I'm not a fan of ordering things from China either. Usually, the price is good, but the quality isn't. I have a hard time justifying the expense of a maker's stamp, but would still like one. So, since I am a member of another board that has members who do forging and smelting, I reached out to them. I have the brass scrap, just needed somebody to smelt and pour it into a mold. Unfortunately, all they wanted to do, was tell me what to buy and how to do it. I explained it wasn't a hobby I wanted to get into for a one shot, since the cost of the set up would exceed the cost of buying the stamp outright... but, they couldn't get that.