Cold stamping my makers mark

[J. Doyle]

In light of a recent thread here, I thought I'd take a quick minute and show some pics and describe how I cold stamp my blades.

***THIS IS JUST MY WAY, IT WORKS FOR ME, IN MY SHOP***

This literally took 2 minutes, including snapping the pics.

This is for demonstration only....I used a scrap blade, not cleaned up, stamped the wrong side, not perfectly lined up, etc....

Make a pencil line where you want your mark:


Place blade and stamp under ram of press. Letting the ram down enough to contact the stamp is all the weight it needs to hold it in place for adjustments:


Check for straightness/lean/tilt:


Apply pressure to ram arm/handle and give ram a good rap with hammer:


Finished mark exactly as stamped:


Some minor clean up from displaced steel from mark will be necessary. Thermal cycling/stress relief prior to quenching is highly advised.

I like this method because its quick and easy, I can place my mark exactly where I want it every time, I don't have to rush or mess around with hot steel or extra steps. It doesn't ruin my stamp and I can still use my arbor press for other things.

 

[Mark Barone]

Nice , what ton press is that? So do you press down on the handle and hit the top. Just once hard or several times?

 

[J. Doyle]

1/2 ton I think. It was like $40 at harbor freight.

I put pretty good force with the handle and one good smack to ensure a deep even mark.

 

[mike miller]

Most of the people I know do the same exact thing.

 

[C Craft]

John, thank you, I was not looking at this process clearly! I have to say what you said is truly on the level of "easy peasy"!

I had another project that I was going to spend some money on. However it seems to have fell through, I haven't heard a word in some time from the seller!
So I am going to take a second look into this process and the cost of a stamp!!

 

[Kevin Zito]

Thank you John!

 

[DanF]

Most excellent, I'm heading in a new makers mark direction now.

 

[Alden Cole]

Thermal cycling/stress relief prior to quenching is highly advised.

Newbie question here, does this mean annealing or something else? Thank you!

 

[Mark Barone]

1/2 ton I think. It was like $40 at harbor freight.

I put pretty good force with the handle and one good smack to ensure a deep even mark.

Thanks, I am going to check it out.

 

[Kevin Zito]

John, which different sized do you use?

 

[J. Doyle]

Newbie question here, does this mean annealing or something else? Thank you!

No not annealing. I bring the blade to critical temp a few times and air cool. There are probably better stress relief protocols like lower temps for longer times but in simpler steels I haven't found that necessary.

 

[J. Doyle]

John, which different sized do you use?

Hi Kevin. Not sure what you mean? Different sizes of what?

 

[Kevin Zito]

Hi Kevin. Not sure what you mean? Different sizes of what?

I went to the everstamp site and they offer different sizes like .75 by .75 or .5 by .5 and more. Do you use one stamp for pretty much all your knives or do you switch sizes for larger or smaller knives? Basically what size and what type (metal) of stamp do you recommend?

 

[Randy Lucius]

Thanks John! I'm in the process of ordering a stamp and I already have the arbor press. I use it to make kydex sheaths.

 

[J. Doyle]

I went to the everstamp site and they offer different sizes like .75 by .75 or .5 by .5 and more. Do you use one stamp for pretty much all your knives or do you switch sizes for larger or smaller knives? Basically what size and what type (metal) of stamp do you recommend?

I have two stamps but use the one from everstamp 99% of the time. I told them my wish for font type and size. I wanted 1/16" tall letters. I let them do the rest. My 'J. Doyle' stamp is 5/8" long total and 1/16" high.

 

[Kevin Zito]

I have two stamps but use the one from everstamp 99% of the time. I told them my wish for font type and size. I wanted 1/16" tall letters. I let them do the rest. My 'J. Doyle' stamp is 5/8" long total and 1/16" high.

Perfect! Thank you very much!

 

[Alden Cole]

No not annealing. I bring the blade to critical temp a few times and air cool. There are probably better stress relief protocols like lower temps for longer times but in simpler steels I haven't found that necessary.

Thanks John!