Stamps for marking wood

[Derek Cohen]

Some months ago I received a stamp from Mazzaglia Tools. It was a "Maker's Stamp", as they called it. Its intended use was to mark the furniture and tools I build.


The letter are 1/16" high and the stamp is 1" long. Clearly it works well, as may be seen in the sample they sent.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B1_zpsc5c34dd4.jpg


These stamps are intended for end grain, not face grain. Their surface area would create difficulties for the latter.


The trouble was, I struggled to impress the mark into even soft Radiata Pine. The mark on the left was attempted in a vise. The mark on the right was with the board edge-on the bench top.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B2_zps147f61cc.jpg


I used a 375 gm hammer, which is too light according to the company. They recommend a 3 lb sledge hammer. I am too cautious to use such force, since the pieces I wish to mark include small tools thin (= delicate) furniture parts.


The situation became even more bleak when I tried to impress the mark on hardwood, such as Jarrah:


End grain ...
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B3_zps4f5879a2.jpg


Face grain does not show up at all ...
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B4_zps58db1084.jpg


Now I am not criticising Mazzaglia Tools. The stamp works, and I have seen many others apply similar stamps quite successfully. I just do not have the technique to use it, and am too chicken to develop it. I wanted to report on this feature for others contemplating a similar design.


There is an alternative. I have just received a stamp from Buckeye Engraving. This is also 1" long but about 1/4" high. There are two differences - the first is that the letters are in script, actually a copy of my handwriting. The second is that it is an "Owner's Stamp", that is, it impresses the letters into the wood, rather than leaving them raised.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B5_zps9c7dcb63.jpg


It marks face grain as easily as end grain ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B6_zps22956350.jpg


These impressions were made with the 375 gm gennou.


Finally a stamp I can use without fear.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Name%20stamp/B7_zpsa615b9de.jpg


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Joey Naeger]

Perhaps you can could try carbonizing the stamp with a candle. It will leave a black outline of your letters and might look nice. I've only used the second type of stamp you have, but always carbonize the letters before stamping.

[Frederick Skelly]

I think I remember an earlier post about your attempts to make that makers stamp work. Im sorry that didnt work out, but the owners stamp looks great! Ive been looking for something like that and may lookup Buckeye. Thanks for the lead.
Fred

[george wilson]

I hope I recommended Buckeye Engraving to you. The other stamp doesn't have serifs. It requires MUCH greater force because it has to impress a HUGE amount of wood compared to the signature stamp. If I were you,I'd grind down the outside edge of the 1st. stamp as narrow as you can,and reduce the extra wood. In fact,I'd anneal it and also file the edges with a checkering file like the old time stamps frequently had.

Somehow the 18th. C. plane makers managed to stamp good and deep on the end grain of beech wood planes. It has been suggested that they soaked the ends of the planes in water to soften them,but I have seen no evidence of water stains on the wood,or raised grain. They could have done it before they mortised their plane throats. That seems like extra trouble,but I swear,it seems like they would have broken the end of smooth planes right into the mortise,so hard were their stamps struck if dry.

I'm admitting it is a mystery to me how they struck those stamps so deeply into the wood,unless they soaked the BLANK blocks of wood first,then eradicated water stains by making all the surfaces after the stamp was struck. That doesn't make a lot of sense either,does it?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi George

I apologise if I did not mention that you referred me to Buckeye Engineering. I just did not recall this information as I write this post last night. Buckeye were very honourable- the stamp appeared to have gone missing in the mail as nothing turned up after 4 weeks. Immediately they sent me another.

Your comments about the checkering at the edge of the Maker's stamp make sense. This would reduce the amount of surface area, which could only help. However the only way I can now try this is using a grinder since a file would slide off the hardened steel.

I want to emphasise that my intension here was simply to present two types of stamps. Both work but one may suit you better that the other. The Owner's type pictures here may be used just as easily on face grain, which was my intent all along. I was not aware that the Maker's type was not well suited for this. The choice is yours. I just wanted to make others aware of this.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Fred Taylor]

Could they have stamped the owners mark after soaking the end grain in linseed oil?

