A 1/32" letter "E" I made recently,G.Wilson

[george wilson]

The original letter E broke in my old 1/32" stamp set,which I value very much. They are hard to find with serifs.

The shanks of these stamps are only 1/8" square,so my name stamp looks pretty large on the small shank shown.

The "E" looks larger than the other stamps in the group picture,because the flash seems to be reflecting dead on it. The rule shows the size of the stamps,being graduated in 32nd's.

The fresh scratches on the "E" show that it hasn't been used much at all yet. It will get more rounded over after use on tool steel.

Once again,the stamp is cold drawn W1. Cold drawn is cheaper than precision ground,and the corners aren't as uncomfortably sharp in use. Thus,it is all around better for this use.

I only use 4x drugstore glasses for doing this small work. I have a microscope,but it gets in the way,and I can't see what I'm doing.

On work this small,somehow I have learned to "feel" what the chisel is doing from long practice,I suppose.

[Andrew Gibson]

George, I hope that my brain can hold the same amount of information you possess. I don't think I have steady enough hands to be able to hold the ruler and take a picture, never mind making the stamp.

[george wilson]

As my blurred pictures show,my hands can't hold that little camera. It's button is too hard to push,and it moves the camera just when I click it. There's a way to delay the picture after the click,but I have forgotten how.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Actually George, the blurred picture of just the "E" is the most photographically interesting in my humble opinion.

It does what you want to do in photography; focus the viewer on the interest in the photo and blur everything else.

Whether accidental or not . . . good shot!

And as always with you . . . phenominal making. You are one awesome craftsman.

[george wilson]

The blurred picture of just the "E" was unavoidable due to depth of field. I actually got the E in focus on that one,which was the objective. Other times,I just don't get it right. Should probably start using the tripod. Sometimes,the tripod won't work where I am shooting from.

[Russell Sansom]

George, your little "E" is magnificent. Can you hint at how you did it? I'm curious about what kind of steel you're using on what kind of steel. Have you built a set of very tiny chisels? How do you manage the heat when you grind a very tiny chisel?

[george wilson]

It was made of annealed W1. The chisels and files could be the same steel,but hardened. It isn't that the chisels have to be tiny. You just use a very small sharp corner of them,like an engraver would use just the very small tip of an angular tool,usually a diamond shaped point made by grinding an angle on the end of a 1/8" steel rod,so you have a diamond shaped edge(like the set of diamonds in a set of playing cards.) I may post my die sinker's tools. I made them out of 01,W1,and S7 at first. After a while,I worked out a way of forging them out of annealed HSS,beating them out at only red heat to crush the un -liquefied carbides in the HSS,making a very hard and unusually tough HSS chisel. HSS is normally forged at yellow heat,which melts the carbides. When they solidify,they form large crystals,and give the HSS a hard but brittle structure. The use of cobalt helps this to be tougher,so the edge of the tool doesn't break off as readily. This is why you see cobalt HSS drill sets that cost more than plain HSS.

Cobalt is found in combination with arsenic and other elements,and is more expensive to produce.