I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
Thanx Mat
You might consider putting your mark on either the ferrule or the handle
itself. As you know, the handle is the typical location for the larger
commercial producers.
-Verne
"Damned if i know" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no...
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start
making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image
is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
>
>
"Damned if i know" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no>...
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
You can have a metal stamp made it's a pretty common item to have done
custom.
I think Centaur forge still offers the service. These stamps are
applied to the steel cold so you would want them back fronm the
hardened parts anyway
On many antique tools I service for timber framers I found it was
common to put a makers mark at the end of the good inlaid steel or the
end of the heat treated zone.
You could also acid etch with a rubber stamp and either apply mask
with the stamp or etchant with the stamp. But keep the acid mix away
from your shop proper because the fumes make things rust.
Get real fancy and engrave a signature.
Damned if i know wrote:
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
You might want to look into chemical etching. See the following link for
examples:
http://www.etch-o-matic.com/EOM.html
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
(Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)
Damned if i know wrote:
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark.
If you are selling at the high end of the market, the method I used
might be of interest to make a most ellegant mark.
Back in the early 60's when I was a grad student, we wanted an
interesting and
different birthday present for my mother in law but had the usual grad
student bugetary constraints. We bought a pair of quality sewing
scissors. I
dismanteled them and coated one blade with Kodak photo resist. I then
carefully placed the word MOR (Danish for mother) on the dried KPR with
black
Letraset, exposed this to UV for several minutes and developed the image
with
KPR Developer. I then placed a little puddle of Ferric Chloride
solution
(printed circuit board etch - Radio Shack have it) on the area and let
it work
for a few minutes. I then rinsed it thouroughly with water and Gold
plated it
through the resist. I built up my own brush plating setup but today you
can
buy the stuff from http://www.caswellplating.com/nsindex.htm The result
was the
word MOR inlaided in Gold on the stainless steel blade.
She had those scissors 'til she died and my wife inherited them - none
of the
family would DARE walk off with them!
Modifying the above to use one of the newer resisits and electro-etching
before the gold plate might make things easier. I haven't tried that
yet. Very little gold is used so cost shouldn't be a significant
factor.
Ted
"Damned if i know" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no>...
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
Try an electro-etching unit, commonly used by knifemakers to mark their work.
Regards,
Bob
Wow thanx for all your responses - I'm going to take a good look at teh
etching idea.
"Damned if i know" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no...
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start
making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image
is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
>
>
"Jim Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jack Novak wrote...
> >
> > You might want to look into chemical etching. See the following link
for
> > examples:
> >
> > http://www.etch-o-matic.com/EOM.html
> >
>
> I second Jack's suggestion.
>
> Electrochemical etching is an easy and safe process. It can be used to
> make a deep etch or a very thin surface mark. Beware of commercially
> available electro-marking equipment, though; it is ridiculously
> expensive. On the other hand, it is very easy and inexpensive to build
> your own. My electro-etcher is shop made from materials I had on hand.
> The process, materials, and equipment are almost trivial, but information
> is closely guarded within the industry.
>
> For the resist, I've been happy with photo-sensitive stencils. I create
> the image on the computer, print it on the photo-resist using a LaserJet
> to make a contact mask, and expose the film using simple shop-made light
> box.
What are the limits with the stencils? Could I have a negative printed on a
transparency? Could it be a cut-out in heavy paper? I don't really
understand how it all works. Can someone elaborate on the process?
Thanks,
Eide
How about a decal and then varnish over it?
"Damned if i know" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no...
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start
making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image
is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
>
>
On Sun, 02 May 2004 18:31:52 GMT, "Damned if i know" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
>them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
>http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
>them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
>looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
>hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
>distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
>out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
>Thanx Mat
>
Acid etching?
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
Jack Novak wrote...
>
> You might want to look into chemical etching. See the following link for
> examples:
>
> http://www.etch-o-matic.com/EOM.html
>
I second Jack's suggestion.
Electrochemical etching is an easy and safe process. It can be used to
make a deep etch or a very thin surface mark. Beware of commercially
available electro-marking equipment, though; it is ridiculously
expensive. On the other hand, it is very easy and inexpensive to build
your own. My electro-etcher is shop made from materials I had on hand.
The process, materials, and equipment are almost trivial, but information
is closely guarded within the industry.
For the resist, I've been happy with photo-sensitive stencils. I create
the image on the computer, print it on the photo-resist using a LaserJet
to make a contact mask, and expose the film using simple shop-made light
box.
Knife maker Bob Warner's tutorials provide a good starting point:
http://www.warnerknives.com/tutorials.htm
(check out "Electro-Etcher" and "Stencil Exposure unit")
Additional practical information on the process can be found here:
http://www.ckdforums.com/
Electrochemical etching requires an electrolyte. Last summer, I got free
samples of three different electrolytes from IMG, intending to experiment
with them on different steels, but I haven't got round to doing that yet.
