A Solid Consistent Makers Mark

[kayrunp]

I am having problems with my maker's stamp. They are magnesium dies. If I wet and stamp I get solid depth, but it seems to stain water spots in the mark on the English bridle. And it will mark up the leather on the other side. If I do it less it fades and works out with the use of the leather. So to get a more consistent stamping method should I try an arbor press, or move to a branding iron? I have one stamp that it a silhouette of a bird and the other is just words. Also with the hefty handle one side also stamps deeper then the other.

Thanks,

KP

[Tree Reaper]

Contact the manufacturer.

[Ferg]

I have a magnesium stamp roughly 2" x 2". Centering under the ram of the 2 ton Arbor Press does a great job. Most of the leathers that are not chrome tanned will need to be cased. Chrome tanned needs to have the stamp heated, you can do that a number of ways including placing in a small oven. I just happen to have a large hot press.

ferg

[kayrunp]

I don't think it's the manufacturer, I think I just need to do something different with how I am applying it. I think with the english bridle accepting the stamp and the way that the piece is being used, the stamp is not staying. I guess the real question is if a bend in the leather is popping out the stamp, should i go to branding iron or will the consistent pressure of an arbor press give me less incident of uneven hits over and under hitting it?

Ferg,

That's about the size of my stamp. Did you have to machine a hole on the arbor press to hold it?

Thanks,

Karen

[Tree Reaper]

If you contact the manufacturer they can tell you what works best with their product.

[Glendon]

Bridle isn't exactly tooling leather. Hand stamping won't work too well. As Ferg said, with prefinished leather, hot stamping is a better bet. See this video for a great explination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7I1D0lDYz8

Edited March 19, 2013 by Glendon

[kayrunp]

The manufacturer sells it with a hefty handle attachment. I actually keep hitting it too hard and then I get the outline of the stamp rectangle in the leather too. It's just hard to hit that sweet spot in the English bridle. The natural veg tan takes and keeps the imprint well. That's why I was thinking the arbor press would be more consistent, but if the problem is the English bridle needs a branding iron, then I would go that way. Don't have the money to do both.

Glendon,

Thanks for the video. I have watched many of Ian's videos. He has great info. I need to send him a donation.

[billymac814]

I'd use an arbor press. With English bridle leather I typically do it dry since it doesn't really accept water anyway. I also have a branding iron and so far I get pretty inconsistent results with it so I don't use it much but its also very small with small letters so that may be part of the problem. With a branding iron you now have time do deal with instead of just pressure. I have much more consistent stamps using a press compared to hammering the stamps.

[Ferg]

kayrunp,

I drilled a hole in the end of the ram of the arbor press so I could use a number of tools. The arbor presses are the cheapest snap setters you will ever buy.

I ordered my stamp without the handle, never had much luck with large stamps being struck with any kind of mallet.

I was experimenting with my heat press this evening. I set the temp at 400 degrees and heavy pressure for 1 to 3 minutes. I believe less heat could be used as well as less pressure and time could be one minute with no problem. I was testing on Baby Buffalo and Kangaroo. I have no use for the Branding irons. They are a waste of money in my opinion except for wood. If you ever wish to stamp with gold foil you will need heat and pressure, it is beautiful.

ferg