Stamp man

Steve has good input. When your ready to mark just do it quickly so the heat from your part doesn't raise the temp of the stamp tip over 420F which will soften it.

However, Hardening a Marking Stamp should be considered between 58 to 61 RC. Then the back half has to be drawn back to 38/42 RC so it doesn't chip and cause serious damage, it should spall over like a chisel. This is also why I recommend 5" to 6" long stamps so the hardened end stays hard while the hammer end is drawn down and gives you room for both your hand and spalling over. The best all around steel is W1 (1095) Water Harden Shock steel. We do make stamps for production foundries out of many other steels but they often are marking red hot steel several times a minute. Hope this helps 

Example of a large Made In USA stamp

Since we just finished Saint Patrick's Day here is a 4 leaf clover one we've done a few times.

 

Howdy all, I am still here. Survived 2020 and still making the touch marks for iforge people.  Marking Tools since 1960 Made in USA Michigan. If you need something I have made special arrangements you can go direct. Not through distributors. 

If you have a budget limit let me know so we can make suggestions to complexity and size to best get what you need.

We make thousands of stamps a week for manufacturing companies but I am an old metal worker hobby guy myself and still support the small business and individuals here as well as car restoration, firearm and tool guys. 

Admin if you could make sure PM request notifications still go to my email I would appreciate it.

Stamp Man 

Howdy everyone, just checking in to see how you all are doing. It is amazing how the art of hand forging has grown.

Hope you all like touch marks we've made over the years. IForge friends keep your hammer dressed and anvil flat.

God bless,

Tom

On 3/2/2011 at 7:01 PM, KYBOY said:

I cant say enough good things about stamp mans stamps..With his forum discount you'll never get one cheaper anywhere..Our stamp has been used hundreds of times..I men a lot Its as crisp as the day it was new..Heres a wrought iron hawk head stamped recently.

Thank you and I am glad you like your results. Looks awesome

We now have a facebook example page for ideas of touch mark hand stamps. I do get a lot of questions about ideas so hopefully (if can search the facebook for Columbia Marking Tools) is will give you some great ideas. Here are just 2 of the many. Always ask for I-forge/Toms discount.  

I'm interested in getting a custom touchmark.
Got a quote from buckeye for $130, and Columbia marking tool for $180.
Anyone with experience with either of these companies? Is the CMT one worth the extra money?

Thanks.

I have post a few times about this.

I give the Forum people a massive discount, but if you call our office ask to talk with Brad or Brian and tell them you were offered a forum discount from Tom (owner).

We are the largest stamp manufacture in the world with 4 of the 7 certified master engravers in north America.
This is our 50th year and have complete in house Metallurgist, Designers engineers testing large inventory of special steels for all applications and sizes. We will draw the stamp from your idea or sketch and send you a approval drawing prior to manufacturing.

The business I do for Forum members is out of my passion for metal working as well as anything with a motor as well.
So obviously we do not make a profit on these but we do have fun doing these which some of them challenge the pattern maker and that is a good thing.

Tom

http://columbiamt.com/CMT-Hand-Tool-Marking/

Direct link to our Hand tool section in case you want to read up on the different ways & tools for hand stamping (know on this site as Touch Mark)

I was wondering if anyone knew how or know where I can make or have made a touch mark. It's a simple one using my three initials from my name so not real complicated. Any help will be grateful.
Bill P

Bill, for your simple 3 character standard Gothic font hand stamp (guessing at 3/16" character height) the charge would be 1 stamp for 21.00.
2 weeks for delivery.
Everything is made in Michigan at my company since 1960.
We do take paypal or charge cards
Columbia Marking Tools 586-949-8400 ask for Brian or Brad and give them this price as I Forge forum members get a huge discount.

Shoot me an email Jesse..... I can take care of that...

If a steel stamp for marking your parts is what you need, we do this all day every day special or standard stamps

Columbia Marking Tools phone is 586-949-8400 ask For Brian as he takes care of the forum guys (saves about 30 to 40 %).

Or check us out on the web.


Hand Tools - Columbia Marking Tools

One other trick you can use for the heavy hammer guys.

Take a thick hose like a heater hose or peice of hydralic hose and drill a hole in it. Then push the hand stamp in the hole. Using the rubber hose as a handle keeps your hand away and eliminates the shock.

This also works for hand held forging tools.

When I first read it I thought it said Beer Popper... got to get new glasses.

When I click on the photo I thought thats strange ummm you must put the bottle top under the Bear's mouth and pry down...of course I then saw I was way off base.

The art work is fantastic

Fantastic work neat to see when power and art come together.

Just thought I would post a simple trick we use when hand stamping (as called here on the forum touch mark) in the cold state.

First stamp it in the soft anealed state (harden material will dull the stamp and not penetrate very well. A rule of thumb is 35Rc or under is ok to mark.

You guys as forge/blacksmith know to use a solid back up and a heavy hammer (I use a mini mall around 2 pounds.

Anyhow when stamping place a piece of masking tape on the material to be parked
This will steady the stamp and prevent bounce back gost impressions.
A quick wire brush accross th estamp after your done will clean out the Engraving.

