Spears Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I was playing around with ideas on how a touch mark could be made so I performed an experiment where I would heat up the punch-to-be material and pound it into a sheet metal cut out symbol. I program a laser as one of my many day job duties so I cut a potential symbol out of .045” thick stainless steel 304. Aside from better material choices, 304 stainless is what I could get, so that is what I used. I installed three roll pins in one of the plates so I could center the punch quickly over the symbol while red hot. A piece of 5/8” round 2.5” long W-1 tool steel was used for the trial. With four quick blows from the power hammer the shape came out rather flat for a touch mark IMO but the detail was outstanding right down to the imperfections of the laser cut sheet metal. With proper fixture setup, I think this process could probably be used to make some cool looking medallions or something. Enjoy, Spears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Countryforge Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Great Idea. How well does it transfer to mild steel ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Now I am contemplating electrically etching a mark very very deep so I can make a hand stamp from it.... Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Tim215 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Nice - think I might steel this - need a new makers mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Neat, maybe a new technique?? Stencil forging??? keep up the good work, A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 That worked quite nicely, down to the bit of joggle in the lateral movement on the laser. Why didn't you just laser etch the punch? I'm sure there's a good reason, I'm not a laser cutter guy but I'm thinking I'll know a bit more soon as you get back. <grin> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spears Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Just got back from Spruce Pine fire on the mountain blacksmithing festival in North Carolina. Very nice should anyone get the chance to go to that one. Frosty I'm not sure if our dinosaur of a laser has cutting conditions to do more than "through" cutting. The operators 10+ yrs know nothing about etching and the manual doesn't talk about it either. I'll have to consult the service technician the next time he is in. I don't always get enough time to play around with the cool machinery. I am going to try some designs in mild steel and see if I can do it over and over again and maybe make some key chains for sale or promotional give away. I'll post the results when I get there. Thank you for your comments. Spears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarry Dog Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Just curious, how is a touchmark normally made? Hand engrave the mark in plate and then pound a punch blank into it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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