Touchmark Holders

When I was working on my first major client project, bifold fireplace glass doors, I designed and ordered my logo and initials touchmarks.  They were made from S4 steel and heat treated so the stamp end was about 60 Rockwell and the struck end about 50 Rockwell.  They seemed a bit pricey.  As I recall each was close to $100.  They have seen a lot of use and still seem to be as good as new after over 15 years.

At first I held them with tongs but soon made dedicated holders.  I made the fit really tight so the stamp has to be knocked out of the barrel if I need to have it free.  I place the barrel in a vise so the handle rod wrapping abound the barrel serves as a stop.  Then I use a simple handled driving tool and hammer to dislodge the stamp.  The starter end of the driver is a small punch drop with a concave face to seat over the convex head of the stamp.  When the stamp is driven below the opening of the barrel I flip the tool over and use the narrower flat end to drive it all the way out.

The 3/16" round rod twist handle of the tool looks a bit flimsy and that is intentional.  If the tool is mis struck the handle will flex and not transfer the full force to the hand.  I do still hold the alpha numeric stamps with tongs which I have modified to fit and hold them really securely.

Nice gallery of touchmarks:

http://www.incandescent-iron.com/toga.html

Concave starter face - a welded punch drop

Concave face fits convex stamp head

Pin drives stamp out of the barrel

Anti-seize was placed inside the barrel after this photo.

Holding Alpha Numeric stamp with tongs

Applying Touchmarks

I wrote a bit about using touchmarks in September 2010.  I'm going to expand on that as my setup has changed over the years.

The following is a guideline and isn’t written in stone but serves to help define what I consider three levels ironwork I create.  First there is rather generic ironwork, small items that sell for less than $40.00 and is not signed with one of my touchmarks unless specifically requested and possible.

Next are proprietary projects that go to the gallery and are produced in limited quantities and are priced from $40.00 to a few hundred dollars. These are usually signed with the persimmon logo touchmark.

High end ironwork commissioned by clients designed to be one of a kind typically sells for more than $200.00 and is signed with the persimmon logo touchmark, DJE initials and the month and year of completion.  02 . 14 would signify February 2014.  The marks are placed in an inconspicuous place unless the client requests otherwise.

Usually the touchmark tools are held by a dedicated handled holder or tongs and struck with a hand hammer or the treadle hammer.  I have also made holders so the marks can be applied using the hydraulic forging press or fly press.

In the design process I want to remember to place the touchmark before obstruction awkwardness becomes an issue.  Also a thick area world best for me  because the mark will show through on the opposite side of the metal if it is less than a 1/4” or so thick.

Torch heat works better for me in most cases but some marks are applied cold or with low coal fire heat.

Standard touchmarks.

Hand held TM tools.

Fly press TM holder on swivel tang.

Hydraulic forging press holder/stop.

Face penetration depth is limited to about 1/16".

Witness Marks

Yesterday I started a small sculpture project which required seven pairs of elements. The pairs are similar but not identical so I stamped reference numbers to keep the pairs matched. This one example of what I call a witness mark. They may not be readily apparent in the finished piece but theoretically a forensic examination might reveal them.

After a little checking I found this phrase can be used to express quite a range of subjects. The online Double Tongued Dictionary, which describes itself as “a lexicon of fringe English focusing on slang, jargon and new words,” gives this definition:

“witness mark n. generally, an intentional, accidental, or naturally occurring spot, line, groove, or other contrasting area that serves as an indicator of certain facts; in geography and surveying, a blaze, cut, hole, paint splash, or message written on a post, tree, rock or other guide to indicate a boundary, feature, or significant point on land, especially on a witness post; in construction and manufacturing, a line, groove, score, notch, cut, or written indicator made on the surface of material to impart information, such as where to cut or join; in forensic investigation, a surface groove, smear, stain, abrasion or other feature that can serve as evidence.”

I’ve used the term a long time. I think I learned it when I was doing woodworking. I distinguish it from a “process mark” which may be detected on close examination but not intentionally placed - just a surface mark related to the tooling used.

I make witness marks mostly to demonstrate the proper alignment of a tool or jig. I remember watch Tom Clark forge a hardy and fit it to the anvil - it only fit in one orientation so he made a mark on the side which should face the horn. I call these “registration marks.”

I also don’t think of transient marks as witness marks. Silver pencil, paint marker, layout fluid, presto pen and soapstone marks are quite useful but disappear as the work progresses and they are no longer helpful. Interestingly, I don’t know if there is really a proper name for that group but I’m going to call them “layout marks”. Even a center punch mark, which could be a permanent thing, disappears if it serves as a place where a hole was drilled.

