What does everyone use to mark their blades?

Could one conceivably combine the homemade etcher and etchant (salt-water mixture) with the vinyl sticker idea?
 
i tried looking for a stencil makere online so i can order some fro my electro-etch pro+ but couldnt find what i thought i needed
can someone set me up with a link or 2 i have a few blades i cant sell till i get them marked



never mind i just needed to take my newbie but to the thread
 
A buddy at work uses saltwater and a battery charger from Harbor Freight. I still dont want anyone to know they are mine, so I havent marked any yet.
 
I use 1/8" stamps. An S and a G to make my mark on the ricasso. One the other side, I've started marking the steel type with a letter and a number stamp. I do it on my anvil with a 3lb. hammer. It makes a nice deep impression. I like to keep it simple.:)
Scott
 
I've been doing pretty good with my 3/32 stamps, just stamping my initials on one side and whatever the steel is on the other. I'm looking into getting a "PLACE KNIVES" stamp made and so far my quotes have been all over the place, from $95.00 up to $170.00 and I don't know what company is better than the next. Maybe I'll just stick to my alphabet set.
 
I use a stamp for my name and one for country of manufacturer. Its quick as long as you don't make a mistake. I got them from Davidson http://www.marking-equipment.co.uk/index.html in Sheffield, England. They been in business since 1850 and probably made some of the stamped marks on antique Sheffield knives. I got them for a good price.
 
I coat my blade (or part of it) with nail polish, use a brass stylus to make the mark. I etch it with ferric chloride for about 30-45 minutes. Another way to spped up the etching process of to appy a DC current. I do this by using an old phone charger. Cut off the little plug, put an aligator clip on each wire. Connect the positive lead to your blade, the other one I attch to a Q tip. Saturate the Q tip (make suer the alligator clip is in contact with the ferrric chloride). Dab the q tip on the area you want etched until you get the desired depth.

The most expensive thing was the bottle of ferric chloride from Radioshack. My wife donated me an bottle of nail polish(Mary Kay) and the charger was from an old phone.
 
I bought one of the stencil-making kits, but am not at all happy with it. I've experimented with many development times, but for all of them I have to scrub and scrub (and scrub and scrub and scrub) to get them to work. Instructions say scrub lightly -- I end up having to scrub as hard as I can for over 5000 strokes each side before I can get a clean mark. I do enough "scrubbing" while hand sanding -- I don't need any more!

I'm going to order some stencils made up. I'm happy with the etcher, but I'd never buy a stencil-maker again.
 
Terry_Dodson said:
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
Click to expand...

This came from my buddy at Kinko's

The advice I'd give is first: Don't let them weed it out (take out the vinyl not necessary) if he's doing the same thing you're doing.
Normally when we set them up, they're a series of letters and logos to be applied with masking tape to windows.
Second thing: Keep it simple symettry, without many thin lines. If it has lines (like your star) make sure they're thick as possible. When we shrink down the logo, we also shrink the line thickness. If possible, have it be solid instead of outlined.
 
cooks 7 said:
Could one conceivably combine the homemade etcher and etchant (salt-water mixture) with the vinyl sticker idea?
Click to expand...

Yup. One of the guys on Primal Fires does it that way.
 
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