Hi,

I would like to make a touchmark of my own. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just my initials or something.

Can anyone tell me how to make one?

If you could include details like the steel to make it from (tool steel I assume) and if it needs tempered or not that would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoPCP7AtP94&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

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.

Thanks for the response! Are you Brian Brazeal, the guy who made those hornless anvils!?

It sounds like a great set up that you described, but I was actually thinking of a more simple touchmark design, maybe I'll try your set up in the future, but for the moment I think it would be best if I went with the basics.

I think that something like this would be fine.
Could you tell me how to make one like that? Specifically the "drawing" part of the touchmark, I think I can figure out the rest.

In that picture that's scratched in and then you use a black dust to fill in the scratches. I've made several custom black powder horns. Will not work on metal. Guess you could use an engraver though...

I'm sorry I put up a link to the wrong picture. The picture I was trying to show had a piece of metal that had on one of the ends a design which had an anvil and initials or something on it. I'll see if I can get the right picture up.

This isn't the original picture that I was trying to show you but it will give you the same idea of what I am talking about.

http://www.mshaw.co.uk/HandStamps.htm

The very bottom picture on the linked page is the touchmark. well this one is a bit different than most but it would be made the same way right?

How do I make the very bottom of it? the words as it is in this picture. Do you guys just use files, or is there another way?

If you go to www.oakandiron.com and go to gallery page 2 scroll down to the page bottom, and look for  Touchmarks and hotstamps pdf file you will find some pretty good info

 

Happy Christmas

That's awesome! Thank you SO much! Its exactly what I was looking for!

Merry Christmas to you too John!

 

 

 

 

I started with about 3" of coilspring. Straighten and fuller a grove around the middle, then aneal overnight. Put it in the vise and file one end dead flat. I bought reverse letter stamps from McMaster Carr. Stamp them into the end you just prepaired. File a shape of your choice around the initials. Dome the struck end and wrap a wire handle around the grove. Harden the stamp end and leave the struck end soft. When applied to hot metal it will leave an impression the shape you filed and let the initials stand proud.

On 12/24/2012 at 4:35 PM, John B said:

If you go to www.oakandiron.com 

That site is down, do you have that file to share

As this topic was last posted to 6+ years ago it might be better to send the person a PM.

This link is to saltfork craftsman website. There is a how to on the page for making simple touch marks. It is three separate PDFs on the page. My wife drew the sketches. https://www.saltforkcraftsmen.org/DoItYourselfProjects.shtm