[Kurt Cady]

Hey Derek, I was wondering if you can divulge how much the stamps were, not including shipping to AUS. I'm curious as I'm looking for something similar or a branding iron

Can these be used on iron?

[Hilton Ralphs]

So what was the damage for the Buckeye stamp Derek?

[Derek Cohen]

Both stamps were about the same, roughly $130 including shipping to Oz.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Hilton Ralphs]

Ta Derek

Hilton

[David Turner]

A different perspective:
There are a number of plane makers that are successful at end grain stamping of their wares. See Matt Bickford's web site and his "musing with big pink" where he uses a 3 LB. hammer and numerous blows. There is also his mentor, Larry Williams, plane maker, that has years of success with stamping his work. I've also had the privilege of examining Tod Herrli's planes. His end grain stamps look good on Beech, Apple, Cherry, and some woods I did not recognize. I have witnessed Tod stamping his planes and can tell you it is not for the faint hearted. He hits the stamp with a mighty blow and with a "big" hammer.

Edit:
Forgot to mention "The Swartz" and his article on owner's stamps. I believe it was in Popular Woodworking Magazine sometime in the past.

David Turner

[David Weaver]

Presume the hammer blow is applied after the plane is otherwise finished? I'd like to get a stamp to mark my moulding planes given that it wouldn't be too expensive, and have no qualms about hitting a stamp hard. I wonder if it might be a better idea just to buy some vintage 1/8" stamps and make my own out of mild steel, though, which should hold up fine for my purposes in beech.

George, do you know if those older letter stamps would stamp in annealed O1 if I chose to use that instead of mild steel? I know at least then I could harden them.

[george wilson]

Buckeye makes them from 01 steel,David. How is the baby coming along? I make stamps all the time from W1 or 01. Of course,I can only make them by hand. I never try bringing up a W1 stamp to hardening heat all over it. In 1/4" square,which I use a lot,the stamp is certain to crack open right up one side if you do. Only heat about 1/2" of a W1 punch. 01 would be less treacherous than W1. W1 is cheaper because it's not precision ground,so I but 3 foot rods of it.

I stamp annealed 01 with my antique stamps all the time. CAUTION: I have bought sets tat were NEVER HARDENED. Check them with a file before ever using them on anything but wood. It seems some of the old stuff kicking around got out of factories before ever being finished,or hardened. We have no way of knowing their original circumstances,so be careful and check for hardness first. I have a whole set that is soft.

I ruined an antique knurl once. It was not hardened. After that,I check all the old knurls I buy. Some things were apparently left overs that employees took home after a factory or machine shop closed down.

I draw stamps to a medium brown color after hardening.

[David Weaver]

Thanks george. I bought a set of chinese 3mm letter stamps that are in a font I can tolerate. It's not that I can't afford $100, I guess, I just don't want to spend it on a stamp right now and I have enough 1/4 material that I can make a brass or mild steel or O1 stamp. If it's only going in wood, and probably only two or three dozen times, it may not matter what it is as long as it's made of something metal.

Baby could be coming any minute after last dr. visit.

[george wilson]

Those Chinese stamps have a huge amount of metal left around the letter. You can't see where to accurately position the stamp. I take stamps like that and grind away the excess metal right down close to the letter,like the old stamps were made. You HAVE to be able to see the edges of the letters in order to stamp accurately.

This bad picture is a close up of a 14th. C. Textura Quadratta letter stamp set I made. Note how the rides of the stamps are beveled right up to the edges of the letters for maximum visibility.

The pistol shown was name stamped with individual antique stamps. in real life(not magnified),they look pretty straight. Magnified,little errors start showing up. The S in the stamp set is a bit larger than the other letters,but this was a hand made set. Some might call it "charm":)There is NO WAY I could use Chinese stamps (as they come) to stamp accurately. Grind their edges down. I now have a 1 piece name stamp from Buckeye Engraving. It cost $75.00 many years ago. From Derek's stamp,looks like prices have gone up!! Of course,the BIG problem with cheap stamps(Actually ALL new stamps these days) Is NO SERIFS. I spent many years in Pa. flea markets finding old sets with serifs. Look on Ebay and get yourself a decent old set with serifs. Don't ruin a nice plane you made with crappy stamps with no serifs.

