Makers Mark

[george wilson]

I am not sure that only 1 ton would yield enough pressure to drive 18th. C. style stamps into the wood. Those jacks are so cheap,I'd just get a 5 or 10 ton one.

I made a 50 ton coining press around a 50 ton bottle jack from Northern. So far,it hasn't failed. I used it to press the silver dolphin pin and the heart brooch I've posted here before. I still have to anneal and re press 2 or 3 times to get the silver fully pressed into the die. I have gotten a 100 ton Enerpac jack and a matching hydraulic cylinder to make a more powerful press,if I ever get to it. Those components get real heavy when building. And,I have to carry them upstairs.

[Pat Barry]

I apologize if the following is not correct because I'm going from recall of the images posted last week that I viewed at home. Here at work I can't actually see Stewie's images but I recall that the "li" in Australia looked a bit weak compared to the other letters / impressions. I wondered if that had to do with the stamp itself being non-uniform in height of the letters or if that area in the sawback just happened to be a bit thinner or non-planar. I thought it unlikely that there was actually a thin spot right there in the sawback and also did not know what the marking depth should be, so it would seem that the stamp was not made properly. If it were me, I would send the stamp back and have them correct the problem. If the stamp itself is made properly then I think you need more pressure to get the marking quality you should expect.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi Pat. The "li" did show up slightly weaker than the rest of the script. If a definate trend emerges I will contact the supplier and source his opinion on how best to deal with it.

Regards Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi Pat. I checked the stamp text today for level height by rubbing it across some 2000grt wet & dry placed over a machine bed. A couple of passes highlighted the "li" was indeed slightly lower than the rest of the text. After 1/2 a dozen more passes, I achieved shine across all the text indicating to me that all the letters are now at common height. I will send an email to the supplier to inform him of my findings.

regards Stewie;

[george wilson]

Next stamp would look nicer if you had the supplier put serifs on the letters,Stewie,if possible.

A possible warning: Now that you have modified the stamp,they may not take it back.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi George. I will keep the serifs in mind for next time. Appreciate your advise.

regards Stewie;

[Pat Barry]

Hi Pat. I checked the stamp text today for level height by rubbing it across some 2000grt wet & dry placed over a machine bed. A couple of passes highlighted the "li" was indeed slightly lower than the rest of the text. After 1/2 a dozen more passes, I achieved shine across all the text indicating to me that all the letters are now at common height. I will send an email to the supplier to inform him of my findings.

regards Stewie;

I would expect that they would in fact replace the stamp for you because even though all the letters are now at a uniform height, the width of the letters may still be reduced for the "li" as compared to its neighbors and as a consequence they might still look different than the others. Perhaps you could try stamping something soft like copper sheet in order to test the marking impressions. If the marking test isn't satisfactory, then I think the documentation of what you found, what you did, and the resulting test mark should convince them that they need to make this right for you.

[george wilson]

Companies seem to never use logic as a reason to do the right thing. There seems to be a rather uniform policy of not touching the object or any warranty is voided.

We'll see how this turns out for Stewie. Hopefully they will make it right.

I bought an expensive but very hard to open pocket knife recently. Very dangerous to pry open when the blade is razor sharp. I filed the corner off of the end of the blade inside the handle to try to make it easier to open. The real problem turned out to be that the handle just squeezes the blade too tight. What I did had nothing to do with the factory defect. Yet,I was told that I had voided the warranty. That's how it goes. No logic used in the decision.

[Stewie Simpson]

I would expect that they would in fact replace the stamp for you because even though all the letters are now at a uniform height, the width of the letters may still be reduced for the "li" as compared to its neighbors and as a consequence they might still look different than the others. Perhaps you could try stamping something soft like copper sheet in order to test the marking impressions. If the marking test isn't satisfactory, then I think the documentation of what you found, what you did, and the resulting test mark should convince them that they need to make this right for you.

Hi Pat. I sent the supplier an email on my findings and the actions I took to remedy the situation. He is an old school craftsman that from the feedback I have read from other clients, does takes great pride in his work . I would be very surprised if I did not recieve a response.

appreciate your thoughts.

regards Stewie;