Home Made Stencil Idea

[JTknives]

I have been kicking around the idea of Making a stencil at work. but do it a little different than normal. I would use the wire EDM to cut out my pattern out of some thick stainless steel foil and use that as the stencil. i could coat it with polyurethane so the steel would not conduct electricity. then put a felt back on it and use it like a normal stencil. It should work as it will only eat through where i have cut out my pattern. i could be just on the wrong track but the idea has been kicking around in my mind for a long time so i thought i would post it to see what others thought.

 

[Josh Dabney]

JT, I'm thinking that your stencil would probably work for etching but your designs would be very limited by letters such as A Q D O P B R etc. in that when your edm cut a full circle you'ld lose the entire center of the letter. You could use Army stencil style lettering though. I think (not sure though) that regular stencils work similar to a silk screen and that is how the expected level of detail is accomplished. I was wondering about using silk screen emulsion on the blade surface with transpapancy over it and developing it on each individual blade. Just seems easier to make or buy the traditional style stencils.