Personalized customer etching questions

PIndelicato

PIndelicato

Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Messages
1,577
Hi Guys,

I have an order for 3 blades for a customer's 3 young boys. He wants to have their initials and a date etched on them to personalize them and make them unique for each son. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I just keep going around in circles as to what would look best.

-Does anyone have any suggestions or pics of examples you can show me how you did something similar?

-Is it better to match the font to that of my maker's mark, or have it be something different?

-Where should the etch go? Opposite side of the blade from my mark? Spine?...???

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, pics, inspiration, etc.!
 
A lot of this is going to depend on you, your level of expertise, and the design of the knife. If you're not a proficient engraver it'll be a bit more difficult. I recommend looking at some of the available engraving pattern books; specifically those that show the initial patterns used for fine shotgun inlays. They have multiple patterns and fonts that are laid out for small spaces like those you'll have to deal with.

The blade is a fairly normal place for etching, some of which can be quite ornate. For folders something more subtle you might consider doing would be a pattern inside on the liners. For fixed blades the bolsters are another good choice, put the initials on one side (the side facing out from the owners fist ie. left bolster for a right handed user) and matching engraving on the opposite side.

Another idea (which I've seen on bowies, mostly) would be to do the initials on the cap at the back of the grip (this allows the owner to see it even when the knife is sheathed.)

Last, you might consider just doing it on the underside of the grip like they used to do with presentation pistols.

Sounds like a good project; have fun.
 
Ernie Grospitch has a deal on single stencils for exactly that sort of thing, if you want to etch rather than engrave. Ernie's reputation for quality stencils and great service is very, very good.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys! In my confused state trying to figure this out, I've left out some important details in my first post. My current stencils are from Ernie Grospitch, and I plan to order custom stencils from him for this project and electrochemically etch the marks. The knives in question are ~4" blade full tang utilities. It's at that point that I'm stuck trying to figure out what would look best.

-Which font to use (same as my mark or different?)

-Where to put the custom mark?

-How large or small to make the mark?

Here is an example of my maker's mark and where I normally locate it. Does anyone have any suggestions, or perhaps better yet, pics of examples of personalized etchings they did for customers?

P1020227.jpg
 
Maybe just "Custom Made for (whoever), 2011" right above your usual logo? You'd have to scootch your name down a bit of course. I think I'd stick with the same font and size, it looks classy.
 
Paul, here is the only pic of something similar I did. A cake knife for my niece. Not the best pic to show the etching. Had a stencil made from Ernie.

wedding01.jpg


I would etch in the same location. For the font I would choose something different from your maker's mark and adapted to the situation. If this will be given to them as young boys, maybe a more "kid like" font. I am picturing a scene where the 3 of them engrave their knives themselves in secret to "seal" their brotherhood. Makes any sense? Maybe I am over thinking this.
 
james terrio said:
Maybe just "Custom Made for (whoever), 2011" right above your usual logo? You'd have to scootch your name down a bit of course. I think I'd stick with the same font and size, it looks classy.
Click to expand...

Thanks James! If you've done something like that, do you happen to have a picture handy of how it looked?

Patrice Lemée;9442254 said:
Paul, here is the only pic of something similar I did. A cake knife for my niece. Not the best pic to show the etching. Had a stencil made from Ernie.

wedding01.jpg


I would etch in the same location. For the font I would choose something different from your maker's mark and adapted to the situation. If this will be given to them as young boys, maybe a more "kid like" font. I am picturing a scene where the 3 of them engrave their knives themselves in secret to "seal" their brotherhood. Makes any sense? Maybe I am over thinking this.
Click to expand...

That looks great Patrice, but I'm not sure how that would translate onto a smaller blade (yours looks pretty large in your picture.) Where did you put your mark on that one?

I think if anyone is over thinking all of this, that would be me ;)
 
Sorry, I meant it as an example for location. How small are the blades?
I etched just my maker's mark on the other side. I wanted the focus on their names and wedding date on this one.
 
P J 234 said:
Thanks James! If you've done something like that, do you happen to have a picture handy of how it looked?
Click to expand...

I haven't, but I bet if you call or email Ernie he will do a mock-up for you to see how it looks. He was very patient and helpful with me, getting my regular stencil just right :thumbup:
 
james terrio said:
I haven't, but I bet if you call or email Ernie he will do a mock-up for you to see how it looks. He was very patient and helpful with me, getting my regular stencil just right :thumbup:
Click to expand...
I talked to ernie today to get some stencils made and he is a very nice and easy to work with guy!
 
Here is my thought. I would use a different font than your makers-mark. Your mark is like your signature. I would choose something more basic for the "Custom made for" marking. It's just my .02.
 
one style I have seen that I liked was on a custom set of 5, numbered 1/5, 2/5, etc on the underside of the tang between the scales. They were larger knives than what you are planning so depending on the thickness of the steel you use it may not work. What about a brass or nickel shield inlay in the scale with each sons name?


-Xander
 
I think we have decided to go with a different font and to put the initials on the ricasso. Thanks for the ideas, and if anyone else has any pictures or suggestions please post them.

A shield inlay sounds neat Xander, but is beyond the scope of this particular project. I also proposed putting them on the tang or spine somewhere, but that didn't seem to pique his interest.
 
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