How Are Letter / Hallmark Punches Made?

Hi David.

I'm doing great thanks, how are you?

The miniature knives went down very well at the show and I may exhibit them again this year.

Very little model work done this year with a lot of home projects on the go so my model pillar drill is stuck half done.

Hope to see you at Doncaster.

Mick

Hi Duffer,

Nothing wrong with that punch sir, similar method to that used in old days I guess.

A lot of my decorative work is done with needle files in a similar way.

And I made a lot of punches for my fly press to make nail Mark's on my blades etc.

One nice tip for finishing a punch marked item is to flood the mark with silver solder and the file it back to flat so the mark becomes a bright print rather than a dark indent.

Best regards Mick

We had to make stamps for RR work, jigs an fixtures for pipe work on engines, and these were cut and stamped into a piece of copper and then spark eroded onto pre hardened stamp blank.

David

This sort of advice is why the forum is so valuable: I would never have thought of that!

I guess the forum delivers due to its attracting a wide range of technical interests. Everything from fine knifes and clockmaking to traction engines and blacksmithery, via astronomy, gun-smithing, amateur radio, CAD, CNC, microcontrollers and a dozen other technologies! Lots to learn from each other.

I wonder if anyone knows how to replace the black filling in the engraved graduations of steel-rules? I have several hard to read rules where the original filling is all but gone. The problem seems to be finding a paint thick enough to stick in the hollows while remaining thin enough to wipe cleanly from the plain surface. The various inks, paints and waxes I've tried either stick firmly to everything or wipe off leaving nothing behind in the graduations. Boot-polish works but it soon wears off.

Ta,

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 22/03/2019 10:38:25

Dave (SOD), In my younger days I used to suffer with "rusty fingers" where anything ferrous I touched would have a rust mark within a few hours. As a consequence any of my steel rules would over time become black in colour, even the so called stainless variety. To make them readable I used to fill the engraving with a white Chinagraph pencil and this certainly lasted quite well, maybe a black Chinagraph pencil if such a thing is available. Fortunately for me this skin problem disappeared after many years.

Phil

Black printing ink is the answer I believe.

I was fortunate to visit a rule making firm in Bolton I think? They engraved the scales then wiped the thick ink on which sat inbthe graduations.

I believe the firms in Sheffield who made trade advertising penknives etc used coloured printing ink to fill the stamped impressions.

It dries quickly and has the right consistency.

Mick

I have read about pantograph that is utilized these days for creating a mold for the punch and then cutting away the unwanted metal to create the hallmark.