Putting your name on pipes

alexanderfrese · Post by **alexanderfrese** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:47 am

The stamp is just like the signature of a painting. Those signatures are not really big and will hardly add something to the artwork. But the fact, that those letters are written by hand gives each signature a more stylish appeal than a blocklettered name an the back of the canvas.
So I think there is room for "fancy-fying" a stamp, as long as it reflects your style as a pipemaking artist. That sort of stamp would have to be planned in a more holistic way, than a blocklettered one.
If it fits the artisan's and the pipe's style, it would be OK to emphasize it by special staining or whatever.

Making an every day stamp stand out in these ways would only say: "Look, papa, mama, everybody, look and see, it was me that made it, it is my pipe, and I did it all alone. Can I show it to Grandma, too, so she will give me a candy?"

ScoJo · Post by **ScoJo** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:41 am

Okay, here is a question I hate to ask, but here it goes.

I got my stamp yesterday. I have some scrap hardwood, so I decided to try stamping it. Wow - hard to get an impression. Well, it's scrap, so I can hit the stamp with a hammer.

Oops. That wooden handle is soft and I hit it off center. Can you say deformed handle?

At any rate, I plan to hammer the stamp quite a bit (NOT for pipes, but for another woodworking project). Does anyone out there have a spare handle for their stamp that they don't use that you would be willing to send me? Or has anyone tried turning a handle for the stamp from a harder wood (any maybe putting a flat head on the handle)?

Secondly, how the heck am I going to get a nice impression in a briar pipe shank without using a drill press to push it in?? I'm not using the hammer. :naughty:

I make war clubs, but they're not that resilient.

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:14 am

Can you roll the stamp onto the stummel. That's what I learned from Tim West.

RocheleauPipes · Post by **RocheleauPipes** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:21 am

It sounds like Rad's solution of having the stamp made into a convex curve so it can be impressed by hand would have been the answer. But you already have your stamp and I take it that it did not come with a metal shank covered by a slip-on wooden handle, as A&M's stamps do.

For a new handle, snag a piece of Jatoba or similar hardness wood. Old wood chisels have hard handles that you can adapt. As for a method of using the stamp by hand, try heating the stamp with an alcohol burner, not so much it burns an impression, just enough to make the impression easier.

I think you may end up using your press to stamp.

Good luck,
John

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:14 pm

I actually have started staining my "stampings" on the pipes that are contrasted or dark stained as with the engraver if i don't the bare wood in the letters will really stand out...so now I do the engraving of my logo before i stain and do the finishing of the pipe

Best

Love
www.geigerpipes.com

RocheleauPipes · Post by **RocheleauPipes** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:23 pm

Hi Love,

Do you like the darker stain effect in the engraved name more than the lighter bare wood effect? I assume that when you stain after engraving, that the engraved name will absorb more stain and show darker than the smooth finish of the pipe.

I have wanted to try engraving my name. It's more personal. I have been leary though of it looking cheezy, but I guess a good high speed engraver won't make it look like a series of dots. What do you use to engrave? Are you happy with it?

Cheers,
John

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:32 pm

Hey john

what i use is called a pantograph i belive and I am indeed very happy with it as I now get it right every time and have the freedom of putting what i like on the pipe..I just put togheter the letters forming my logo and the name of the pipe year ect. strap the pipe up in the mashine and engrave away...

heres a pic

Now this setup is more expensive than a single stamp but if you start to consider having year stamps made grade stamps ect that will get you up at the same price pluss a setup like mine grants much more freedom...

Best

Love
www.geigerpipes.com

RocheleauPipes · Post by **RocheleauPipes** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:25 pm

WOW Love, that is a very cool machine. Thanks so much for sharing the photos of it.

I'm going to have to put some thought into this engraving issue.

Back to work now : )

John

alexanderfrese · Post by **alexanderfrese** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:22 am

BTW has someone thought about the way tombstone letterings can be engraved into the stone?
I remember someone working as a stone cutter told me they have letter stencils they sometimes use to blast the stone to produce the engraving. I don't know if the smaller dimensions of a pipe makes this a useless idea, though…

mahaffy · Post by **mahaffy** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 12:58 am

You know, a person could probably make a pantograph like Love's; it's basically just a parallelogram. Mount a Dremel or flex-shaft. . . . The letter guides you could probably buy from engraving machine suppliers. And since you're greatly reducing the image (provided that your version is well and carefully built), the engraved image should be fairly crisp; a logo or design wouldn't be out of the question.

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:28 pm

Ebay has a pattern for sale to make exactly that
http://cgi.ebay.com/MAKE-A-PANTOGRAPH-L ... otohosting

But a whole $40 for just the pattern is a little steep for me right now. It's there for anyone who wants it, I guess.

Josh

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:27 am

Pantographs are stunningly simple machines to make. I have a couple that I use for transfering drawings that are nothing more than scrap wood and some small bolts.

With a little careful study of that photo in the eBay auction, you ought to be able to contrive your own rather easily. pretty much everything you need to know is apparent in that photo.

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:36 pm

It looks rather easy to put together but I've inherited the family trait from my father of making everything more complicated and messing up to where one must start from scratch several times before completion. I think, for me, now, a stamp down the road would save me the headaches and failures of trying to build some non-functional contraption now.

(I think it is a great idea just not for me at this time)

Josh

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:02 pm

geigerpipes wrote:Hey john

what i use is called a pantograph i belive and I am indeed very happy with it as I now get it right every time and have the freedom of putting what i like on the pipe..I just put togheter the letters forming my logo and the name of the pipe year ect. strap the pipe up in the mashine and engrave away...

Now this setup is more expensive than a single stamp but if you start to consider having year stamps made grade stamps ect that will get you up at the same price pluss a setup like mine grants much more freedom...

Best

Love
www.geigerpipes.com

Hi, geiger
i was just wondering what kind of bit does your engraver have,
or, what kind of bit do you use?
as iám still carvind my name with dremel, it would be interesting to know
how to make thinner and better lines.

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:23 pm

Daniel,

For a dremel I guess a 105 Engraving Cutter or a dentist drill would do the job..but imo a dremel will only get you so far when it comes to good lines a stamp is better.

on the pantograph i use something like this:

But the pipe is clamped and the engraver works more like a fraizer

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:06 am

thanks for the tip geiger.
by the way, what is a fraizer?

i read a so called "restoration story" of an old rusty engraver,
there was suggested that the tip of the bit should have a smal flat area.
does your bbit have one, or is it sharp?
i´m going to try to make one my self. the bit.

thought just popped in my head:
maybe if you are engraving with a hand tool like dremel, the flat tip
would make it harder to the bit to go deeper to the wood like a drill bit.
well, dunno.