Steel for maker's mark punch

[Mecha]

Hello all,

What's a good steel for using to make a maker's mark / touchmark punch?

Is an air-hardening steel like A2 good for that use? Or that S7 stuff?

I need to make a new one and want to use a nice tough steel that will keep making a crisp mark for a long time.

Thanks!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Henry Evers uses mostly O-1, but also uses A-2, D-2, and S-7.

 

[weo]

Most of the blacksmiths I know use S7 or D2

 

[Mecha]

S7 sounds pretty fancy. It has to be easy to heat treat because well...I'm not very good at steel.

Actually, after the mark is shaped, it would be smart of me to send it to someone who knows what they're doing and has an electric kiln.

 

[Scott Hanson]

I've used A-2 for some of my touch marks and it works just fine.

 

[Joshua Fisher]

I’m almost 100% positive that my touch mark is A2 that I use for hot stamping, it’s been used for close to 300 knives and still looks the same as the first knife.

 

[Mecha]

I went with A2 round bar. Now to see if @WValtakis is willing to shape it for me. And then to send it to a heat treater who knows A2 well. I'm looking forward to punching a mark with one blow, rather than overlaying three loops and a dot, which was my old method.

 

[JTknives]

The one I made is A2 and it’s held up great.