Likewise, I think of touchmarks as being in a separate special category as well as the numbers stamped to indicate a pieces’ place in a series.

So, what makes a good witness mark? This is the rhetorical question that keeps me going. Usually, I use a punch. Usually the punch has a sharp round tip. Usually it is a center line mark. I was taught that a sharp square punch mark is easier to see in the fire than a round one but I really can’t say it has made enough difference for me that I make square punches which are more tedious to sharpen.

If I think I will have a hard time seeing the mark in the fire I will use a round punch to make a frog eye, my favorite - see the images, or use a gate fuller or guillotine tool to place shallow fuller marks on opposite sides for reference. Of course, these need to be used in areas where they will disappear with subsequent forging.

A scribe is nice for precision cold work as are transfer punches. Sometimes a chisel cut works well, sometimes a shallow file or saw cut or a zip disc nick. Occasionally I just put bars in the Hossfeld bender and make a slight kink to mark a transition spot. As John Wayne said in "Hondo”, "A man ought'a do what he thinks is best."

So, I think the name of the set is Witness Marks and the members of the set are all those other examples. At least that’s what a splitter would say.

I found this by searching for witness mark but I would call it an illustration of process marks: Cute animation

http://www.kanabco.com/vms/glossary/w/witness_mark.html

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Not a Tool Collector

When I was doing woodworking I collected a few tools which had more of a historic interest than a modern usefulness. In the days when they could be found in a flea market or antique shop for a modest price searching for them was fun.

By the time I became interested in blacksmithing the price of tools was going up a lot and the supply was getting picked over too. Now it has probably been over ten years since I was in an antique store.

About that same time I explored eBay and bought a few items. Within a year I had acquired all the tools I couldn't build myself and lost interest in following the auctions. Everything I bough I intended to use with one exception. In 1999 I bought a handled set tool for beading-grooving which Francis Whitaker had touchmarked. It came with a letter from Bill Gichner who owned and operated Iron Age Antiques. As I recall the head was made in 1944, the number is stamped on the head, and was later modified by Francis for a specific project.

These thoughts about tool collecting occurred to me recently as I was using a pair of scroll pliers made by M. Smyth Boone and bear the M.BOONE touchmark. See - http://www.booneshooks.com/boone.html

Mike sold them to me when I was at a conference in Carbondale. They had a wonderful feel and he assured me the tool steel was tempered perfectly. They are gracefully made and a real pleasure to use. Today they are still one of my favorite tools.

As I pondered the significance of the touchmarks I decided the significance is in the eye of the beholder. The makers placed their mark to identify and proudly claim it as their work. From my perspective I wouldn't have purchased the beading tool if it did not have the touchmark as I had no real use for it. On the other hand, I would have purchased the pliers even if there were no touchmark because of their masterful construction and utility. Still, it is nice to notice the touchmark from time to time and recall the times I've watched Smyth demonstrate and our conversations.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Using Touchmarks

The beginning blacksmith may derive sufficient pleasure from the creative activity alone so that marketing and selling is not a consideration. However, the situation changes when making the transition to blacksmithing as a business.

The best strategy for growing a business is probably doing good work. When the work is good enough for the maker to stand by it may help the business to sign the work. Traditionally smiths and other craftsmen have used a distinctive maker’s mark to stamp the inverse of the mark in the finished product identifying it as their creation. They are also known as maker's marks.

Touchmarks are coining or embossing stamps with a unique image associated with a practicing craftsperson or shop. I have read that making a touchmark was part of the ceremonial transition from apprentice to craftsman and that the touchmark was destroyed upon the death of its’ maker.

It is my experience that clients who have commissioned work like the notion of having their work signed so that is sufficient reason to do it. However, another reason is archival. Well executed metalwork will likely be around for a long time and it is uncommon enough that there is some probability it may eventually attract historical interest.

In recent years I have helped students make touchmarks but I actually had mine made by a manufacturer specializing in stamping dies. I chose one stamp to strike my initials and another stamp to strike the stylized persimmon logo.

I don’t touchmark everything I produce especially small items which may be appropriate for sale at an art/craft show. Even a small custom item I would likely sign with just the logo stamp. Larger forged projects are signed in an inconspicuous place with the persimmon logo stamp, the DJE initial stamp and alphanumeric stamps which identify the month/year of production; for example, 10.09.

Each smith will have to decide whether to bother using a mark and what symbol would be appropriately unique. A well made tool steel stamp will hold up through thousands of strikes in hot or even cold annealed mild steel.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/