Personalising your work..

[JonnyP]

There was a thread on here recently about putting a makers mark on what you make. I just thought I would share how I do my mark, because it could be adopted by anyone wanting to do a makers mark..

My surname is Pickett and after looking at some old family name crests, I saw that some of them have a pickaxe on. Being a builder who often uses a pickaxe I wanted to use that symbol to go on my work.
I thought about how I was going to do it, and was going to ask a Blacksmith to make me something, but when I was using a soldering iron one day, an idea came to me..
This is what I did and what anyone can do if they have the bits needed..

The things you need are a soldering iron with removable tips, a small file and a large headed "clout nail" that will fit inside the soldering iron. Thats it..!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/009-4.jpg

Next you need to file down the nail head to the shape you want. This is my pickaxe I did, also showing the nail size I filed it down from.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/004-5.jpg

Once done remove the old tip from the soldering iron and put you're shaped nail in..
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/002-5.jpg

Then heat up the iron and brand you're woodwork :0)
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/006-5.jpg

Obviously some shapes will be a problem, but many shapes, letters and symbols could be filed..

[ian c]

Very nice thank you for sharing and giving others the oppotunity to make their own branding iron with the step by step instructions.

[luresalive]

cool

[bikebum1975]

Very cool idea though my design would require a rather large nail LOL

[jbrown14]

That's a very cool idea! I was just pondering how to put some kind of mark on a penny whistle I just finished, and how to keep it consistent on the subsequent whistles that I plan on making. I'm going to have to see if I can find the right materials to do this.

Thanks for sharing!

Josh

[El]

What a great idea :)

[JonnyP]

Very cool idea though my design would require a rather large nail LOL
Yes, intricate designs will be hard to do and also you do need a bit of pressure (though not too much) pushing the tool onto you're work, so anything too thin may bend and not press in. My pickaxe has bent a little, and I have to roll it a bit to get even pressure, but its done a lot of spoons, bowls, plates n things now.. Easy to make another one if needs be..
You can buy purpose made irons with multiple tips to go in them that are designed for doing leather. Like this.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PYROGRAPHY-ULTIMATE-WODDBURNING-KIT-WOOD-BURNING-LEATHER-SET-PEN-TIPS-STAND-NEW-/400273739456?pt=UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item5d322c8ec0#ht_2657wt_1270
I have got one and it does wood very well, so that may suit if you cannot get the design you want out of a nail..

Cheers guys.. :0)

[Roadkillphil]

Jonny, Youm a star!! :happy-clapping: Thanks bud. Thought about marking my stuff a while back, but never sorted anything. gonna have to come up witha design first, but I'll defo be using this idea. T^

Cheers

Phil

[dave budd]

Its amazing what designs can be pulled off with just a few small files. All of the metal stamps that I had for making necklaces/keyrings at the RV were lenghts of spring steel with the patterns filed into the end.

I'd not thought of using a nail for a brand but its a great idea :) I might have to make something like that to fit a soldering iron myself. The only brand I use currently is about 1 1/2" long and weighs about a pound, so I don't think my 1970's soldering iron would heat it up enough ;) Your soldering iron idea makes me think that I could cast some bronze marks on shafts for branding designs... hmm maybe a line of brand-your-own as well as stamp-your-own things at shows? :happy-clapping:

[AL...]

Fantastic idea :)

Cheers
AL

[biker-bri]

Hi everyone, you have got the old Gray matter working here I would like to use my avatar as my mark on leather, what would be the best way to achieve this 1, draw then engrave it on a hard piece of wood i.e lignum vitae or 2, use plaster of Paris draw and
engrave then cast with some kind of resin ? any thoughts.:confused:
hard plastic rod ?

[JonnyP]

That design is quite complex for a stamp imo.. (Not that I know much about stamps mind). I would of thought you would lose a lot of the detailing trying to turn it into a stamp..
How about using a pointed end on a soldering iron and practice drawing it straight onto the leather. Practice making perfect n all that..
Or maybe there is a jeweller or someone that could etch out the design on a piece of rounded steel, that you could then just heat up and use..

[CanadianMike]

The home process of etching a printed circuit board came to mind for his design, use solid copper stock, print the design on the printer (I'm slow right now, and been almost two decades since I did one) on the right paper (recently tried using inkjet glossy photo-paper in a laser printer, iron onto the metal, and etch), and use ferric chloride to eat away at the exposed areas of the copper, leaving only the resist part remaining. Wouldn't need to etch too deep, just enough to heat up and touch the wood/leather to leave the mark.

[biker-bri]

I hadn't thought about etching for a stamp or branding leather rather than embossing, so thank you both for the idea the old Gray matter is working overtime now

[CanadianMike]

Google is your friend, I searched high and low for means to etch my STKR in my blades, ended up blowing cash on photo-resist stencils, marker, etchant and such, and after wasting half my stencils got it as I wanted (followed the phone instructions from the woman, nothing got me what I wanted, til I reversed the leads compared to what I was told (she said ground on blade, positive on marker), and funny thing, there is less residue on the stencils after putting the red on the blade and ground on the marker, so easier to clean and re-use.

Wood/leather on the other hand, I like this approach, but only works for a simple symbol, but if one can use the circuit board etching approach to create something that can at least be heated with a torch and used, perfect! Only need about a millimeter in depth etch really....