how to get custom mark/stamp made

i've seen them for sale in some woodworking supply catalogs. they use them to burn a custom logo into a product.

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:54:14 -0500, Nathan wrote (in article ):

What I've done is to take a wad of clay, inscribe my mark into it and bisque it.

Clay doesn't stick to it, when applied to clay that's less than leather hard it leaves a nice clean raised symbol, and best of all, it's really, really cheap.

I've got several of them for use on wares of different sizes.

I suspect, but don't know from experience, that with a metal stamp you may have problems with the clay sticking.

When I trim I have wads of clay that I used for stabilizing the pieces that are now too dry to wedge back up but excellent for rolling into a ball, rolled into a cylinder and then carved into for a stamp. It is entertaining and gives me something to do in the warmer part of the house where I defrost from having been in the basement. It is also fun to find things laying around to push into the clay to form designs. Making a heart shape and then carving into the middle for depth is easy and fun for kids to use. You never know what is going to make a really nice stamp and there is so little investment in these that you don't feel bad about throwing the 'failures' out (or smashing them up to use in recycling).

A friend made one for me for Christmas. He found a piece of driftwood (dark hardwood) in a nice shape that just fits to the hand perfectly and sanded it smooth, he then carved my mark into a piece of stone and glued it to the driftwood. Such an awsome present.

you might try looking for companies that do "EDM" or "Wire Cutting". (EDM = electric discharge machining), closely associated with the metal stamping or plastic injection molding industries.

these companies are usually small, informal, & operated by maybe 3 to 7 people. they would usually charge a fee but i'd try bringing in cool pottery & trade them for the service. for "free" i wouldn't worry too much about how fast they do it.

from your design, assuming it's simple, they could program it into their computer & burn metal with decent resolution for your stamp. you'll be able to get more then one stamp easlily if they like your pots...

they usually are the type of companies that "burn" tools for injection molded plastic tooling. the real extreme detail you see on plastic parts come from this process.

etching MIGHT work but i wouldn't expect much...

see ya

steve

Nathan wrote:

Thanks for the great responses. These are all brilliant and creative suggestions. I will try some for decorating.

In the mean time I found a place that advertises on the internet

. They make precision stamps for all kinds of applications. I think this is a shop like the one that Steve suggests. I didn't try trading. It is spendy.I will report back here when it arrives in a couple of weeks. Nathan

I made a master out of leather hard clay about a size bigger than I wanted it. Bisque fired it, and then pushed it into another piece to make a mould, again bisque fired, so I now have the means to make another when I wear out the current one. I sign all my pots with it so it gets a fair amount of use. I like it 'cos it's my design and costeth not a lot, like nowt!

Steve Bath UK

In article , Eddie Daughton writes