Recommended letter/number stamps for steel?
- Thread starter Ian
- Start date
Mine are from Enco, got them years ago. I have been happy with them. They don't make a real deep mark but I also don't use a big blow or big hammer.
I forget who made them, I'm sure MSC has something similar. They were not too expensive, maybe 50-70 bucks?
I forget who made them, I'm sure MSC has something similar. They were not too expensive, maybe 50-70 bucks?
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
Mine came from Enco, too. Seem to work on mild steel just fine, although
it is tricky to get them lined up square so that they imprint evenly.
To align letters on a bbl well, you need some sort of a jig to lay the flat
side of the punch against (parallel to the bore axis) to keep letters/numbers
from being angled right and left, and displaced up and down. Clamped
into a hardwood alignment jig would be good enough, I think.
Maybe C-clamp or vise grip several together to get them lined up with
each other, then hit with a hammer spanning all of them.....
I am not happy with freehand results, never did anything that I cared
much about getting nice like a bbl. Have thought about it a bit, but never
done it.
Bill
it is tricky to get them lined up square so that they imprint evenly.
To align letters on a bbl well, you need some sort of a jig to lay the flat
side of the punch against (parallel to the bore axis) to keep letters/numbers
from being angled right and left, and displaced up and down. Clamped
into a hardwood alignment jig would be good enough, I think.
Maybe C-clamp or vise grip several together to get them lined up with
each other, then hit with a hammer spanning all of them.....
I am not happy with freehand results, never did anything that I cared
much about getting nice like a bbl. Have thought about it a bit, but never
done it.
Bill
Ian
Notorious member
I'd really like to electro-chemically etch the caliber and also put a little note on the barrel under the forearm with my name and what I did to it, but between a vinyl stencil printer and etching set-up I'm looking at $400-500. I could use it for a lot of things, but can't justify the expense at all, so stamps seem the logical choice. I deal with ENCO at work, might have to order up a set.
KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
One of the local metal suppliers here in Evansville does that. They bought the "rotisserie" that allows them to engrave cylindrical as well as flat objects. The equipment isn't all that expensive, I was eyeing one a while back that was less than $10k including accessories. Don't have room for it right now or I would have bought it. Planning on buying one after new shop is built.
Gotta be somebody in Texas that does that. Might be time to use a little Google-fu.
Gotta be somebody in Texas that does that. Might be time to use a little Google-fu.
JonB
Halcyon member
I have a couple of the $10 Harbor Freight sets (1/8 and 1/4).
They work just fine on mild steel and aluminum.
When I've honed/polished out a couple Lee bullet sizer dies, I've attempted to use those cheap stamps to re-label the dies...I am able to make a mark, but it's so shallow almost unreadable
But on the plus side, I didn't damage the stamp
I found it extremely difficult to stamp round objects using a freehand technique.
I suspect I am just stating the obvious here, but I figured this card carrying member of the Harbor freight crowd should chime in anyway LOL.
They work just fine on mild steel and aluminum.
When I've honed/polished out a couple Lee bullet sizer dies, I've attempted to use those cheap stamps to re-label the dies...I am able to make a mark, but it's so shallow almost unreadable
But on the plus side, I didn't damage the stamp
I found it extremely difficult to stamp round objects using a freehand technique.
I suspect I am just stating the obvious here, but I figured this card carrying member of the Harbor freight crowd should chime in anyway
LOL.
Ian
Notorious member
I have the 1/4" HF set as well and found them adequate for most things, including mild steel, but I tried them on a junk barrel and they just bounce off.
A local trophy shop does NFA engraving (while u wait/watch) and is fully capable of doing what I need...but the minimum price is $50 and that would buy me a set of stamps.
A local trophy shop does NFA engraving (while u wait/watch) and is fully capable of doing what I need...but the minimum price is $50 and that would buy me a set of stamps.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Have to once again agree with Keith on sending it out to a laser engraving shop.
