How To Logo stamp Steel bars

P

Pires

Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
2
Hello!
For some reason I can't find the info I am looking for anywhere, not even googling. This is the thing:
Since a logo sells, I am planning on hand stamping mine in the Knives/Blades I do. Grab a hammer, buy the custom hand stamp somewhere, and BAM - done. Thing is... doesn't it matter the hardness of the Steel Bars? I would do it before hardening and tempering, but even so I don't have a single clue about the pre-hardness value of common HighCarbon steels, like 1095 or 52100.
I'm seeing some UK Based company that states their Hand Stamps are 'workable until 39C Rockwell', for example. Is that acceptable for what I am planning? Can someone provide me with some good reading or some experience-based information?

Thanks in advance!
Pires
 
Hello Pires and welcome to the site. You might want to post this question in the knife makers section. Or a mod will move it when they see it.
https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/shop-talk-bladesmith-questions-and-answers.741/
One of the knife makers on the forum here will be able to answer that question. I am not a knife maker....yet...

Also, try using the search feature in the upper right hand corner of the site.

Here is a thread about stamping vs etching. Maybe it will help.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/advice-stamping-or-etching.1486855/
 
Pires said:
Hello!
For some reason I can't find the info I am looking for anywhere, not even googling. This is the thing:
Since a logo sells, I am planning on hand stamping mine in the Knives/Blades I do. Grab a hammer, buy the custom hand stamp somewhere, and BAM - done. Thing is... doesn't it matter the hardness of the Steel Bars? I would do it before hardening and tempering, but even so I don't have a single clue about the pre-hardness value of common HighCarbon steels, like 1095 or 52100.
I'm seeing some UK Based company that states their Hand Stamps are 'workable until 39C Rockwell', for example. Is that acceptable for what I am planning? Can someone provide me with some good reading or some experience-based information?

Thanks in advance!
Pires
Click to expand...
Welcome!
I work with tool steels and sometimes we use 4140 and 4340 pre-hardened steel. It has a HRC of about 45 Rockwell C.
I have access to a Rockwell hardness tester and a bar of 52100 so you're in luck! I will edit this post when I get a chance to go test it on my break.

Edit: Okay, so I tested a piece of O-1 and the 52100 bar. The O-1 is at 10 RC and the 52100 was at 17 RC. So you're good!
 
Last edited:
danbot said:
Welcome!
I work with tool steels and sometimes we use 4140 and 4340 pre-hardened steel. It has a HRC of about 45 Rockwell C.
I have access to a Rockwell hardness tester and a bar of 52100 so you're in luck! I will edit this post when I get a chance to go test it on my break.

Edit: Okay, so I tested a piece of O-1 and the 52100 bar. The O-1 is at 10 RC and the 52100 was at 17 RC. So you're good!
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, Sir!
I imagine 1095 HCSteel and all the others, not pre-hardened, that I work or will work with are also below the stated by the HandStamps manufacturer.

This was truly helpful. I am tired of etching with poor equipment and wasting working time hand making the stencils so stamping is, IMHO, the way to go when it comes to the brand Logo. I have previously made an Axe with the 'Punisher' skull and those kinds of drawings are something that only a stencil can manage to do (it was pretty big), but for the logo I find it better.

Once again, thanks a lot for your help. Much appreciated! ****
Pires
 
Icehawk said:
Neat, I wouldn't have thought they were so soft
Click to expand...
I wouldn't have thought so either. I think generally most annealed tool steels are supposed to be ~20 RC. So the 52100 made sense at 17 RC. That piece of O-1 surprised me. I think I'll find some different O-1 and see what that is out of curiosity.

EDIT: I checked two more different pieces of O-1 and got 10 RC and 14 RC.
 
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Pires said:
Thank you very much, Sir!
I imagine 1095 HCSteel and all the others, not pre-hardened, that I work or will work with are also below the stated by the HandStamps manufacturer.

This was truly helpful. I am tired of etching with poor equipment and wasting working time hand making the stencils so stamping is, IMHO, the way to go when it comes to the brand Logo. I have previously made an Axe with the 'Punisher' skull and those kinds of drawings are something that only a stencil can manage to do (it was pretty big), but for the logo I find it better.

Once again, thanks a lot for your help. Much appreciated! ****
Pires
Click to expand...
Glad I could help! You should post some pics of your work!
 
I cold stamp my blades, but started using a press instead of a hammer. Just a 6 ton A frame from harbor freight does the trick nicely. I screwed up too many with a hammer.
 
I have a 20 ton press from HF and I can't get it to stamp my blades. :mad: Works great for lots of other things though.

Remember, the larger your stamp/design, the more surface area there is and the more force it will take to impress the logo. This can lead to weak stampings or uneven stampings. And if you are the one holding the stamp and also swinging that shortie 8lb sledge hammer you may be a bit tentative, thus resulting in the aforementioned inconsistencies (ask me how I know). Using a press sounds like a very good idea. The control of precisely placing a stencil seems like a good idea as well.
 
i4Marc said:
I have a 20 ton press from HF and I can't get it to stamp my blades. :mad: Works great for lots of other things though.

Remember, the larger your stamp/design, the more surface area there is and the more force it will take to impress the logo. This can lead to weak stampings or uneven stampings. And if you are the one holding the stamp and also swinging that shortie 8lb sledge hammer you may be a bit tentative, thus resulting in the aforementioned inconsistencies (ask me how I know). Using a press sounds like a very good idea. The control of precisely placing a stencil seems like a good idea as well.
Click to expand...
Do you have a large stamp? What kind of steel do you normally use?
With 15N20, I have to give it all the press can do, because as I recently discovered it comes from alpha at about 43 rc.
With 1084 and O1, I have to be very careful not to go too deep.
 
To stamp my letters I use an arbor press and smack the top of the ram with rubber mallet works pretty good
 
E.C., I tend to use 10 series, 80CrV2, 5160, nitro-V/AEB-L and some others. I don't think the bottle jack is giving me the full 20 tons it's advertising. But if you say you can do it with a 5 ton I must be doing something wrong. I'll revisit my procedure at some point. I do also have a 3 ton Famco arbor press. I'll have to give that a try as well.

For the OP, placing a hand stamp accurately on your work and holding it steady while you strike it can be tricky. What I do frequently if striking with a hammer is to use a template. I use layout dye on the ricasso and scribe where the stamp will go, marking the dimensions of the stamp. Then I build up layers of masking tape forming a short wall around the perimeter of the stamp location so when I place the stamp it doesn't move around. It also helps if you make a weak or uneven impression to line up the stamp for a second strike.
 
i do stamps, i stamp them red hot right before normalizing/grain reduction. the stamp should last almost forever. the best investment i made was a stamp holder. i held it by hand the first few years, but sometimes one side of the mark would be deeper than the other. its was $150, may cost more now. here is a link. its the E6HR holder. http://www.henryaevers.com/holders.htm
 
john april said:
i do stamps, i stamp them red hot right before normalizing/grain reduction. the stamp should last almost forever. the best investment i made was a stamp holder. i held it by hand the first few years, but sometimes one side of the mark would be deeper than the other. its was $150, may cost more now. here is a link. its the E6HR holder. http://www.henryaevers.com/holders.htm
Click to expand...
I use the same holder, but even with a dead blow hammer, I would still get the occasional double bounce. Now I just put the whole works in the bench top press and crank it down.
 
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