I did use the SC-50 electrolyte on O1 and it worked very well.
However, I also had good results with a homebrew electrolyte of about
equal parts of potassium chloride and salt in water. This solution works
even better with a bit of muriatic acid added. I was experimenting around
with this before I got the commercial electrolytes from IMG, and it
worked pretty well. The "recipe" came from a paper on sheet metal strain
studies.
The original recipe in the paper was:
potassium chloride, 80g
sodium chloride, 90g
nitric acid, 100ml
hydrochloric acid, 100ml
water, 4.5L
With no nitric acid readily available, I just winged it with what I had
on hand and it worked well enough. I had previously tried various
concentrations of plain salt and water with poor results.
On stainless steels, I have heard that the commercial electrolytes are
best, but I don't know from experience.
My contact at IMG was Patricia Bruno. She was very helpful. She also
mentioned something about an inexpensive "knifemaker's sample pack" with
five different electrolytes that they were planning to offer. Here is
IMG's web page.
http://www.img-electromark.com/catalog3.php
Snoop around their web site for some good basic information on the
process and equipment in general.
The technology is solidly within reach of the average do-it-yourselfer. I
made both the light box for exposing the stencils and the electro-etcher
for a fraction of what the commercial units cost, all from information
available on the web. My total out-of-pocket equipment cost was about $8
for the high-output fluorescent light bulb in the stencil exposure unit.
Everything else was already on hand in various junk boxes.
I did buy photo-sensitive stencil material and developer. The stencil
material was $12 for one 8.5 x 11 sheet, but since the marks are small
and a stencil can be re-used for some time, one sheet goes a long way.
The developer is a concentrate and a quart cost me $20. I have no idea
what's in it -- for all I know it could be plain water (G).
Before I got the stencil material from IMG, I used a different photo-
sensitive material, called PhotoEZ High Resolution. As far as I know,
Gwen Gibson Designs is the only source for it.
http://photoezsilkscreen.com/
Five sheets were $38. This stuff works a little differently. It doesn't
require a special developer (just water) and it can be exposed in
sunlight. I don't think the screen is as fine as the IMG stencil
material. It doesn't handle fine detail as well. Also, the emulsion
appears to soak up some electrolyte in use, which can cause blotches to
appear on the mark. If you're doing deep etching and don't need fine
lines, though, this stuff does work. You just have to rub off any
blotches with an abrasive pad.
By the way, I tried using ferric chloride and was disappointed in the
results. It's messy, takes a long time, tends to undercut, and presents a
disposal problem.
Good luck!
Jim
Thanks! Very good explanation. I hope to put it to use some time in the near
future!
Eide
(oops, replied to myself the first time)
"Jim Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Eide wrote...
>
> > What are the limits with the stencils? Could I have a negative printed
on a
> > transparency? Could it be a cut-out in heavy paper? I don't really
> > understand how it all works. Can someone elaborate on the process?
>
> The stencil material is a silk-screen -- a fine mesh coated with a photo-
> sensitive emulsion. It is exposed to UV light through a mask and then
> developed. Development dissolves the unexposed areas of the emulsion,
> leaving only the porous mesh there, which liquid can pass through. The
> exposed portions of the emulsion do not wash away; they remain and
> provide a barrier to liquids.
>
> The stencil is placed between the part to be marked and a felt pad
> dampened with electrolyte. One electrode is attached to the part. The
> other connects to a plate which is placed in contact with the damp pad. A
> current passes between the electrodes -- through the moist pad, the
> stencil, and the part. This etches the metal, but only in the areas where
> the electrolyte is able to pass through the stencil and contact the part.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Jim
Thanks! Very good explanation. I hope to put it to use some time in the near
future!
Eide
"Eide" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:6dklc.5968$Lm3.4051@lakeread04...
>
> "Jim Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Jack Novak wrote...
> > >
> > > You might want to look into chemical etching. See the following link
> for
> > > examples:
> > >
> > > http://www.etch-o-matic.com/EOM.html
> > >
> >
> > I second Jack's suggestion.
> >
> > Electrochemical etching is an easy and safe process. It can be used to
> > make a deep etch or a very thin surface mark. Beware of commercially
> > available electro-marking equipment, though; it is ridiculously
> > expensive. On the other hand, it is very easy and inexpensive to build
> > your own. My electro-etcher is shop made from materials I had on hand.
> > The process, materials, and equipment are almost trivial, but
information
> > is closely guarded within the industry.
> >
> > For the resist, I've been happy with photo-sensitive stencils. I create
> > the image on the computer, print it on the photo-resist using a LaserJet
> > to make a contact mask, and expose the film using simple shop-made light
> > box.
>
> What are the limits with the stencils? Could I have a negative printed on
a
> transparency? Could it be a cut-out in heavy paper? I don't really
> understand how it all works. Can someone elaborate on the process?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Eide
>
>
Jim Wilson wrote...
