Maker Stamps-Where To Buy? How To Stamp?

[Bicicouture]

Hello,

I have been selling a bit on Etsy and I have not been branding my bags but I really need to start.

Where did you buy your maker stamp? Has anyone ever purchased one on etsy from one of the sellers on there? Some of them are pretty affordable about $35-50. I have been thinking of buying one from one of them I am just not sure if the quality will be great since the price is so low. Also, when applying your stamp I know that leather needs to be wet in order for it to take it, do you just moisten the are where the stamp is gonna go? Does that stain the leather at all? I am taking a beginners carving and tooling class and I am always told that when I wet a piece of leather I should always wet the entire piece so that it does not leave any stains in certain areas.

[cgleathercraft]

Might want to look into heat embossing with a stamp if your worried about stains from water. This also depends on the type of leather. I haven't tried it yet but will soon. There are many good threads here on it.

I bought mine from Phillips Engraving. They were very helpful with the design. I sent a basic vector image of what I wanted and had them add in the text with the right font. It looks great and stamps well into veg tanned leather.

Its made from magnesium so I'll have to be extremely careful heating it up. Magnesium will burn at 800 degrees. Someone on here pointed the actual temperature out to me. You wouldn't want it anywhere near that temperature anyway.

[Bicicouture]

Might want to look into heat embossing with a stamp if your worried about stains from water. This also depends on the type of leather. I haven't tried it yet but will soon. There are many good threads here on it.

I bought mine from Phillips Engraving. They were very helpful with the design. I sent a basic vector image of what I wanted and had them add in the text with the right font. It looks great and stamps well into veg tanned leather.

Its made from magnesium so I'll have to be extremely careful heating it up. Magnesium will burn at 800 degrees. Someone on here pointed the actual temperature out to me. You wouldn't want it anywhere near that temperature anyway.

Thank you! I forgot to mention that I use 8-9 oz Veg Tan leather. Thank you for the link! I will check that out. I havent done much research on heat embossing, will be sure to do so. Thank you!

[dirtclod]

I have a couple from Black River Laser and they work great ! http://www.blackriverlaser.com/%C2'> One thing i would buy is a arbor press to press the stamp, after years of useing a hefty handle i finally bought one and the arbor press makes it a lot easier. Sometimes with hefty handle you get doubles on your stamp. I just spray a light coat of water and i haven't had any water marks.

[Troy I]

I got mine from Gray Ghost. I just wet the area where I want to stamp...wait about 3 to 5 min. and stamp. No problems with the color.

[Studio-N]

I also make them. Take a look at the bear stamp I posted.

[King's X]

Check out Clay Miller Tools.

[KandB]

I got mine from Calvin on Etsy - attached to a modified soldering iron, love it.

[Bicicouture]

Thought i'd update this post! I ordered my Makers Stamp from Philips Engraving. Extremely pleased with how it turned out and the quick turn around! Took exactly one week from the time I placed the order to the day I got it. Here is a photo of it! It is so exciting to have a stamp with your name/company name on it.

[tanda4]

Check out Clay Miller Tools.

Does Clay Miller Tools have a website?

[camano ridge]

Here is Clay's Facebook page you can contact him through facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leather-Stamps-by-Clay-Miller/120176791368237

[David Bruce]

I just got 4 magnesium stamps from Wayne over at Illinois Engraving. His pricing was great and I had the stamps in my hand 3 days after sending in my art work. Here's a shot I took of one of the stamps right after I got it. I just wet the leather and stamped it with my arbor press (I still need to mount the die to a piece of wood so that the impression is uniform). These will be great for hot stamping.

Edited April 26, 2014 by David Bruce

[Grandpa]

I use the simple $4 stamp from Tandy, then add my initials using a 1/8" alphabet stamp set.

[LTC]

i need to look into getting a maker's stamp also. can anyone recommend a good stamp maker whose stamps can be heated up with a torch for heat stamping that will also work for regular stamping (with a mallet...not a press...)

i'm not interested in that soldering iron solution...i want to be able to just heat it up with a torch.

Edited April 29, 2014 by LTC

[David Bruce]

Why do you need to use a torch? I am going to use my magnesium stamps for hot stamping but with a heat gun. This is hot enough to stamp finished leathers and you can still use them to stamp cased leather. You would not want to use a torch or anything too hot with magnesium since it is dangerous. Look up Ian Atkinson's youtube video on hot stamps.

[LTC]

Because I want to use a torch.

1. I don't feel like buying a heat gun.

2. I don't feel like waiting for the stamp to get hot enough with a heat gun.

3. Nobody said anything about using magnesium. I know I can't use magnesium...that is why I was asking what materials would be appropriate to use with a torch.

[Glendon]

For heating with an open flame, I would probably go with brass. Good heat conduction and fairly strong. Will be more expensive then the magnesium or steel though. Calvin at LW Leather makes brass stamps. Most of his are for presses though. You will have to ask about handle stamps.

[LTC]

is there some reason steel won't work?

[Glendon]

It would work, but the heat conduction is not as good. Steel would take longer to heat then brass, and may not hold the heat as long.

[LTC]

that's fine...I'd be heating it then immediately stamping.

if using brass, i think the whole thing would get pretty hot making it difficult to hold. maybe i need asbestos gloves. lol

most of the time, i plan on using it with a mallet anyway...i just want the option to heat it up to use on finished leathers, non veg-tanned, etc...

[cgleathercraft]

I'd be inclined to go with brass over steel. Brass may tarnish but steel will rust. Could get just a normal press stamp made and permanently attach it to a handle. The magnesium one I got from Phillips Engraving is attached to a handle with what looks like some kind of cold weld compound. I'm thinking its some form of JB Weld but can't think of it off the top of my head. Wrap the handle in heat resistant/flame retardant tape and heat will be less of an issue for your hands. Still would recommend wearing gloves of course.

Let us know what you do! I'm interested in getting something I can heat up as well! Maybe I'm over cautious but i'm not willing to put much heat to magnesium.

[LTC]

yeah, magnesium would make a spectacular and highly dangerous fire. i know not to do that.

i'll see what i can come up with. working on finalizing the design now. in fact, i could use some help from someone that is better at graphic arts than i am. i cannot draw very well.

[David Bruce]

Feel free to use whatever metal you prefer I was just offering you a suggestion and asking why you wanted to use a torch. I've never heard of someone using one with leather but I'm new at this. I would worry that I would burn or brand the leather vs. stamp it. I went with magnesium over brass or steel due to cost. It doesn't take long to heat with a heat gun and does the job. Post what you end up doing.