Also if you save your paper work you got from us you can always use it when re-ordering. This will give the engineers the "job number" so they can pull up the old artwork and duplicate it with the fuss and much quicker.

Hope this helps

Guys I have been off line as per request of the forum owner and I repect his wishes and as I have said many times I am not here to make a buck. The work I do for the forum memebers is strickly as a favor.

The kind of work we do as the number 1 rated engraving shop in the world would normally be very expensive. But I am gear head and love to work with anything metal so I offer our services at cost to members because you can go direct to us and not through distributers and so on.

Anyhow call or e-mail my inside office guy if you need anything.
Brad Byrne 586-949-8400 ext 17
bbyrne@columbiamt.com

CurlyGeorge said:

Got my new touchmark stamp, today, from CMT. It's exactly what I ordered. StampMan, you do great work. Thanks.

 

Curly,

I am really glad you like it.

We made some pretty interesting 3D designs for this one. It was fun to do.

Thanks for the good word:D

 

Stamp Man (Tom),
I received my touchmark stamp today!
I am more than pleased.
Thank you!
Ted

Now thats what I like to hear.

I hope our engineering & engravers treated you well.

Enjoy:)

Stamp Man,
Got my touch mark today. It's nice. Thank You.
Something that I've been thinking about though, do you stamp with the metal hot, warm or cold. I don't want to ruin my stamp first thing.
Thanks for the stamp
Billy

Answered on your other thread;)

Basics
Stamp hot you must do it very fast so as not to soften the heat treated steel
Stamp cold is fine as long as it is not harden steel above 32 Rc

If cold a nice trick is to put a peice of masking tape down on the part first.
This will prevent bounce and allow you to hold it steady on the part when hitting it.

Use a fine wire brush to clean the characters out when they fill up with dirt.

Enjoy guys I like it when people are happy and get more than they expected!

Sorry guys had some deaths in the family so i have been out of touch a bit.

Top quality stamp steel is W-1 as it has high impact strength and good wear capabilities.

The draw temp is around 450F to temper it to approximately 59Rc

If you stamp red hot material and leave it on the part for more than say 5 or 10 seconds it will begin to absorb the heat and aneal (make soft) the characters. So like a previous post said if you are doing it hot do it fast.

If it is below 400F then you are fine.

Cold is fine but if it is heat treated above 32 Rc (most steel is dead soft or below 12 Rc) you will flatten it out faster hitting hard material.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

Glad it worked out for you. I really enjoy making these and saving the forum guys some money at the same time.:cool:

 

I'd make punches, drifts or hot chisels from it.

Frosty

Good call
S7 is one of the toughest tool steels by a large margin.
It really doesnt wear good as a cutting tool but it has massive strength properties.

We use it in some rare applications when a tough stamp is needed to mark semi hard and tough materials.

We usally spec the heat treat at hardnesses 55/57 HRC for stapms which are the same as chiles or punches.

Warnning, you must draw back (heat the hammer end with a torch for 38/42 Rc so it doesn't splinter or crack when you strike it)

Basic specs
FORGING: Heat to 1950/2050

THanks to all for your responses I want you all to know I am pricing the Forum buddies direct prices which save a bunch and I will do it for as long as I can.

Anyhow if you make your own I advise the following material.

W-1 or 1095 Tool steel which is a great shock steel with high wear properties.
Hardness in R/c should be around 58 to 59
1450 degrees then quenched in Brine then tempered at 450 degrees.
The temps can change a little depending on the due point.
The hammer end should be drawn back with a torch like a chisel 38 to 44 Rc range so it don't splinter and end up stuck in your belly.

For marking hard or really touch steel we sometimes go with a S7 which is the ultimate shock tool steel but it doesn't get as hard on the character end and will wear out faster.

Hope this helps at least with picking the steel and heat treat
The engraving we do is very involved and the cutting spindle is set at 20,000 RPM so to do this by hand would take more than a post to teach.

Tom

If you e-mail me direct with what you want (even if its a photo or hand sketch) I will set the price for my inside sales guys.
As the owner and a memeber of the forum I will give th ebest breaks on price I can.

We are the largest manufacture of custom steel stamps in the world but don't let that scare you we do lots of special 1 piece orders and if we have even a hand scetch our in-house engineers will design the stamps and e-mail or fax you an approval drawing before we make it.

Obviously if you use standard characters we can do these cheaper than a custom logo.

tjp@columbiamt.com

or fax to Tom 586-949-8401

You can either make the stamp yourself or have it made by a company that specializes in making stamps....your choice. If it is a complicated logo, pay to have it made.

Did you get your stamp?

Thanks for the warm welcome.

And yes I have a website here is direct link for engraved stamps.
Hope I can be of help. I have been answering a few PM's and If anyone has any questions which may require lots of comunication you can always e-mail me at tjp@columbiamt.com

Custom Steel Hand Stamps

I can post a thread but I did not want to appear like I was trying to solicit or anything like that. Just a steel guy who likes this kind of stuff.

So if any admin people see me do anything not up to snuff please let me know.

:)