Makers marks

I've made 12 knives myself so far and the comment I seem to hear often is the is no makers mark on the blade.One of the reasons for not marking the blade(other than not having an etcher) is I don't want to use a mark thats being used by another maker or associated with another company.I thought about just using my initials,,SW,but that reminds me of Smith and Wesson and I know there are a couple of makers already named Wilson.Is there any sort of listing that shows what names or logos are already in use?Also how much detail can an electro-chem etcher display.

I say use your Name, Something like :

Stan Wilson
Clearwater Fl

Dont worry about other makers with your last name...its unavoidable...If you include where your from it will help.
In the long run it will pay off to have your name being what people see on the knife first IMHO.

I don't know Much about the etching systems( I use a Stamp) but I imagine you can get fairily detailed stencils made...I've seen some pretty small ones...

Hope this helps

Eric

You can also use your last name, first initial and last name both initials and city, state many diffrent configurations. The chances you will make a mark that is the same as another maker with same name is very slim.

Post a photo when you do get one made up.

Thanks

You may consider another mark altogether. Geno uses three crosses and EVERYONE knows that it is him.

Whether the mark is a stamp, or is etched, it is vital to have your name on your work. The reason behind this is that knives a bought and sold in large numbers on the secondary market.
Why a name? It is the most identifiable mark a person can have. Folks like Gene are not all that common in that unless you have been in the business for a while, and have stuck with the same stamp/mark, people will not know that the mark on the knife is yours.
I have changed only the size of my mark over the last 17 years, (from 3/32" letters to 1/16" letters), but even that was enough for some collectors to question if a certain knife was really mine.
I guess my best advice is to find something that is you, and stick with it. Over the long run it will pay.

Is it better to use asign or use you name/initials.

What is the best marking system that you know of?

Andrew

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp What kind of mark you use can also depend on what kind of blades you are going to make. I make historically inspired blades and feel that my name and a town would just ruin my aesthetic... so I go with a stamp that looks 'handpunched,' ( well, it is...) I made the stamp and sometimes the strike is off a bit... I feel this works with my knives and what I want them to represent.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp It is going to take some further work to get my name out there as a result... even though the mark ( it's the link below ) is made up of a 'j' and an 'L', my initials.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I very often have people tell me they like the mark and appreciate the aesthetic value of it... also that I am willing to take the risk of not directly putting my name on there.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp If I was making high-precision folders I'd want something clean and intricate... as a modern convention folders look great with a name and some info etched on them.

What do you want your mark to say about you and your knives?

Yup, J Loose and I think about the same on this, I have a couple of stamps i've made that I use to hot stamp my blades. They would look very odd with a stencil electro-etched name. I would have to have a stamp made for my name, and those babies are expensive. Still, the old Sheffield knives had a lot of stamped lettering that looked appropriate. Hmmm, anyone any good at hand filing tiny letters in the end of a punch? Now that would be a challenge!

Jon, I'd be interested in knowing what material you made your puch from, and how you heat treated it. Although I use electro-chemical etching on all my blades, I would like to consider a stamp for some of the damascus pieces, simply because the etch does not always show up well.

I'd rather make one than have one made, though. Do you think 01 drill rod would work if brought to full hard and left untempered? Thanks.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I thought I'd be fancy and make my stamp from a piece of my damascus, figuring that it would only be punching hot steel and soft silver. At the time there was some controversy over whether high / low carbon damascus really resulted in softer and harder layers due to factors like carbon migration. Well, the carbon may be even but something else ( manganese most likely...) makes a difference because I now have a stamp that leaves a damascus pattern when I stamp non-ferrous metals.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp This is cool, but some parts of the punch are slowly fading away.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp So anyway, don't make yours out of damascus, no matter how neat-o it seems like it would be... I'm going to re-make one out of some 1095 or 1084.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Can't see why any hardened homogenous steel wouldn't work... I punch at a dull red heat and try to be quick so as not to affect the temper in thin projecting areas. I should think you might want to temper the striking surface to straw color or so to prevent shattering the tip.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I carved mine with a foredom flexible shaft and some carving burs. It is satisfying to know that the final mark is made by my own hand as well as the blade...

Don,
I recently had a stamp made up for my blades it stamps cold using a simple bottle jack press that cost me 5$ to make (+ the bottle jack) It works really sweet.

If you might be interested drop me an e-mail at

ericelson@hotmail.com

and I will contact the fellow that made my stamp up for me to see what you would be looking at price wise...

He can do anything BTW ...all he needs is a simple CAD drawing of what you want.
heres is my stamp to give you an idea...its approx 1/2"long x1/4"tall-hard to see in the picture but the maple leaf is crisp and clear at about 1/8" in size so detail is not a problem


Let me know


regards

Eric

Thanks for the replies, guys- I am determined to carve my own stamp, and I'll probably hit it with a hammer- but I will be striking cold (but annealed) steel with it. I'll have to play with the heat treat, I guess, to find that point where it won't shatter but will last a while.