Making a touchmark?

[Twilight Fenrir]

Well, I have started working on making a touchmark for my blacksmith shop. And I have a few questions...

The original idea I had, was to cut it into a piece as I would like it to turn out, then heat up another piece, and strike it into the piece to create the final tool.

I've been using a tire iron for steel, which is exactly 1/2" across, this fits perfectly into a 1/2" iron pipe, so I can have a perfect alignment with every attempt. Just drop the hot piece in, and smack it hard with a hammer.

I'm not getting the depth I need though to make a tool from. So I am going to have to chisel the die deeper. While trying this, my chisel broke and ruined my first die, so I need to make another.

Just wondering if perhaps there is a better way to do this? The mark I am using is very simple, it's all straight lines, but there are a few closed off spaces that are too small to get a dremmel in to skip the die and just carve the tool.

Would it be a good idea to coat what would become finished tool with flux while it's heating to prevent the finished head from scaling? If so, how do I remove the flux after the fact?

How did you do yours?

Thanks!

[lazyassforge]

Twilight,

I have made several touchmarks using various methods. The easiest method is like shown here: http://www.saltforkcraftsmen.org/DoItYourselfProjects.shtm
I have also made a die and driven the end of the touchmark into the die. When I do that I usually weld a "fence" around the image on the die. I try to have a flat with a little draft on at least one side to let me register the touchmark quickly. I heat to a short yellow heat on the business end of the touchmark and drive it into the die with one or two blows then I re heat it again. When the touchmark cools below the yellow heat, the metal does not seem to flow into the smaller cuts in the die. I find that if I make the cuts in the die a little oversize(wider?) the metal flows in better and still looks good when it is stamped into the parts. You also may be able to grind a tool to the shape you cannot get the dremmel into you may be able to heat your touchmark and drive your tool into it to form the shape you need.

Hope this helps, Bill D.

[Chillylulu]

What's a touchmark? Is it a stamp?

[lauver]

What's a touchmark? Is it a stamp?

Chilly-- Thanks for asking, I was just wondering myself.

[Branson]

A touch mark is sort of the trade mark of an individual blacksmith.  It's how his work can be identified.  Many old smithed items will have a touch mark, and quite a few modern smiths use them as well.  The tool that makes the touch mark is more of a punch than a stamp.

[Twilight Fenrir]

That's a very simple possibility I didn't think of XD Thanks! I will try using the die once more, then I'll see if I can't make a stamp to stamp into my touchmark to make it. Good idea!

Yeah, a touchmark is like the little letter punches, but with a custom logo to identify its maker. Also known as a makers mark. I want to have mine made before I start really trying to sell my work. I really want to establish myself, and my brand. :3

[scottg]

You don't really make your own touch.
  You can try and you can make some stuff, but after you get tired of crude stamps, order one from Joe.
 
 Here are two that I made. A big iron bar and a 1/4" bolt. These work well on the end grain of wood or hot metal.
 

 

Here is my touchmark my friend Peter made me. Its my little canary with my initials.
You need to be a world class jeweler to pull this off though.
 

 
 Eventually will find out that restrictions abound in homemade touch marks. If you want one that is crisp and reliable, see Joe Evers at Everstamp. He is third generation at making touchmarks. You aren't going to get here by yourself.
 Marks wood or metal, hot or cold, any size and design you want to order.
 
  Just consider what you really want for a long time before you place the order. 
   
 
 
     yours Scott
http://www.henryaevers.com/

[keykeeper]

When you get your touchmark, don't forget to show us some of your work!! We love pictures.

[Twilight Fenrir]

You don't really make your own touch.
  You can try and you can make some stuff, but after you get tired of crude stamps, order one from Joe.
 
 Here are two that I made. A big iron bar and a 1/4" bolt. These work well on the end grain of wood or hot metal.

Here is my touchmark my friend Peter made me. Its my little canary with my initials.
You need to be a world class jeweler to pull this off though.
 
 Eventually will find out that restrictions abound in homemade touch marks. If you want one that is crisp and reliable, see Joe Evers at Everstamp. He is third generation at making touchmarks. You aren't going to get here by yourself.
 Marks wood or metal, hot or cold, any size and design you want to order.
 
  Just consider what you really want for a long time before you place the order. 
 
     yours Scott
http://www.henryaevers.com/

Well, thanks for the advice :3 But the people who make them professionally had to start SOMEWHERE, and I'm never gonna be great if I don't try to do things above my level. I'd prefer to make everything I need, not for frugality, but for a sense of integrity... Besides, I'm more or less just setting out. So, it doesn't have to be perfect. I won't be making perfect things for a while :3

After trying it a bit longer trying to cut a negative to stamp a piece of hot metal in to have a positive, I realized it just was never gonna work the way I want it to :P I came out with some really nice negatives, but I just couldn't get them deep enough to transfer without destroying them. So, changed tactics today and just tried to make a positive. Got pretty close, actually :D

(it looks a lot worse in the picture than it does IRL)


And, here's what it looked like when I heated it up and tested it on my scaling brush :P



And, it should look like my logo on my business cards:

(Redacted for internet at large, not because I'm scared of you guys :P Also, while my etsy account is registered, I haven't actually started putting anything on it yet XD Included a copy of the back side too, in case anyone was wondering about the name.)


