stamping ATS-34

Ansoknives

Ansoknives

Joined
Oct 28, 1998
Messages
702
what are your experiences stamping ATS-34 with your name. I now Loveless does not recomend it in his book because it can cause stress in the blade. But how big a problem is it? I am going to start on my first blade in ATS-34 soon and would like to get my name on that as well.

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Jens Ansø

 
I have been stamping my name on blades for many years and that I know of have never had one break, much less in the stamped area. I stamp all the steels, including damascus. Most of my blades are ceramic bead blasted and the etch just isn't practical.
I use a 1/16" stamp with my last name so it ends up being 1/16" x 3/8" in size.
 
Stress point -- does that mean weak point? Why would a name stamp cause any more weakness than, say, thumb serrations/notches on the spine of a blade?

A question for you, Kit. Many of your knives have thumb serrations. Is that something that has to be done at a particular point in the knifemaking process, or can it be done as a modification to a completed knife?
 
Shodar,
I use 10, 20, 30, or 40 lpi checkering files from Brownells. I do it normally just before I heat treat. You can't do it to a hardened blade. For Stellite I use the mill and .025 Norton cutoff wheels to do it.
Hope I answered your question.
 
I stamped many blades before I started engraving, and never had a problem with them breaking. If you stamp, get a GOOD stamp that produces a radiused indentation. (H.A Evers Company) It's the sharp corners that cause the stress concentrations. Stamping has a more detrimental effect that thumb notches for two reasons. First, stamping displaces the metal, as opposed to thumb notches, produced by removing metal. Second, stamping is done on the side of the blade, where it decreases the cross sectional thickness. Thumb notches are done on the back of the blade, and have a much slighter effect, because the blade is generally much wider than it is thick.

What I didn't like about stamping is it can distort the flat surfaces, and, I sometimes had trouble with grinding off part of my name as I finished the knife. A beautiful knife with an uneven signature, or worse, a crooked one, is a no-go with customers!! It says: Amateur at work.

RJ
 
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