Well after many so-so attempts at making a touch mark, I finally did it!! That is I just broke down and ordered one from Columbia Marking Tools I tried making my own and actually got a "passable" anvil but I just wasnt satisfied..So I ordered a custom image with the words "WOLF CREEK" above a custom "ANVIL" logo and the "FORGE" below it..In the time that I wasted trying to make one we could have finished a couple of hawks :blink:

That's the way I felt for many years about a lot of things, why spend hours making a tool that you can buy and save all that time. Time don't come easy and the older I get the less of it I have to mess around with some tasks. Good decision on your part for the touch mark. However there are some things that only come with the spending of time and that is skill development, practice makes perfect and that is lost on a lot of folk. If you want to be good at something you have to practice at it, no other way.

That's the way I felt for many years about a lot of things, why spend hours making a tool that you can buy and save all that time. Time don't come easy and the older I get the less of it I have to mess around with some tasks. Good decision on your part for the touch mark. However there are some things that only come with the spending of time and that is skill development, practice makes perfect and that is lost on a lot of folk. If you want to be good at something you have to practice at it, no other way.

I still make most of my own tools for that very reason. Chisels and tongs, now dont get me wrong Ill buy any good tool when I find a good deal..I can make usable tongs fairly fast. Id love to have a bunch of GS or OC tongs but as long as I can make them in reasonable time for a couple bucks per pair I guess Ill just keep on keep'n on Mine aint as pretty but they work The touch mark, I just wasnt gonna be happy until I had a nice one :rolleyes:

Sometimes it's best to pass on some jobs to the specialists!

I find myself doing that with alot of tools. Shop time is limited and time spent making tools takes away from time forging projects for customers. I do sometimes find that I could have spent less time making the tool when compared to the time researching, searching for, and purchasing it. I now try to buy only tools that I can't make or tools that will pay back dividends timewise. Of course if I happen upon a good deal...

I bought mine from CMT. You WILL like it. Mine has worked great and leaves a clean clear mark. I think that you will be impressed. Pun intended.

Can we see a piece of iron with your touchmark on it?

Here's a picture of it. I tried to get too close and the picture came out just a little bit fuzzy, but it stamps very crisp and clear.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=31775

It is CG over an anvil.

I should have added that I requested that they make it 3/16" long by 5/32"tall. Some of the items that I demo and sell regularly are made from 3/16" square stock. It's close, but the touchmark will fit on 3/16 stock. :)

I fully agree. I tend to find myself regularly making tools to make tools to make tools, such as tools to make tools to make the wooden wheels which are part of a historical forge, itself a tool. Purchasing a tool or a part now and then is just one way of making life a little bit easier. After all, when I was writing software I didn't also build the computers, write the operating system, or the compilers that we were using.