Help with personalized stamps on leather

[toxo]

Another upside of using a vice or a clamp is that you can leave it to dry which will usually give a better result.

[Dwight]

5 hours ago, chrisash said:

A 2 ton Arbor press is a good way to apply pressure and low cost even the 1/2 ton will do the job

 

I make key fobs like this one, . . . dampen the leather, . . . 1/2 ton arbor press, . . . using a little brass stamp from Hong Kong, . . .

Works like a champ.

The actual impression is about 7/8 inch tall and about 2 inches long.  Trying to stamp that with a hammer, mallet, or maul is a lesson in futility.

I lay a 1/4 inch plate steel piece above it, . . . press it down and hold it for about 10 seconds, . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

[TargetRockLeather]

18 hours ago, sonataworks said:

The leather I attempted to stamp is a 5oz vegtan Eco-Flow dyed and Super Shene treated piece.

I don't see this mentioned anywhere so I'll add my two cents. Stamp the leather BEFORE you dye it and certainly before you apply a top coat. You can't properly case the leather if it has been sealed by a top coat. Also I agree with the comments about using an arbor press. They are not expensive and it will make your stamped impression much more crisp and even.

[Hardrada]

Just got a 1-ton arbor press, but my results haven't been so consistent: the stamp's impression is kinda uneven. More practice and finesse are needed, I guess. I haven't modified it, by the way, aside from adding a magnet to hold my snaps and rivets setters I'm still using the round-cross-shaped plate.

These presses are, if you ask me, indispensable in a leathercraft workshop, and they're half or less the price of Tandy's setter press.

Edited January 11, 2020 by Hardrada