>
> I create the image on the computer, print it on the photo-resist using
> a LaserJet to make a contact mask, and expose the film using simple
> shop-made light box.
>
Oops. Brain cramp strikes again. The above should read:
I create the image on the computer, print it using a LaserJet on ordinary
paper to make a contact mask, and expose the photo-resist using simple
shop-made light box.
Sorry for the confusion.
Jim
"Jim Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>...
> The stencil material is a silk-screen -- a fine mesh coated with a photo-
> sensitive emulsion. It is exposed to UV light through a mask and then
> developed. Development dissolves the unexposed areas of the emulsion,
> leaving only the porous mesh there,
...
Jims explanation is right on and explains just about everything needed to
understand the process. Although not needed use the process, some
additional info will help explain what happens during the exposure and
development process. The exposure and developing process is very similar to
how printed wiring boards (PWB) are made. The photo resist is an emulsion
of polymer molecules, the exposure to UV light cross-links the molecules
into long polymer chains while the ones covered by the mask are not
cross-linked. The long polymer chains are more resistant to solvents than
the short molecules. In the developing process a solvent washes away the
short molecules and leaves the cross-linked ones untouched. When making PWB
a copper clad board is covered with resist. A mask with the circuit runs is
placed over the board and then exposed to UV light. The board is then
developed by using a solvent to remove the unlinked molecules. This is
often done in a vapor degreaser. Making the stencil is similar only that
the resist is a coating on a piece of silk instead of a copper board. The
board is then put in an etching solution to remove the copper except in the
areas protected by the resist. A ferric chloride solution is often used to
etch the copper.
If you wanted to make the markings on your tools deeper, coating them with
resist then etching them might be another way to mark your tools. Where I
used to work we used this technique to make stainless steel nameplates. It
s interesting why we had to make nameplates from stainless steel. They were
used to replace brass nameplate on navy equipment. It seems that the navy
loves to polish everything. The sailors were polishing the nameplates so
often the markings on the nameplates were polished away. You dont have to
polish stainless and if you did it took a lot longer to wear off the
marking. We also used a similar process to make parts out of very thin
sheet metal.
A similar process is used to sandblast patterns onto materials such as
glass. The pattern is printed on the glass and then sandblasted. The
coating allows only the unprotected areas to be sandblasted.
Jims explanation is more to the point, but I thought you might find this
interesting.
Scp
Damned if i know writes:
> I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the
> red hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending
> and or distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a
> laser image is out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could
> you post them.
Toner transfer.
Rubber-stamp epoxy paint.
Sandblast through logo mask.
In article <s8blc.328395$Pk3.110346@pd7tw1no>,
Damned if i know <[email protected]> wrote:
> ... need to apply a makers mark. ...
Etch.
--
--henry schaffer
hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu
Eide wrote...
> What are the limits with the stencils? Could I have a negative printed on a
> transparency? Could it be a cut-out in heavy paper? I don't really
> understand how it all works. Can someone elaborate on the process?
The stencil material is a silk-screen -- a fine mesh coated with a photo-
sensitive emulsion. It is exposed to UV light through a mask and then
developed. Development dissolves the unexposed areas of the emulsion,
leaving only the porous mesh there, which liquid can pass through. The
exposed portions of the emulsion do not wash away; they remain and
provide a barrier to liquids.
The stencil is placed between the part to be marked and a felt pad
dampened with electrolyte. One electrode is attached to the part. The
other connects to a plate which is placed in contact with the damp pad. A
current passes between the electrodes -- through the moist pad, the
stencil, and the part. This etches the metal, but only in the areas where
the electrolyte is able to pass through the stencil and contact the part.
Cheers!
Jim
"Nova" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> You might want to look into chemical etching. See the following link for
> examples:
>
> http://www.etch-o-matic.com/EOM.html
>
> --
Great idea. Many years ago a friend bought a similar device. You could type
or write on the stencils. I typed my name and etched many of my hand tools
They still look good today, about 25 years later.
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome
Damned if i know wrote:
> I've been making a lot of chisels and other tools as of late - and selling
> them as fast as I can make them (If you're interested have a look at
> http://members.shaw.ca/mathewa/tools4sale.htm ). I'm going to start making
> them on a more commercial basis and need to apply a makers mark. I've
> looked into having a steel stamp made up that I would hammer into the red
> hot tool steel - but this would probably cause too much bending and or
> distortion in some of the tools so I've ruled that out and a laser image is
> out of the question so if anyone has any ideas could you post them.
>
> Thanx Mat
>
>
There are professional versions Prior IIRC - but here is one idea - single letters.
http://www.mscdirect.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=2011230&pcount=15&Product_Id=248577&Keyword=Y
Might have to cut and paste that in if it wraps.
Martin
--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer [email protected]
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder