Knife stamp questions

[Drac]

Good day all,

Moving from etching to stamping my knives and I what to get some advise and info.

I should have the stamp in a couple weeks. I don't forge so it will be done cold. The issue that several models I do (sgian dubhs mostly) don't have a recasso. Can you stamp on the flat of a flat ground blade?

Thanks,
Jim

[Doug Lester]

Yes, I do that with the blades that I make without a ricasso. It is a little akward to hold the stamp at a slight angle so that it's parallel with the surface of the blade but it can be done. I often find that I do have to double strike. That requires great care to line up the letters on the stamp exactly with the letters that it's just struck but that is doable also. Strike your blade after you have done your rough grind and before heat treating.

Doug Lester

[Ed Caffrey]

Cold stamping on a flat parallel surface is difficult, it's even more so if the surface is tilted. Not saying it can't be done, but based on my experience, it's not uncommon to "mess it up".

A couple of things to keep in mind about stamping in general....1. the less surface area the stamp has, the easier it is to get a good mark. In other words if you have a stamp that has a lot of surface area to impress into the blade, the force required for the impression is much greater, and the chances for a clean mark are much less when cold stamping. 2. The wear and tear on a stamp in MUCH greater cold stamping, especially if your striking the stamp with a hammer blow versus using a stamping fixture with something like a hydraulic jack. If you use a stamping fixture set up with a bottle jack or other "powered" means, be super careful....just a bit too much force and you will split/crack a blade or ricasso to the nearest corner.

[Robert Mayo]

Weld yourself up a jig with an flat bottom and a bevel on top for your blade to sit in so the top side is on the same plane as the bottom of the jig. Here is a quick drawing of what i mean it stops your blade from slipping and makes it so you can do it with one strike or even better with a press.

Bob

[Drac]

Thanks folks.

My stamp is going to be the same as my etch, a half inch wide oval with my last name in it. Figure .5" x .2". Since most of my knives are small I thought to keep my mark proportionally small.

I don't have a setup for doing a powered press on the stamp yet. One of those things to way cost vs. how few knives I realistically do. I'll do some searches on fixtures to see what I would be getting my self into.

Thanks Bob. While I don't have a welder I might get by with hand shaping that. Again my knives aren't very big.

Jim