Maker's Mark Stamp

Kevin Zito

Kevin Zito

KNIFE MAKER
What type of equipment does one need for this, and where does one get said equipment? I'm assuming that you would stamp pre HT? I know nothing about this lol, but I'm just not happy with the whole electro etch deal. Seems to me that stamping would be easier?
 
I prematurely am looking into this too as well as etching mark. There are some great videos on it. This particular guy I think has a contact to make them fairly reasonable. This video show him hitting the stamp on the metal when it's red hot.
 
There is no setup, really. Order a stamp and hit it with a hammer.

I press mine in with an arbor press. Takes about 30 seconds.....if I'm taking my time.
 
Probably the most often seen pitfall experienced by most when stamping, is ensuring the stamp is square to the blade when stamping..... whether that be hot or cold stamping. I always hot stamp, just because it works best for me, and I like the look of the mark better than a cold stamp.
There was a time when I simply had the stamp clamped in a set of vise-grips, but more often then not, I'd have the stamp slightly tilted when I'd strike....and the mark would look awful.

There are a couple of pics in this article on my website.... http://www.caffreyknives.net/marking_art.html the first pic shows the holder/jig I built for hot stamping, to ensure the stamps stay square to the blade, and the second shows the homemade press I built when I did a bit of cold stamping.
 
Ty Adams said:
What problems are you having with etching Kevin?
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Thanks to all for the responses! The main thing I don’t like about electro etching is the mess and the stink. I have a decent setup for electro etching so I haven’t had to spend money on the personalizer. But I’m thinking I would have less mess with the machine maybe? Ed, I do see how it would be tricky to get it straight. Either way, I’ve got to figure out a way to consistently mark my blades. Thanks for the information again, guys!
 
Kevin Zito said:
Thanks to all for the responses! The main thing I don’t like about electro etching is the mess and the stink. I have a decent setup for electro etching so I haven’t had to spend money on the personalizer. But I’m thinking I would have less mess with the machine maybe? Ed, I do see how it would be tricky to get it straight. Either way, I’ve got to figure out a way to consistently mark my blades. Thanks for the information again, guys!
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Sorry it's not working out for you. I have never really noticed the smell.
 
Casey Brown said:
If you want to electro-etch, I would recommend Ernie Grospitch's website and stencils. I used his receipe, his recommendation for a power supply, and his stencils, and have gotten really good results so far. I have a really clean detailed etch on each of my knives.

This is the best deal I have found for this power supply: https://www.robotshop.com/en/elenco-xp-625-power-supply.html
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I built mi e using a HO train transformer. It has both DC for the etch and AC to mark. Cost me 15 bu ka to build the entire system.
 
I have the personalized plus and I believe I could make a sheath start to finish before I can get everything set up, lined up, taped on and etched. But, it does a nice job, just wish I were faster.
 
I etch and it is a bit of a pain getting everything lined up and square. Ernie's plastic templates help a lot with that.

Also, generally speaking, Smith's stamp their mark and stock removal guys etch.
 
I have hot stamped and electro-etched. I am going back to hot stamping because I do a lot of hamon work and the hamon etch washes out my makers mark etch more than I would like. When I hot stamp the mark goes way deeper. I hot stamp using the vise grip method. Get steel hot hold stamp with vise grip and hit with heavy hammer once.
 
Chris Railey said:
I have hot stamped and electro-etched. I am going back to hot stamping because I do a lot of hamon work and the hamon etch washes out my makers mark etch more than I would like. When I hot stamp the mark goes way deeper. I hot stamp using the vise grip method. Get steel hot hold stamp with vise grip and hit with heavy hammer once.
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This is great info. I very much want to do hamons. I think Ed’s jig would help me make it straight ... I’m leaning toward stamping again. Who do y’all recommend for a stamp maker???
 
Gliden07 said:
I built mi e using a HO train transformer. It has both DC for the etch and AC to mark. Cost me 15 bu ka to build the entire system.
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I did similar but I think getting the stencil straight is very hard for me. My thoughts behind all of this is that I think it would be easier for me to make a jig that would get it perfect (close lol) every time than taping the stencil right. That’s the real issue and motivation behind my post. @Ty Adams i should’ve explained myself better.
 
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Everstamp is by FAR the leading and preferred place to get a stamp made for knifemakers.

