pipe stamps

[pipeguy]

Hi all , just got my new stamp from s&m seel stamps my question is how to do the stamping? Is it easier to brand or just use brute force it doesn't seem to press evenly any tricks on using this would be appreciated thanx Bob Clark

[mathias65]

i'm interested in hearing the answer to this as well.

when i got mine, the first thing i did was promptly broke the wooden handle on it. in about a dozen attempts to use it properly i only have achieved one good result (and even that wasn't as good as i would have liked.) all other attempts have failed miserably!

[T3pipes]

i went to a hardware store and bought a round cabinet knob and placed that on the end. Place pipe in palm of hand, place stamp to wood, press together firmly.

practice on some scrap, you'll get the idea for how much pressure to use rather quick.

[buster]

I wonder if you could fashion a stamp from old typewriter keys.

[flix]

I wonder if you could fashion a stamp from old typewriter keys.

Unless you're a spectacular welder, the short answer would be no.

[buster]

J-B Weld

[Uncle Arthur]

Duct tape!

[RadDavis]

Stamps from A&M take a lot less pressure than you'd think to get a good impression.

The trick is to start with the stamp only touching the wood on one side (I start with the stamp touching the wood on the right), then slowly rock it back and forth as you roll it across the stamping area to the left side, making sure the entire stamp comes in contact with the wood.

I hold the pipe in one hand and the stamp in the other.

You can try typewriter keys, but keeping the letters straight will be a bitch. Also the stamp needs to be very sharp, and I don't know about how sharp typewriter keys are. Besides, they have caps and lower case on every key, which migh be a wee bit difficult to seperate.

You can buy kits for making your own metal stamps, but they probably cost more than a single stamp from A&M. A&M stamps run around $45 for a simple one.

Rad

Rad

[jogilli]

Heat it up .. I busted 3 stems before I took the time to actually think about how I was using the stamp. Basically branding the pipe.. once it rod is warm enough I wipe of the soot and then stamp using the previously mentioned rocking back and forth method

[RadDavis]

Heat it up .. I busted 3 stems before I took the time to actually think about how I was using the stamp. Basically branding the pipe.. once it rod is warm enough I wipe of the soot and then stamp using the previously mentioned rocking back and forth method

If you're busting pipes, you're using waaay too much pressure.

To each his own, but I know of no pro pipe maker that heats the stamp and brands the pipe. The stamp is designed to leave an impression, not a burn mark.

Rad

[Sasquatch]

Randy Wiley burns (or stains... looks heated to me). I think it looks good. I burn "Bannard" into my pipes when I can find a long enough flat spot, but us hobbyists will do all sorts of goofy shit, now won't we?

[ToddJohnson]

, but us hobbyists will do all sorts of goofy shit, now won't we?

Yep.

[Alan L]

My biggest problem with stamping is that I ordered my stamp way too damn big.

It's just "LONGMIRE," but it's about 3/4" long with 1/16" tall letters. I almost always lose the top or the bottom of the letters. I need to order a new one about a third the size.

[Nick]

Stamp schmap! I'll spend my ducets on more briar. I haven't made a pipe good enough to stamp yet, and its been almost 8 years. Maybe more.

[flix]

Come on Nick! If I "deserve" a stamp, so do you!

[Nick]

I mark my pipes in "other ways."

[d6monk]

To each his own, but I know of no pro pipe maker that heats the stamp and brands the pipe. The stamp is designed to leave an impression, not a burn mark.

Rad

Uh oh Rad, look what I found (at 23 sec and a longer version at around 12:30): http://www.servustv.com/cs/Satellite/Ar ... 9273478418

I have a whole stockpile of foreign and domestic pipe making footage I have amassed over the time I've been making pipes, and people do all kinds of strange (and not so strange) things--I just found this new one today though.

[geigerpipes]

one should be carefull if heating stamps not to make the steel loose its hardening..Imo it should'nt be nessesary

[RadDavis]

To each his own, but I know of no pro pipe maker that heats the stamp and brands the pipe. The stamp is designed to leave an impression, not a burn mark.

Rad

Uh oh Rad, look what I found (at 23 sec and a longer version at around 12:30): http://www.servustv.com/cs/Satellite/Ar ... 9273478418

I have a whole stockpile of foreign and domestic pipe making footage I have amassed over the time I've been making pipes, and people do all kinds of strange (and not so strange) things--I just found this new one today though.

Ok, now I know of one.

Still don't make it right.

Rad

[KurtHuhn]

one should be carefull if heating stamps not to make the steel loose its hardening..Imo it should'nt be nessesary

I agree. Steel is a complex material, and heating it like that could easily ruin the stamp's ability to retain the sharp and crisp lines of the imprint. It should be necessary, and moreover you may actually be damaging your stamp.