What does everyone use to mark their blades?

P

PlaceKnives

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I was just curious as to how many makers here stamp thir blades and how many use an "Etch-o-matic" type device. I really like stamps regardless of the stress riser issue, but I'm open to suggestions on what type of etching machine is a good one. I might pick one up if I can find a good one that's easy to use.
Thanks,
J.P.
 
Check the forum for tutorials and there is a thread that shows you how to make your own for less than 50 dollars....I use both etch and stamp...I really need to make up my mind which I want to use all the time....etch, I think.
 
im getting close to etching:o
i now have the unit just got to order the stencals
btw the test etch was nice it was easier then i thought it would be :thumbup:
 
made my own etcher and stincels. Bouth the stencil material from a supplier.I forget who but I have it somewhere if you need it :)
B~
 
I took my design to Kinko's on disk and had them run off a sheet of vinyl stickers. I peel those off and use ferric chloride to etch in my design.

Adlai
 
i also use stickers and ferric chloride. i have used the backing off vinyl stickers to trace and cut out designs as it has a low tack but is enough to get a clean etch
 
Adlai Stein can you tell me more about the Kinko's vinyl stickers? What do you ask for when you go in? Can it do fairly inticate designs or just letters? Do you have any pics? :D
 
I use the personalizer plus. I love it. I had to play around a bit but am totally happy with it. It etches far enough into the blade that you would have to work to get the mark out.
Mike
 
Tom Militano said:
I use an engraving machine, got tired of fooling with stencils.
Click to expand...

Tom what kind of machine do you have and could you post some specs please


I bought a etching machine from a knifemaker named Ron clairborne cost about 130.00 shipped ,its a well built machine and provides a good deep mark.You can view the machine at elliscustomknifeworks.com Took some to get but was worth

SAR
 
I have an old Hermes engraving machine, jewelry store type, that I bought on sealed bid when a unit in Germany was disbanded in 1975. I got the machine, three sets of letters, and a bunch of engraving stock for $30.00. It was the once in a lifetime deal.
 
Tom Militano said:
I have an old Hermes engraving machine, jewelry store type, that I bought on sealed bid when a unit in Germany was disbanded in 1975. I got the machine, three sets of letters, and a bunch of engraving stock for $30.00. It was the once in a lifetime deal.
Click to expand...




DAM......nice
 
I got so entirely sick of farting around with hammering the stamps that I was ready to throw them away and get an etcher, but I decided to give an idea that I had had for a few years a try, and now I will probably still etch some but I am back to liking my stamps.

What I did was took an afternoon to go buy a 20 ton bottle jack and then build a frame around it to press my mark in. I almost went with one of the standard machine shop presses and now I am glad I didn't since the control I wanted came from a more specialized design, it only takes up about 12" of table top space and costed a total of around $40 to make.

No more off center stampings, double stampings, or washed out shallow ones. I just put the blade exactly where I want it, get everything centered and and then apply the tonnage, and it is a lot easier on the stamps as well. I am sure others have worked this out before I finally wised up, but now I am sold. If you still like stamps, give squeezing them in a try.
 
Kevin,
Do you stamp hot or cold? I too got tired of crooked, off center, shallow, uneven, or double stampings (sometimes all at the same time!) I got a 1 ton arbor press to see if that would work, and it hardly marked the blades at all, even when hot.
What I do now that works pretty good is hold the stamp in some vice-grips, rather than by hand, and whack it good with an 8 pound hammer. I also do it cold now, with the steel annealed. When I did it hot, I was always in a hurry to get it done before it cooled, and it never turned out. But I like your press idea better. Do you have any pics? :)
 
I use the personalizer plus. It can etch deep enough that there no way you could sand it out without screwing up the blade...can be a good or a bad thing, ahha!

I used a temp stencil so far, but am ordering better ones to step up the quality of the etches. Its pretty dummy-proof....mask off area, tapge stencil to blade, attach clip, etch, flip current, mark, and youre done.

Lately, ive become a fan of putting my mark on the spine of knives. It doesnt interrupt the look of the blade at all and mistakes are much more easilly cleaned up than if you etched deeply into the flats of a blade and had a problem.
 
I used to use my etching machine.
I now use an old hermes jewelers engraving machine I bought from a fellow in Henderson KY on ebay. That has a diamond tip so I put my mark on after the blades are finished and hardened.
Also am doing more slipjoints all the time and small engraved lettering works best for me. by the way the engraver can be adjusted as to size of letters all the way down to extremely small.
 
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