I forge my blades....and I stamp cold. I press it in with a cheap harbor freight arbor press. Like I said....it takes 30 seconds.

You don't need any special jigs, fixtures or holders. You don't need to weld a holder or otherwise alter the arbor press, rendering it a single use tool.

Simply make a pencil or scribe mark on your blade where you want your stamp, lay your blade on the press under the ram, position your stamp on your mark, let the ram down (the weight of it will hold your stamp in place), visually check your stamp for straightness and lean, apply pressure with the handle and give the ram a rap with a hammer if so desired and you're done.

No messing around, no rushing to stamp hot, no burned fingers or gloves. The stamp is exactly where you want it every time.
 
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J. Doyle said:
Everstamp is by FAR the leading and preferred place to get a stamp made for knifemakers.

I forge my blades....and I stamp cold. I press it in with a cheap harbor freight arbor press. Like I said....it takes 30 seconds.

You don't need any special jigs, fixtures or holders. You don't need to weld a holder or otherwise alter the arbor press, rendering it a single use tool.

Simply make a pencil or scribe mark on your blade where you want your stamp, lay your blade on the press under the ram, position your stamp on your mark, let the ram down (the weight of it will hold your stamp in place), visually check your stamp for straightness and lean, apply pressure with the handle and give the ram a rap with a hammer if so desired and you're done.

No messing around, no rushing to stamp hot, no burned fingers or gloves. The stamp is exactly where you want it every time.
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Pictures, this needs pictures John!!
 
J. Doyle said:
I don't think pictures would make this any simpler Cliff. Its pretty simple. Stamping is one of those areas that gets over thought and over complicated, IMO.
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John, your probably right but, I would like to see your stamp!! I would have bet money yours was an etch!! You stamp is perfect every time!! I was going to use a stamp at one point but got talked out of it!

I was told,

a stamp is hard to get right,

it could put stress fractures in the blade at the point of the stamp,

the stamp will fail because you have to stamp the blade hot,

there was probably more but at the time it was enough to make me gun shy!!

Now I am hearing you say all the opposite and it makes a little POed at myself, for letting myself get talked out it!!

John, what kind of a set-up do you have to allow you to use your arbor press???
 
J. Doyle said:
Everstamp is by FAR the leading and preferred place to get a stamp made for knifemakers.

I forge my blades....and I stamp cold. I press it in with a cheap harbor freight arbor press. Like I said....it takes 30 seconds.

You don't need any special jigs, fixtures or holders. You don't need to weld a holder or otherwise alter the arbor press, rendering it a single use tool.

Simply make a pencil or scribe mark on your blade where you want your stamp, lay your blade on the press under the ram, position your stamp on your mark, let the ram down (the weight of it will hold your stamp in place), visually check your stamp for straightness and lean, apply pressure with the handle and give the ram a rap with a hammer if so desired and you're done.

No messing around, no rushing to stamp hot, no burned fingers or gloves. The stamp is exactly where you want it every time.
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If I’m being totally 100% honest, this is really what I was asking LOL. I typed the original text in a conversation to you privately... but then I thought everybody has a way of doing things in knifemaking so a forum post would be better to see all the options. Plus... I’m sure others would like to see info on this as well. Thanks!
 
Everybody has their own methods that work for them. I'll use some of Cliff's points and give examples from my world.....

a stamp is hard to get right
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Freehand, it often is difficult to get it right (as in holding the stamp with pliers or vise-grips. The holder/jig I built eliminates that.

it could put stress fractures in the blade at the point of the stamp
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This is the reason I choose not to cold stamp... using the "press" that I built, I had at least 3 instances that I can recall, where I put just a tad too much pressure, and literally split the tangs on annealed blades, from the last letter in the mark, to the corner of the blades' ricasso.

the stamp will fail because you have to stamp the blade hot
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Obviously you don't have to stamp hot, but that being said, a stamp will generally fail quicker being used in a cold format...... especially if it's not a high quality stamp... one stamp that I purchased from a certain company mushroomed out the very first time I tried to do a cold mark with it. You'll pay more money for a stamp from EveryStamp..... but it is 100% a case of getting what you pay for.

Obviously there are caveats to it, but there's a lot of folks who cold stamp, a lot who hot stamp, and a lot who elctro-etch. I don't think any particular one is "better" or "worse"....... I think it's just a matter of each individual deciding the direction they want to go, and make it work for them.
 
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