap out of it with a 4 lb dead blow with the other. I've never had a double stamp yet. Cost about $300 for the set plus the arbor press from Harbor Freight. Well worth it.
 
Cuts like a kris

When you practice stamped your scraps, were they the same hardenable steel that you use in your blades, or were they soft?

If not, that would account for the different behaviour of the stamping.
 
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I use a hydraulic press from HF the 99.00 dollar one. I put my evers stanp holder in the press and apply pressure. Test a couple of pieces to see how musc pressure you need.
No double stanps and clean and crisp each time. Also make sure your stock is flat,an .005 difference from one side of the blade to the other will also make a big differance in the depth of the stamp.
 
I couldn't keep my Evers stamp from wandering as I struck it with a hammer, so I made a hydraulic press for stamping. I essentially copied the one that Kevin Cashen posted photos of but, since I can't weld, mine just bolts together. The cross pieces in my press are made from 3/4" A36, the threaded rod and nuts are Grade 8. I added couple of pins to the base to keep the 12-ton jack from wandering. The stamp holder is a piece of pipe with some screw tapped in for minor adjustments. I ended up attaching a 2x4 to the bottom, just so that I could clamp it in a vise to keep it from wobbling as I pushed on the jack handle.

In Kevin's post about his press, he mentions striking the stamp with a hammer after the pressure is applied. I thought he was kidding, until I discovered that my 12-ton jack easily flexed even my 3/4" inch cross pieces, without deeply marking the blade. I then started using a hammer too. The pressure of the press just keeps the stamp from moving on the blade as you hit it.

Here are a couple of photos of my press. The top piece is not really bent, it's just an optical "delusion" in the photo.

Stamping-press.jpg


Stamping-press-2.jpg

PS: The blade in the press is already hardened. It's just there for demonstration purposes.
 
Steven Penner said:
Cuts like a kris

When you practice stamped your scraps, were they the same hardened steel that you use in your blades, or were they soft?

If not, that would account for the different behaviour of the stamping.
Click to expand...

They were a different steel, but both types are soft as the stamps are not made for hardened steel.

Time to rig up something to hold it better!
 
I hold mine by hand and use a dead blow hammer. I have little trouble this way.

I will one day build a press like Kevin showed here.
 
I have been using an Evers stamp for over 20 years. I was running a tight budget when I got into knifemaking and could not afford the stamp holder. I developed a technique that works.

Place Evers stamp into visegrips and use them to hold the stamp over the knife where you want to strike.

But first heat up the area cherry red with a torch where you want to stamp.

Now carefully place your stamp light and level to the stamp area- tang etc. You only have one shot at this- moderately strike the stamp. Let cool and grind off any discoloration and then move on to heat treat. Stamping is the last step before I heat treat.

The result should be a nice rich deep stamp of your name into the knife. Heating softens the steel, and makes a nice deep imprint.

The other thing is that by heating the steel to soften it, makes the Evers stamp last forever.
 
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