touch mark / logo question

[blackleafforge]

After finalising a logo i wanted to create a touch mark to mark my work with, the commercially available services seem very expensive and i would rather invest the time and money in to learning new skills and make it myself.

 

I wondered what material would be the best? i have a bit of high carbon EN9 that i have used for punches, will intricate designs distort quickly if the punch is too soft? are delicate areas in danger of cracking if its to hard? what do you guys use?

 

I am also about to buy a dremel multi tool to cut out the logo on the punch head. I have seen examples created by striking a punch in to a relief of the logo but i wanted something more intricate than can be created with existing shaped punches.  the descriptions i have found doesn't say how they removed material from the punch, I was going to get a tungsten carbide pointed cutter as i thought the supplied engraving tool would not be able to remove enough material. Has anyone else tried this before, or have any advice?

 

many thanks

[John McPherson]

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Touchmark Making-1 of 2

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[Bruno C.]

Haven't made one.  But I would think that any high carbon or Tool Steel properly heat treated should work fine.  At least if you are working the piece hot/annealed.  Cold worked, well you can damage any tool if you don't use it properly, say trying to punch hardened steel.  I have to make one myself. Or At least, I'm debating on whether to stamp or use an electro etch stencil.   Stencil's can be somewhat cheaper than commercial stamps.   I built my own Electro etch machine from designs on the internets. My design is too complex for me to make the stencil myself for any cheaper than I can get commercially/professionally.  Might simplify it, or just see how the commercial option works, either way, I'd still like to make a stamp for the experience.

 

I would try it with a piece of Coil Spring or something readily available as a test run, with probably a simpler design just to see if I (1) Have the patience to do such a thing,  (2) Have the skills to do it well, and (3) Decide how much better a steel or Heat treat I need for the Next one I make to use in production.

 

Thanks to John McPherson for the great links...

 

Good Luck.

[BCROB]

THAT 2ND LINK JOHN IS QUITE THE LIST ,THANK YOU FOR POSTING !!

[wpearson]

Larry H
Posted 29 December 2010 - 02:36 AM

'Drako11', on 11 Aug 2009 - 10:45 AM, said: marks?? I am interested in making one myself. Always nice to differentiate your work from others and maybe find it again years later. Also its kind of like leaving a bit of yourself with the piece or something like that lol.

you can make a touch mark by taking a 1/2" allen head bolt and cutting the head off so you have a hollow hex " washer" mark a piece of heavy stock (maybe 1/2" thick by 1 1/2" )
with your design small enough to see it through the hex "washer, weld the washer over the design. Take a 1/2" allen wrench and cut off the bend, heat the end of said wrench and beat it into the design this will take several heats but will result in your touch mark

Frosty
Posted 06 June 2013 - 08:17 PM

The letter/number stamps are for cold work so if you keep them cool they should last a long time stamping hot steel.

why not make a touch mark? Stamp your initials and maybe a little fancywork in a block of steel with a chisel and various punches. Then heat a piece of suitable punch stock to high orange or yellow heat and drive it into the stamped image. Cool, dress it if necessary and heat treat it. Even if it doesn't work it'll add to your skills sets. If you have the time, it's a can't lose situation.

Frosty The Lucky.

These were found using the IForgeIron search engine.

[SmoothBore]

I used old Cold Chisels for mine.

 

First I tried making one by heating the tip and pressing it into a "female" cavity, ... but wasn't satisfyed with the result.

 

So then I just softened them up, ... machined, ground and filed the tip into the desired shape, ... and then re-hardened and heat treated them.

 

So far, so good.

[John McPherson]

Sorry to be so terse above, got called away and could not get back to edit before the window of opportunity closed.

 

There are several threads in this very sub-forum, one of them even pinned. The search feature is your friend. ^_^

[blackleafforge]

ahh, my bad thanks 

[John McPherson]

Bumping this up to include a link to a recent find. It is a pretty thorough write-up of making the engraving tools from masonry nails, and then making a touchmark using them. This is obsessive/compulsive blacksmithing in a nutshell: making the tools to make tools to mark your tools. :o

 

http://www.wraba.com/resources__links/newsletters      Look for the October 2013 pdf to download.

[Chinobi]

that's good stuff John, thank you!  been looking at engraving tip geometry for a while now and im using Tremont cut steel masonry nails (called their office, they said they use 1035) rather than the wire style as shown in the document, but point geometry can be generated on either just as easily.

 

fair warning to people on less than fantastic connections, the PDF in question is just shy of 4 meg's and took about 3 minutes to download on a professional grade T1 connection, so be patient, its worth the wait :)