Touch Mark Location

[Dave51B]

 Just wondering how you determine where to put your touch mark. It seems to me, the better my work gets and the more proud I get of it, I like to mark it right up front in plain sight.

 Sometimes I still mark on the bottom or back, but it seems more and more, I put it up front. Does anyone have any rules of etiquette to help me out . Thanks            Dave

[WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith]

Dave, a craftsman marks his work on the back or underside.  An artist signs his work on the front, look at all those paintings.  My touchmark is my name and is on the front or face of the work.  I always advise smiths to use their name.  Who knows who the diamond F is?  Other blacksmiths.  I was at the Blade Show several years ago.  A well known bladesmith showed me a folding knife and asked me if I knew whose mark was on it.  It was a hammer in a circle, or as the maker calls it a hammer in a halo.  As it happened, the hammer in a halo is the mark of my good friend, Ryan Johnson and he was at the show so I introduced them.  It was just luck that he asked me and not one of hundreds of other bladesmiths there.  How do you Google a mark.  If you Google Wayne Coe you will find me. 

[Frosty]

Your logic is hard to beat Wayne. We all would like to have a name everybody would ID with a cool touch mark but the truth is there probably aren't that many Leo da Vincis among us and I believe he signed his work.

 

Of course then there's me, I used to just initial my work. Then again, how many J.F.s can there be out there, really, eh? <sigh>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

I agree with using your name instead of a shop name. 

 

As for placement, if your mark is small and nicely made, putting it on the front isn't a bad idea.  I still want to put it in an out of the way place, though.  While it's good to have it seen, you don't want the stamp glaringly obvious and detracting from the rest of the piece.

[ausfire]

When I remember to use it at all, I place the touch mark inconspicuously, on the back of a leaf for example. Sometimes it has to be more obvious. There's nowhere much to hide on a bottle opener. My mark is simple - just my initials overlapped in an oval.

[SmoothBore]

To me, this seems to be more a matter of ego, than utility.

 

Traditionally, the "Master" uses the mark of his Shop, or Studio, ... while individual artisans working in that Shop, tend to use a "personal" identification mark.

 

I like to think the form and quality of the work, should be adequate "identification".

 

Makers Marks have always been most popular among established businesses, ... who derive some commercial advantage from having their product recognized in the marketplace.

 

 

 

.

[Dave51B]

Thanks Wayne, that makes a lot of sense. I'm using my initials , but as SmoothBore said ,I don't want my ego to take away from the piece.  Thanks much guys............           Dave 

[781]

Ivan Bailey used to say he did not mark his work as his money was made when he sold the piece not years later when it gets resold as an Ivan Bailey work. Let the seller do the home work to prove Ivan made it. Unfortunately there is no more of Ivan's work being made.

[VaughnT]

Ivan Bailey used to say he did not mark his work as his money was made when he sold the piece not years later when it gets resold as an Ivan Bailey work. Let the seller do the home work to prove Ivan made it. Unfortunately there is no more of Ivan's work being made.

 

Ivan has a good point, but that also makes it possible for someone to steal the credit for your work, claiming it as their own.  Without a maker's mark, you can't prove otherwise.  Hidden marks are a good way to protect yourself and get the credit you deserve.

 

I always get a chuckle out of folks that try to fit all their business information in one stamp and end up ruining the piece.  I've seen knife-makers do it a lot with, "M. Punxatoney, Bladesmith, East Timbuktu, Arkansas" on a 3" blade!  Always makes me think, why put bladesmith on a blade?  What about the handle?  Are you also a handle-smith or did someone else make the handle and assemble all the parts?  Or are the customers do dumb that they don't realize a blade might be made by a bladesmith?  Should you really be selling knives to people that dumb?  ;)

 

I'm in the process of designing my stamp and have decided on just using my initials in a nice font, maybe inside a cartouche.  Nothing big or garish so it will look decent on a small blade or candlestick.  Just have to decide on the font/design and get it made.......