Had a great anodizer (Danco) I used to use on the outskirts of Pasadena. Right across the parking lot was an engraver who did it all. Anodizer would hand carry my stuff to the engraving shop, then run back and pick it up when it was finished.
If I was engraving buttons or panels, I'd always use the Gorton pantograph in my shop. For dials I'd always send them out.
Had a great anodizer (Danco) I used to use on the outskirts of Pasadena. Right across the parking lot was an engraver who did it all. Anodizer would hand carry my stuff to the engraving shop, then run back and pick it up when it was finished.
If I was engraving buttons or panels, I'd always use the Gorton pantograph in my shop. For dials I'd always send them out.
Ian
Notorious member
Pistolero
Well-Known Member
The beeswax, cut and etch might work pretty easily. Worth at try..
Wonder if you can paint on thin beeswax, then lightly stamp it with the letter/number stamps
to cut thru the wax and then acid etch? Would seem worth a trial on a piece of scrap.
One questionable online source claims that some 'permanent markers' will resist acid etch.
If a matt background with shiny letters is OK, maybe writing what you want in Sharpie, inside
a border of beeswax resist, then etch the background inside a border to matte may work. Testing
is needed of course.
Bill
Wonder if you can paint on thin beeswax, then lightly stamp it with the letter/number stamps
to cut thru the wax and then acid etch? Would seem worth a trial on a piece of scrap.
One questionable online source claims that some 'permanent markers' will resist acid etch.
If a matt background with shiny letters is OK, maybe writing what you want in Sharpie, inside
a border of beeswax resist, then etch the background inside a border to matte may work. Testing
is needed of course.
Bill
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Little thread drift...
Used to make heart-shaped cams on the pantograph, used in motion picture film movements.
Spray a 12" square piece of 3/16" thick aluminum with DYKEM. Layout cam shape. Saw out shape on band saw. Finish to lines at the bench, with files and paper. Put the now roughly 10-11" aluminum cam template on the pantograph and reduce to about 1 cm on A2 steel. Polish the daylights out of it and send it out for salt bath nitriding.
Any potential error in dimensions of the template were reduced so far, as to be meaningless.
Used to make heart-shaped cams on the pantograph, used in motion picture film movements.
Spray a 12" square piece of 3/16" thick aluminum with DYKEM. Layout cam shape. Saw out shape on band saw. Finish to lines at the bench, with files and paper. Put the now roughly 10-11" aluminum cam template on the pantograph and reduce to about 1 cm on A2 steel. Polish the daylights out of it and send it out for salt bath nitriding.
Any potential error in dimensions of the template were reduced so far, as to be meaningless.
F
freebullet
Guest
I have the hf sets. Bought them to Mark our company info on plastic housing rental equipment. Heat up the plastic smoosh the stamps in the surface. Works like a champ & is permanent.
Tape the letters/#"s together with wood or metal on each side to holdem inline. They stay aligned well that way.
They don't work as well on metal but...
If you heat the metal to at least 400-500°f & carefully use a hydraulic shop press they'll work just fine. From faint to crushing deep they will get the job done.
Tape the letters/#"s together with wood or metal on each side to holdem inline. They stay aligned well that way.
They don't work as well on metal but...
If you heat the metal to at least 400-500°f & carefully use a hydraulic shop press they'll work just fine. From faint to crushing deep they will get the job done.
Ian
Notorious member
Good tip on the heating. Alloy steels tend to cooperate much better with our will to weld, bend, drill, and beat when the molecules have the chill knocked out of them.
For this barrel marking project I'm having a local trophy shop do the work, but I ordered a set of 1/8" CH Hansen stamps from MSC this morning anyway. Thanks for all the tips.
For this barrel marking project I'm having a local trophy shop do the work, but I ordered a set of 1/8" CH Hansen stamps from MSC this morning anyway. Thanks for all the tips.