[David Weaver]

Well, if there was some errant crap and sloppiness in the stamped name when all was said and done, then they would be appropriate for my work compared to your work!!

Of course, the stamps I'm looking at aren't nearly as tasteful as yours, but ....well, in that way, they match my work :) Hopefully I will need to use them only one time - to make a name stamp of my own. I wouldn't use them separately on a regular basis as you may do with yours.

From what I gather with pricing, the magglia stamps are about $93 plus shipping for the number of letters i'd use if you add on the filing detail to give them the vintage look and reduce the stamping surface. I will file mine. Worst I can do at this point is junk some $19 letter stamps, or make a stamp of my own that's a bit ugly.

hmm... I just realized something. Letters that aren't symmetrical will probably appear to be backwards if I try to make a stamp with the letter stamps. Well, I guess that won't work! booger.

[george wilson]

No disrespect to Derek,but I don't care for the magglia stamp. It looks buffed over,or something. The surfaces don't seem crisp in the pictures,and the letters are plain Jane with no serifs. The edges could have been filed with checkering files for authenticity,too. Spend a few dollars more and get a nice stamp from Buckeye. You will talk to the guy who actually makes the stamps. Google type fonts on your computer and he will make your stamps in ANY style you can come up with. Then,he keeps your style and the size on record,so if you want more stamps made in the future,they will match perfectly.

When we made the folding rules,we had "in","Wmsbg","Va",and perhaps a few others made to go with our name stamps. They fit just perfectly with those made years earlier.He will even make the letters have sharper edges for stamping wood,or make them less sharp for metal stamping. I've been perfectly happy with mine for many years.

I suggest avoiding those stamps like the magglia,whose background has to be whacked into the wood. They take great force,which might well break your new plane. Get one like mine,which just stamps the letters into the wood. It is EASY to stamp with. I stamp metal with mine,too. You can't do that with the Magglia unless the metal is orange hot,like they did making plane iron stamps in the old days. Even then,it took an assistant with a sledge to hit them hard enough.

Derek did well to get a better stamp from Buckeye.

[george wilson]

David,I have reverse stamps to make reverse letters to such stamps. But they have no serifs,and look like the maggolia stamp Derek has. Normally reverse stamps are used for stamping info. on the insides of things like plastic molding dies,where they come out looking the right way. The only letter in your name that doesn't look the same backwards is the R,which you could piece together starting with an I or a 1 if it is plain jane. Or,you could just change your name to. D. WEAVE,and get by easier!!

Spell check has the annoying habit of ASSUMING what I want to type. It changes ONE to PINE all the time. It just changed MAGGOLIA to MAGNOLIA. I always have to read back and correct these errors it makes for me.

[David Weaver]

I will probably try to cut letters with serifs. I was thinking I might make a stamp that goes in like the maggolia stamp with serifs, but it will only say something like D.W. MKR or WEAVER MKR

Nobody's going to have any idea who I am, and that's just fine. No slight against planemakers, but at the rate I work, I'll have to be pretty hungry before I take up making planes for anyone other than myself.

[george wilson]

The K will not be a reversible letter in a decent,even Gothic stamp set. I forget the sizes of my reversible stamp sets right now.I think I have 2 sets. I'll advise what I have when I check them. I could loan you one for your stamp making. If I had no letters with serifs,I'd make a very small chisel,and stamp the serifs in myself. The chisel would be just long enough to make the serif,and punched straight down on the ends of the letters.

[David Weaver]

Thanks george. the world of reverse stamps is a lot thinner than the other way around. That said, I don't think you want to send me any good stamps, I'm going to be knocking them into metal. Maybe I can learn something trying to make a simple stamp, even if it just has two letters.

[george wilson]

Mine are like new,and they are made for stamping soft tool steel. Don't worry about hurting them.