I realized before half way that the two arms on the 'F' weren't going to fit with the material I had on there, but I just kept going with it as an exercise to learn a bit. I did indeed use the suggestion offered by Lazyassforge (thanks!) Of stamping in the triangles, worked quite brilliantly. I used an angle grinder to remove the bulk of the metal around the stamp, then I used hand files to get it down to where it is. First time I've dug out my hand files, actually :x Really pleased with how well they work, no wonder they haven't completely been replaced with power tools!

When you get your touchmark, don't forget to show us some of your work!! We love pictures.

Hehe, sure thing!

My pictures just don't turn out right... I haven't set up a good well lit area for this kind of thing yet... (So many things on the to-do list!) a lot of my stuff looks worse in picture form to me than it does in hand... but, is what it is...

My most recent project, was my very first knife. Styled after a Viking knife, this is forged and tempered out of a car coil spring. Also, incidentally, my first sheath, made out of a saddle bag for a motorcycle. Ran a few rivets I made out of ground wire from some 12-2 to help protect the thread. Blade doesn't seem to get close to it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, and it looks nice.


I was originally going to just put a snap on it, but I occasionally go to historical reenactments, of periods when snaps did not exist, so I invented my own little quick close system, forging out a little piece that makes it pop open with the flick of a thumb, but still secures the knife very well during normal wearing. It fit so well, and looked so pretty I didn't want to sew it on :P But, with the knife out of the sheath, it became possible for it to slip off, didn't want to lose it, so I sewed it on:




My mother does some historical reenactment as a seamstress, she asked me to make her some closures for her cloaks, so I made these two clasps made of 1/4" square stock:





She was making a cloak for my sister, and I thought I would be clever and surprise her. She likes cats, so instead of leafy vines, I was gonna try to make two cats with inter-locking tails out of 3/8" square stock, but, at about this point:



It very clearly looked like a horse, not a cat... so I went with it! It's actually my favorite piece :P Not my BEST piece, but my favorite one. It's currently living it's life as a refrigerator magnet on my fridge.




My first commissioned piece, was this door knocker. Made from 1/2" square stock. Picture really sucks... but you grab the little acorn and it's on an arm that knocks against the leaf, which is supported by a nice chunk of steel that transfers sound well:




And, then these were just plane some of my first projects, towel bars, TP holders made of 3/8" round stock, and some 1/4" sq. stock robe hooks.

[Papaw]

Good stuff!! I have often been tempted to heat and beat some metal, but just never have gotten started.

[Branson]

So, are you going to make a more refined mannaz feoh touch mark?  That would look real pretty.  Looks like you're having a lot of fun playing in Muspelheim.

[lazyassforge]

Fenrir,
Cool touchmark! you will find yourself making more marks as time goes by(at least I did) I kept making mine smaller to fit on smaller work. I now have several laying around the shop. One suggestion I have is to grind the shank of the touchmark flat along its entire length in line with the bottom of the touchmark. This will allow you to orient the mark without having to look at it. It will also have the added benefit of not letting the mark roll away when you put it down! I like the closure on your knife sheath!

Papaw,
If you get into blacksmithing, the tonnage of your tool collection will definitely go up in a hurry! Nothing about blacksmithing is light!! I have more blacksmithing tools than I will ever need but I still can't go past an anvil or hammer or power hammer without checking the price and considering buying it!

Bill D.

[Twilight Fenrir]

So, are you going to make a more refined mannaz feoh touch mark?  That would look real pretty.  Looks like you're having a lot of fun playing in Muspelheim.

Yes, I am. I'll keep tinkering with it. I have plenty of steel to work on, so I'll just keep grinding and filing until I make one I like enough :P

Fenrir,
Cool touchmark! you will find yourself making more marks as time goes by(at least I did) I kept making mine smaller to fit on smaller work. I now have several laying around the shop. One suggestion I have is to grind the shank of the touchmark flat along its entire length in line with the bottom of the touchmark. This will allow you to orient the mark without having to look at it. It will also have the added benefit of not letting the mark roll away when you put it down! I like the closure on your knife sheath!

Papaw,
If you get into blacksmithing, the tonnage of your tool collection will definitely go up in a hurry! Nothing about blacksmithing is light!! I have more blacksmithing tools than I will ever need but I still can't go past an anvil or hammer or power hammer without checking the price and considering buying it!

Bill D.

Yeah, I definitely need to make a range of sizes on them. This one is quite a bit bigger than would be useful on a lot of my work. So, my next attempt will try to be a bit smaller. I knew I'd want a way to orient, but making them not roll away is a good point!

Haha, no kidding :P I picked up a 600 lb drill press, and an 800 pound band saw, with my 200 lb anvil, and hammers, I'm probably at exactly a ton of tools picked up just for this :P Not including all the power tools I bought primarily for this, that I can use for other things. I have had to STOP going to rummage sales, because I went broke buying up all the smithing tools I trip over now that I'm looking for them.

If it's something you want to try out, but don't feel like sinking money into a forge, you can do a LOT of work heating with a cutting torch. Almost all the little stuff I make with my torch, because it gives me better control of where exactly the heat is. I only crack open the forge for larger pieces, or when I'm doing multiples of things. (Of course, I run Oxy-Propane, so it's a lot cheaper than Oxy-Acetylene)

It's something I've always had an interest in, but when I met the smith I'm apprenticing from, I just decided to dive in :P It's a lot of fun.