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Another touchmark


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I've been looking at making a touchmark for a little while now and decided it's time. I have some things im goin to finally let leave my shop and the recipients want to have them marked. I've looked several places and have not seen anythin like what I've pretty well settled on but just thought I'd ask if anyone else might have. I also hope to get advice regarding how to make it myself or someone to tell me I'm wasting my time trying to make it when I should just order it and be done. I wonder if anyone can see what I'm trying to achieve here. I'm sure someone can seein as how most of you people are much smarter than I :) if anyone would be so kind as to tell me how to resize images here I'd greatly appreciate it.

image.thumb.jpg.8ce70bc1f9fb21782a5e03f1

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Looks good to me and I don't think I have seen it before.  I looked at doing my own but in the end farmed it out to Columbia Marking Tools.  You can always try and if you fail, bring in professional help:D.

 

I read up on making my own and I'm sure the instructions are on here somewhere.

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I was thinking about doin it at about 1/4" and even sketched it about that big. When I took the picture on my phone and then cropped it for an upload here it cropped but it blew it up too.

i keep hearing about Colombiana and thought that'll be the best/easiest way.

Edited by M Cochran
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brianbrazealblacksmith

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Posted 24 Dec 2012 · Report post

Cut a piece of 1 inch square tubing 2 3/4 inches long and weld it to a piece of metal that fits in your hardy hole, where the square tubing stands up straight on your anvil. Then get some coil spring that fits inside the square tubing snugly with a little slop so it will move up and down. Now cut a 3/8 inch long disc off the coil spring and chisel your stamp design into the disc. Drop it down the tubing where it rests on the anvil with your chiseled design up. Prepare a 3 inch long piece of the same coil spring to use as your stamp by cutting it to the center with a hot cut hardy on both ends. Leave the point on the end that will be your stamp and clean up any burrs if there are any. Dome the striking end. Heat up the pointed end, brush once, drop it down the tubing, hit it once with a sledge hammer, and then harden and temper the stamp end.

Lyle, Urnstbeast, and I came up with this in a class a few years ago and have made several with others over the years. You have one hit to do it in, so make it good, and make your design appropriate. Just look at other stamps and notice the depth and surface area contact. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fl6nMNoiok&list=ULkU3_U6JHGdg&index=4

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The only caveat I give folks when it comes to making their own touch mark.....  

Your mark is a sign that will last for a thousand years.  Do you really want to fab something on your own knowing full well that you are very limited in skill, tools, experience, to make a sharp attractive design that will look good and reflect well on your shop?

I've seen a lot of home-made marks, and they are almost always large, crude affairs that were clearly made by someone that didn't have the tools and skills to do the job.  This isn't to say that there aren't great examples out there.  Just consider for a minute the fact that professional companies don't hesitate to hire professional designers and professional engravers to make their marks.  These are folks that have the tools and training to make you a mark that really shines.

Most times, the professionals have ideas that you've never thought of because they've done this a thousand times before.  They can give you guidance on size and style.  They can use specialty steels that stand up to abuse, and give them the proper heat-treat.

 

As for your specific design, go for it.  I'd be more inclined to combine the C with the right leg of the M, making a smaller mark, but your design doesn't look bad.  The "sleeping" C is different.

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Thanks for your input, Vaughn. When I showed my wife what I was thinking about doing for my mark she first suggested the top mark in the following picture. I think that's what you're sayin as well. What I was goin for in my design was mountains overlooking a lake, two of my favorite places, as well as my initials. 

image.jpg

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I have to say I much prefer the later designs to the original. The sideways C looks a bit odd to me and certainly doesn't look like a mountain overlooking a lake at first glance. It's only when you said it that I see what you were going for. 

 

The combined MC idea is quite decent. 

Andy

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Mountains over a lake?  I can see that now that you mention it, but it certainly wasn't obvious.

Whenever you consider a mark, try to think of it in terms of the overall impression of the universe you need to create around your products.  If you tell the story of how you came up with the mark, mentioning that lakes and mountains are your favorite places and inspired the design, folks can see it.  If you don't, folks see a sleeping C similar to what is used on ranch brands.  

Also, consider how the mark will look when stamped into crusty metal.  What looks great with pen and paper looks absolutely wretched sometimes once stamped into anything other than highly polished steel.  Similarly, a design that looks good gets ugly quick when scaled down to the size appropriate for a small knife.

I highly recommend you peruse some of the free font generators on the internet and check out various combinations of the letters.  Straight lines like you drew can be nice, but a bit of flair certainly can't hurt.  I was really surprised at how many fonts are out there in the wide web of the internet.  Some will work, some won't.  But they all give you a tremendous variety to choose from.

You can scale them up or down to see how they work.  Move them around to see how nice they can look in various orientations.  And when you hit on an idea, you can tell the maker that's it's XYZ font, something that they can easily look up and render into their computers.  

And don't fret.  You're not the only one struggling with a design!  I've been pondering the issue for well over a year and might just be suffering paralysis by analysis.  ;)

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I had my mark made by Columbia and don't regret doing so. They were very professional and made my linked initials in a 3/8 " oval just the way I designed it. Tempered, nicely finished, the lot. You are fortunate to have such companies there. Couldn't get one made in Australia.

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Thanks, Andy, for your input. I really appreciate it.

Vaughn, that's why I didn't say what it was supposed to be at first. I wasn't sure how obvious it was and wanted to see if anyone else can see it. Thanks for your honesty about it. If you don't mind, my wife wants to know if what she told me I should use is the same as what you suggested.

Ausfire, I'll probably make a temporary one myself while waiting on my professional one.

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Vaughn, ... If you don't mind, my wife wants to know if what she told me I should use is the same as what you suggested.

M, I was thinking something more along the lines of something like these.....

Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement in my oh-so-artistic renderings, but they kind of give you an idea.  I like the one on the bottom the best.

You'd be surprised how many fonts there are that actually look different from the norm, and in a good way.  That's where I got the idea for combining the initials into one glyph.

IMG_2960.JPG

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That's what I thought she was sayin before I had her show me. I've seen several smiths do similar because the letters lend themselves so well to that kind of connection but I never thought about it with mine. I appreciate the help you've given me. Whenever I finally figure it out I'll post the sketch here and will eventually share the results of the final mark.

i thought about namin my forge, like seems to be a trend, and thought about namin it 'Mountain Lake Forge.' Which would clarify my original idea well enough to clarify what I was goin for. Not sayin that the help you guys have given isn't appreciated or accepted, I just wanted to throw that little tidbit out there.

Edited by M Cochran
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M, before settling on a design, think about the story you want to tell.  Creating a universe around your work is every bit as important the quality of your work, and it's the one place where most smiths fall short.  Customers buy into the story every bit as much as they do the product.  They want to be part of the experience.

A good example of this would be the way Mad Dwarf Workshop took special pains to create an internet presence that revolved around the type of work they were doing, and the meaning they were trying to convey through their work.  They explained their stuff and their thinking.  Now, Cedarlore Forge does the same exact thing, making sure to keep the photographs, text and overall appearance of their website in synch with the product.

 

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