Stamping A Lot Of Letters.

[Northmount]

One thing that I found with stamping with letters or other larger stamps is the stamp and mallet always bounces and if I'm not really careful, I get double impressions (like a ghost image). Instead of using a mallet, I have started using a 'dead-blow' hammer. Wood workers use them. They don't bounce, the stamp stays in place and no ghost image. You can whack it again a few more times while leaning the stamp in sort of a rotational motion to get the image to have consistant depth across the width of the image.

The dead-blow hammer has a cavity in the head loosely filled with lead shot. So if you don't use a press, this may help you avoid the ghost image.

Happy stamping!

[TomG]

I think Tandy has a free video on their site that shows how to stamp the letters evenly.

Tom

[LNLeather]

Hi Kevin

I didn't see if you mentioned if your lettter's need to be straight or round.

I thought I'd mention I figured out how to put letters in a circle on coasters

and thought i'd put a link to that info here, just in case it might be of help...

stamping circular letters

Although it does kinda sound like the quality of your stamps is a big problem,

and that is a drag......

I found this picture over on songofthepaddle where MagiKelly has a tutorial

for making a leather journal cover. I thought this might be helpful

Good luck with your project.

[ozzie111]

I just wanted to post my experiences here.

I had a client request a folio with a couple of Bible verses on the inside.

I did not think my carving skills would allow me to hand carve the verses,

and knew it would be almost impossible to do with the Tandy stamps.

I followed stelmacr's link, and had a plate made by these folks.

http://www.amanopress.com/

He was running a special, and it only cost me $32.00 shipped to Texas.

I had to use a hydraulic press to properly impress the stamp, but the result

is exactly what I wanted.

Here is a shot of the plate

And a shot of the impression on the leather

Cheers

Edited November 16, 2011 by ozzie111

[randypants]

I just wanted to post my experiences here.

I had a client request a folio with a couple of Bible verses on the inside.

I did not think my carving skills would allow me to hand carve the verses,

and knew it would be almost impossible to do with the Tandy stamps.

I followed stelmacr's link, and had a plate made by these folks.

http://www.amanopress.com/

He was running a special, and it only cost me $32.00 shipped to Texas.

I had to use a hydraulic press to properly impress the stamp, but the result

is exactly what I wanted.

Here is a shot of the plate

And a shot of the impression on the leather

Cheers

that's F'ing awesome!!

$32? can they do anything? or just letters?

[Phatdaddy]

Thanks everyone, been busy with work and deer hunting. Lots of great Ideas, thanks to all that took the time to help. I'm sure this thread will help plenty of others too!

Kevin

[ozzie111]

Randypants,

I think all they do is letters, and probably some flourishes. This type of type is primarily for fancy printing like

wedding invitations. You might e-mail them though. They were very helpful, and fast.

Cheers,

Oz