What type press?

[Chris623]

I asked this question on another forum, but have received no answers.  You guys seem willing to answer questions, so here goes.

How do you press your maker's mark in sheaths? I know I can take a 5# hammer and "whack" the mark in cased leather. How professional the results are will depend on how much rest I got the night before. (now that I don't drink, a hangover wouldn't be an issue) Then there is the Arbor Press. Nice, neat, clean, proper registration and uniform depth. Very professional. (don't own one and don't have any idea what tonnage it would take) Then, of course, there is the old standby H-frame hydraulic press. Mine is a 20 ton press from Harbor Freight. Needless to say 20 tons is far too much pressure for a delicate material like leather.............but it WILL work and I already own it. With no gauges there's no way to really reliably figure out when enough is enough. So what do you use to get consistently professional indentions in your sheaths and other leather working projects?

[chrisash]

One ton arbor will do the job OK and about £50 in UK

[fredk]

I have and use the Tandy press. 1.25T pressure afair. More expensive than a bog-standard arbor press

[chuck123wapati]

9 hours ago, Chris623 said:

I asked this question on another forum, but have received no answers.  You guys seem willing to answer questions, so here goes.

How do you press your maker's mark in sheaths? I know I can take a 5# hammer and "whack" the mark in cased leather. How professional the results are will depend on how much rest I got the night before. (now that I don't drink, a hangover wouldn't be an issue) Then there is the Arbor Press. Nice, neat, clean, proper registration and uniform depth. Very professional. (don't own one and don't have any idea what tonnage it would take) Then, of course, there is the old standby H-frame hydraulic press. Mine is a 20 ton press from Harbor Freight. Needless to say 20 tons is far too much pressure for a delicate material like leather.............but it WILL work and I already own it. With no gauges there's no way to really reliably figure out when enough is enough. So what do you use to get consistently professional indentions in your sheaths and other leather working projects?

you could build a couple of spacers for your 20t, you wouldn't need a gauge then.

[fredk]

With the Tandy press I can screw the end of the ram up or down so I bring the ram down to the leather and adjust it so that the stamp is just pressed into the leather by a few millimetres. I also use various thickness of delrin sheet as a base

[Chris623]

2 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

you could build a couple of spacers for your 20t, you wouldn't need a gauge then.

Yes, I could, Chuck............but it would be hard to maintain precision/repeatability.

Fred, I'd love to have that Tandy press, but can't afford it.  If I could afford that, I could buy several of the Arbor Presses that are on the used market in my area.

[toxo]

It's not a precise science and it depends a lot on your mark. Some are sharper than others . I would imagine you'll soon get a feel for the right pressure with the press you have or get a cheap arbor press. Lots of options that way. I often use a long bar with mine rather than lean on it. If I wanted to get cranky I could work something out but if you just sink the mark to the level of the base it'll be fine. Different leather will have a different density anyway.

[Chris623]

Thanks, toxo.

[Alaisiagae]

@fredk Which Tandy press, the red one or the grey one? I have a half ton arbor press, but I can't get it to do deep impressions, no matter how hard I push the lever. I know the Tandy presses sometimes go on sale (e.g. Black Friday), so I'm wondering if it's worth it.

[Chris623]

In talking with some leather workers, they are saying a typical maker's mark would need at least a 1 1/2 Ton arbor press.   I don't know anything about Tandy's presses.