Maker's stamp question

[John M Cohea]

I recently bought an Everstamp to mark my blades and opted not to buy the holding rig they sell.Instead I will make my own using an arbor press. Has anyone else made a setup like this and would you post up a pic or maybe an explanation of how you made it. Also is it best to stamp hot or cold? Which do you do? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Will Leavitt]

John, I don't stamp but have seen arbor rigs before. It just holds the blade in place with the ricasso perpendicular to the stamp so it's even all around. Usually with some support under the ricasso. I've seen stamping done both ways, I think the preference mainly comes from how much clean up you have post heat treat.

 

[tomh]

Ed Caffrey has a good article on his site about marking your blades with a stamp, and shows a good picture of the jig he made to hold the stamp.
Hot stamping makes the stamp last longer.

http://www.caffreyknives.net/Makersmarkarticle.html

 

[tomh]

Ed Caffrey has a good article on his site about marking your blades with a stamp, and shows a good picture of the jig he made to hold the stamp.
Hot stamping makes the stamp last longer.

http://www.caffreyknives.net/Makersmarkarticle.html

Hope this helps, it is a pretty good article.

 

[Chris Meyer]

The nicest setup I have seen is Karl Anderson's. He posted info and pictures in this thread.

 

[John M Cohea]

Thanks guys, this is just the info I was looking for. It looks like Karl's setup is the way to go, as that was sorta what I had been thinking of!

 

[tomh]

I forgot about Karl's thread, that is a great looking press that I had thought about building.
I should probably go ahead and do it, since I goofed the last stamp I hammered.
Just the steel I was going to use for the press is buried under about 4' of snow and I cant remember exactly where it is!

 

[gixxer]

Double stamping blades really sucks after you spend so much time getting to that point. I have only done that once, and once is all. I learned my lesson and slowed down when I stamped.

 

[tomh]

My Biggest problem is not double stamping(knock on wood) it is bending the blade by hitting too hard. I am paranoid about getting a light impression so I whale on itand since I stamp hot it sometimes bends the blade at the ricasso. It is easy to straighten but extra work.
I think a press would be much more controllable and repeatable.

The one I just goofed was off center and crooked. Was on a really nicely finished blade too. But I decided to go ahead and finish it out and keep it for myself!

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

I got my stamp from Evers as well. I also made my holder as well. And you need to stamp cold. If you do this hot its hard on stamps. I have my stamp press on my site please check it out. and there another photo on my Field Hunter 08-09 page. It is a better photo of the holder. Hope this was of help to you. Have a great knife day. :thumbup:

Terry

 

[tomh]

Hi Terry are you saying hot stamping is hard on stamps because it might make the stamp lose temper?

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

Hi Terry are you saying hot stamping is hard on stamps because it might make the stamp lose temper?

When I say cold I mean stamping my name in before heat treating and temping the knife. But keep this in mind I am using the stock removal process. So, that maybe a little different. But if you stamp your blades after heart treat and temping, the steel is harder then it was before you started, over a period of time this will take its toll on the stamp. Also, using a press will reduced the possibilities of having a uneven stamp impression. Hope this was of help to you old friend and have a blessed one in your shop.

Terry

 

[gixxer]

My Biggest problem is not double stamping(knock on wood) it is bending the blade by hitting too hard. I am paranoid about getting a light impression so I whale on itand since I stamp hot it sometimes bends the blade at the ricasso. It is easy to straighten but extra work.
I think a press would be much more controllable and repeatable.

The one I just goofed was off center and crooked. Was on a really nicely finished blade too. But I decided to go ahead and finish it out and keep it for myself!

I have cranked on one and bulged the steel, that sucked. Removing the bulge on the other side was easy, what sucked was evening out the steel on the stamped side to get rid of the depression while finishing the blade.

 

[tomh]

Hi Terry,

When I mentioned hot stamping, I meant that I stamp the steel when it comes out of the normalizing heat I do before the quench.

i.e. 3 normalizing cycles in the forge, on the 2nd or 3rd I hammer the mark in, so the steel is pretty soft at this point.

Then the knife gets heated for the quench. I don't think you could get much of a mark on hardened tool steel, so that would definitely ruin the stamp!

All this stamp talk is pushing me to build the press and go with that. I will try that hot and cold to see which is better for me.

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

Here is one stamp and the other is my stamp setting in the holder for it. You can not see the press I use here.

Terry

 

[John M Cohea]

This has all been helpful. Thanks everyone.