Stencil making

T

Tkrocky

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Sep 6, 2013
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I have a question for those of you who have made their own photo-developed stencils before. I can either get stencils from someone else for about 50 bucks, or I can get the stencil material and developer for 36 bucks. I would love to have the freedom to make whatever stencil I liked whenever I wanted without having to pay a setup fee, but I am leery as to the learning curve. The process is pretty well described on usaknifemaker, and seems pretty straight forward. I just wanted an opinion from those of you who have tried it before, or known someone who has. Is it worth it to make my own, or should I skip the headache and have them professionally done?
 
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I've never made stencils for maker's marks, but have made thousands for screen printing. They are basically the same. It's a photographic process and will take some experimenting to get right. The main variable will be getting the exposure time right. It varies based on your light source, which can be as simple as exposing in sunlight on up to expensive light boxes with vacuum tables and lights designed for their spectral output, geometry and intensity. You will also need a way to make transparencies. This can be done with a laser printer, but of course results are dependent on the quality of the printer. You can get good results with fairly simple equipment, but it can be a frustrating learning process and you will need to plan on spending time experimenting, as well as spending a little money to build some type of exposure unit. A box with a glass top and a photo bulb in the bottom would be what I'd be looking to build.

As a side note, for my maker's mark, I sent my artwork out to have professional stencils made. :)
 
Tkrocky, Ernie Grospitch with Blue Lightning Stencils is the way to go. I made my own stencils once in a pinch when Ernie was out of commission for a bit. He does a great job and has more than fair pricing.
 
And just to be clear, screen print stencils and other types are not the same material as the ones used for etching knives. Also, what you make for $56 will not likelybe the same as a proper stencil. A proper kit runs between $200 and $600.

This has been discussed a lot, and most folks concur that getting them make is better. Here are some threads.
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=011197...sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=making own stencils
 
bladsmth said:
And just to be clear, screen print stencils and other types are not the same material as the ones used for etching knives.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but while the actual material the stencils are made of are not the same. The developing process is very similar and in both cases, the difficult part is developing the image.
 
Well, that is correct in the context you stated it in.

But, it is somewhat like saying, "Making an anchor and making a knife is similar, as the basic process is the same." Yes, that is true, if you ignore the fact that the scale, details, materials, and equipment are different.
 
bladsmth said:
And just to be clear, screen print stencils and other types are not the same material as the ones used for etching knives. Also, what you make for $56 will not likelybe the same as a proper stencil. A proper kit runs between $200 and $600.

This has been discussed a lot, and most folks concur that getting them make is better. Here are some threads.
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=011197...sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=making own stencils
Click to expand...

Thanks that's what I needed to know, although, the stencils from img you can buy are the same ones they would make for me, so I assume the difference is in the equipment used to develop it? Also, I can't get this link to work, it just sends me to a custom search engine page, I would like to read those though.
 
The search link works, it even shows THIS thread on stencil making!

I have been experimenting with this, myself. Mainly I wanted the ability to do one-off's and see what would work without spending a lot of money. Like deer or turkey tracks on hunting knives, etc. You can also tweak your artwork and try different versions and then send your final out, if you want.

I just marked some with some stencils I made and they worked pretty well.

Bonus, if you get some larger pieces, you can use them to etch glass with a glass etching cream (another learning curve) but unique gifts that take a fraction of the time to make than knives.

I have not made a box or anything, just clamp workshop lights, one with red and one with UV.

The other bonus is you can make a new stencil in less time than it takes to fuss over the artwork, if you have something you need RIGHT AWAY!



Tkrocky said:
Thanks that's what I needed to know, although, the stencils from img you can buy are the same ones they would make for me, so I assume the difference is in the equipment used to develop it? Also, I can't get this link to work, it just sends me to a custom search engine page, I would like to read those though.
Click to expand...
 
Tkrocky said:
Thanks that's what I needed to know, although, the stencils from img you can buy are the same ones they would make for me, so I assume the difference is in the equipment used to develop it? Also, I can't get this link to work, it just sends me to a custom search engine page, I would like to read those though.
Click to expand...

It works for me? That is the BF googol search engine and a search I did on making your own stencils. Save that search engine, as it will find past discussions on all topics discussed in BF.

If all you get is the search page, just type the words "making own stencils" in the search box.
 
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