Any one-off stencil makers present..?

[SPryor]

Needing a one time stencil (green preferably) with the wording..:

"And the skulls of my enemies
will be piled as trophies at my feet"

This is for an 11" Bowie, so lettering can be fairly large.

Anyone that can make this stencil for me shoot me a quote at

knives4u3@junodotcom

Replaced . w/dot in hopes the spyders don't pick up on it.

[Ray Rogers]

I don't understand the reference to 'green'......no matter what color the stencil is the result will be black on the steel. Unless maybe you're thinking about the relative durability of the green and gold stencil materials. In that case, you're probably be out of luck since I don't know of a process for doing one off stencils from that stuff. Anyway, if you can settle for a regular blue stencil, I might be of some service. If no one else has jumped in, drop me an email knives@rayrogers.com

[SPryor]

Actually, I was thining about dirability, but since this is most likely a one time deal, green probably isn't all that detrimental.

I don't forsee a great many people wanting that etched on a blade.lol

[Harry Mathews]

Ray I'm not sure I understand why there is any great difficulty in making a "one off" stencil out of the green stencil material, unless it is the cost? The customer pays for that. I see questions come up from time to time about the green stencils and have wondered why more people didn't use them. I don't know anything about the blue stencils. They looked to me like they require an impact printer to use and I haven't seen one of those in years. I threw the blue material away that came with our etcher because I could not see how it could be used and the etcher had no instructions that explained it.

[TJ Smith]

The blue waxy stuff that comes woth a Personalizer can be used in a typewriter or a logo can be scratched in. Where do you get the green photo stencil material?
Take Care
TJ

[Harry Mathews]

I order it from Electro-Chem etch. I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. They don't show it on thier web site but they have it. Koval used to sell the stencils. I figured that was why they didn't carry the green stencil material.

This is why I could not see much use for the blue stencil. The picture is small, but you get the idea. The logo is smaller than the picture below when we put it on a knife.

[SPryor]

I've ordered stencils from electro chem before, qand even though i would stress that i wanted green...they'd send me yellow!! grrrrrrr

Edited to add: Oooops, actually it was Marking Methods. And what others said, at that time is that, the reason that they do that s to get rid of the less desirable yellow stuff.

[Ray Rogers]

Harry,

The difficulty, as I saw it, was that a) I'd never seen the green material for sale any place and b) the only green stencils I had seen were ones created by a process different from the process I use at home.

The blue stencils (t least the ones I use) don't use an impact printer, they are developed using a photochemical process. The green stencils that came with my Etch-O-Matic do require an impact printer and the results are definitely less desirable than the blue stencils.

Steve was complaining that he wanted green but received yellow. According to Marking Methods, the people who made my professional stencils, the yellow which I have is more durable than the green.

I think what all this tells us is that the color of the stencil isn't a completely accurate indicator of quality, durability, or the process used on the stencil development.

So, Harry, just to clarify things a bit, my blue stencils are made by drawing a logo with Photoshop, printing the logo on a plastic transparency sheet using a dot matrix or laser printer, exposing the blue film and the transparency to white light , and then developing the film in some developer from IMG. The result is a stencil that can have any kind of lettering or art work on it, very sharp and clear, and moderate durability.

How are the green ones you have processed?

[Harry Mathews]

Ray, the green ones that I use are processed exactly like the blue ones you are using. I think that this might be where some of the confusion I have been noticing on the net, is coming from. The blue stencil material that I received with my Personalizer Plus had a tractor feed up both sides and was definitely designed for an impact printer of some kind. I have never seen any yellow stencil material. The only place that I have been able to find the green (photochemical) stencil material is from Electro-Chem Etch and they don't advertise it on their web site. The last time we ordered stencil material from them Charlie got the third degree and felt like if we hadn't ordered our Stencil Fabricator from them they would not sell us the material. We have had good success with the green material but it is very sensitive to the process you use in making the stencil. It also deteriorates if left exposed to light between etching sessions. The biggest problem we have is when a stencil goes bad, it does so at the most inconvenient time, on the most expensive knife.

How well do the blue stencils you are using hold up and where do you get the material from? Thanks! I think that some of this is beginning to get more clear.

[Ray Rogers]

The blue material I use comes from IMG and is the material I see most often referenced in these forums so it's pretty popular. Once dried, the stencil feels much thicker than my yellow ones from Marking Methods but also has a somewhat softer feel to the surface. Still, with just minimal care they can be used to make quite a few impressions. Par of the key to longevity seems to be to wash them very thoroughly after use but don't rub them with your fingers. Rubbing them can chip the edges of the art work by removing little bits of the blue stuff. The material is sold in 8.5 x 11" sheets for $12 a sheet and you just cut off the little bit you need for each stencil. I imagine the grren sheets work the same way ...

[Harry Mathews]

Sounds like it is the same kind of stencil material to me. I might try some of that from IMG just because I like having more than one source for any materials we use. Especially if we depend on it like we do these stencils. You just never know these days when you will be told that a product has been discontinued.

[jdm61]

Ernie Grospitch makes stencils for $30 fpr a 3 x 7 sheet

[Woodchuck Forge]

I was looking for engraver points in The McMaster-carr catalog and ran across a photo stencil kit Cat # 2807T17 link is www.Mcmaster.com It runs $200 but it may be great for one off stencils and can be made with lazer or injet printers.

Chuck