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Those little A-Z stamps at Harbor Freight?

O

Omega Leather Works

Joined
Jun 13, 2007
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Just curious if anyone has used them for stamping on knife steel? I'd like to mark my knives from now on in some way.

How do you use them anyway? Do you need to stamp in bar form, then grind, or can you stamp the knife just before ht?
 
I have a set that I got at harbor freight. I used them a few times with decent results. I used a hammer to stamp the initials in. For $9.99 (I think is what I paid) it did an alright job.
 
I use inexpensive stamps like that to mark my initials and steel type on my tangs before sending blades off to HT, just to make sure they don't get mixed up. That's exactly the sort of thing they're designed for.

To use them, I place an un-hardened blade on a small flat piece of thick steel on my bench, hold the stamp in my off hand and strike it firmly ONCE with a regular cheap hammer. That works fine for keeping blades sorted.

I would never use them as a maker's mark. The chances of getting clean crisp impressions every time and keeping one stamp nicely in line with another are slim at best.

If you desire a clean, proper maker's mark like many forging knifemakers use, you'll want a precision-cut stamp made of hardened tool steel. Search engines will help you find the most reputable companies for that. Some guys use a jig to help them keep the stamp aligned on their blades.

I find electro-chemical etching with good stencils much easier and more versatile for putting my mark on finished blades.
 
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I would agree stamps not the best , better alternatives, unless your impatient and won't have the opportunity to mark the knife otherwise and its going to get used. and the owner wouldn't be bothered by it. I've seen them welded together but requires usually a good even strike. Mostly used Like James said for just identification.
I would say definitely before heat treating. Unless you want to run the risk of breaking the blade. Although really depends on steel and how hard.
 
M-Forgery said:
Typically a small setup fee and between $2.50 to $10.00 per item depending on the size of your logo or graphic; text is usually charged by line and number of characters. You can etch a logo for less. Here is a link to one such system:

http://www.etch-o-matic.com/knifemaker.htm
Click to expand...

That's the etcher I'm using currently. It works very well and is almost idiot-proof (if I can figure it out with the included directions, anyone can ;) ) I have my stencils made by a cat named Ernie Grospitch; there are other sources as well.
 
They are good on wood and material like aluminum but not on good steel (at least for any length of time).

OT
 
I have a set of the HF stamps. Good on soft materials. They started to deform on my blades. I bought another set, this time American made heavy duty steel stamps. Love 'em.
 
tryppyr said:
Agreed. Useless on steel.
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Nonsense. I've been marking tangs with the same cheapo set of Harbor Freight A-Z/0-9 stamps for years. I actually only use a few (to mark JT, 154, 3V, O1, EMX, 21, etc) and have made dozens if not hundreds of impressions with each of them. They still work just fine for that purpose.

Now if a person is trying to mark hardened steel with them... that's not going to work very well or for very long.
 
You must be a lot better at getting a good strike than I will ever be. All I was ever able to accomplish was half a letter. ;)
 
Very well, I'll probably skip them. I wanted to mark them with an "A. Alms" since I figure it would be better than nothing. The knives are either for me, or more likely give aways. I wouldn't sell knives with those stamps unless it was on a rustic design or something.

Thanks as always. :)
 
Check the big internet auction site. There are new and used sets of American made heavy duty stamps for good prices.
 
I have a set of number/letter stamps that I got from the local big box hardware store. Probably he same (or very similar) to what HF sells. They're ok for a quick mark or two on mild or annealed steel. Even better on wood and a few other soft materials.

Personally, I'd look up TUS (tustech.com I believe) for having some stencils made, and then build an etching machine. TUS will draft up a sheet of stencils for about $40 or so that will last you for darn near forever if you take care of them. After the intial draft, I think it's only $15 or $20 to have them re-printed, but don't quote me on that.

Ernie Grospitch is also a great source for stencils, especially if you need a one time stencil.

As for etching machines, I built one for about $40 or $50 after materials, though I've seen guys build them for less than $20 for a really basic version.

At any rate, it's a lot more consistent and versatile than individual letter stamps.
 
Thanks guys. Ktagf, that's pretty enticing. $50 for the build + $40 for stencils doesn't sound bad. I'll have to look up how to do that. I think I read somewhere that you can use a wall charger and I have several old ones laying around.

I was thinking the stamps could double for my sheaths, but honestly, they would be too small.

Speaking of sheaths and stamps and etching... Have any of you ever seen a fleur-de-lis for a makers mark? My last name is Welsh, and I'll have to research the origin of the symbol, but I like it if it would be appropriate.
 
Never mind, I'm an idiot. Obviously fleur is French. Welsh symbols include a cool dragon and lions so I should be able to figure out something nice. Not sure how much detail can go into a small stencil though. Learned some cool things about my last name too. I'd always wondered if my family was the giver or taker of charity (alms), but I definitely get the impression that we were of the giving nature which actually makes sense in more recent history.

Sorry for the haroldry lesson. :o
 
Strigamort said:
Thanks guys. Ktagf, that's pretty enticing. $50 for the build + $40 for stencils doesn't sound bad. I'll have to look up how to do that. I think I read somewhere that you can use a wall charger and I have several old ones laying around.

I was thinking the stamps could double for my sheaths, but honestly, they would be too small.

Speaking of sheaths and stamps and etching... Have any of you ever seen a fleur-de-lis for a makers mark? My last name is Welsh, and I'll have to research the origin of the symbol, but I like it if it would be appropriate.
Click to expand...

An etching machine is basically just an AC/DC power supply, usually somewhere between 12V and 24V.
Some makers really only use the DC portion of the etch anyhow, depending on what kind of stencil you're using, so in the mean time, a DC power supply may be adequate, along with some electrolyte solution and some kind of etch pad.
 
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