is there anyone in Canada that supplys the custom etching 'stencils' for marking your blades..........I've seen several down south just wondering if there is anyone here in Canada that one would recemmend.......
I haven't come across any in Canada, though you might have some luck with a place that does silkscreening and such. If you use something like the etch-o-matic, and have a decent laser or ink-jet printer, you can make your own. They sell a stencil making kit (Rob has some at knifemaker.ca) though they're pretty expensive. You can also just buy the film, some developer and make your own light box to expose the film.
My etch-o-matic has worked quite well, though it took me a while to figure out the right timing to make a decent mark. But your milage may vary. There are also lots of plans around for building your own. It's really just an low-voltage AC/DC power supply.
time for a change, no more steel stamping here (although some do look really nice ) just waiting on my etching solutions , have my new stencils and etcher , I'll post some pics when I have a couple complete
I bought the "Fotofast Stencil Fabricator" and a power source. I could probably have made one since I have done the whole electronic technician thing but I also earned the name "Smokey". Actually fried an electronic device that could withstand an EMP blast, just by plugging it in. So a couple of points, for fine lines and a 3/4" high graphic the timer on the stencil fabricator has to be set to 2 minutes, tried 4 minutes and the stencil was blank. 3.5 will work with pretty thick lines but fine lines 2-2.5 is a good range. The developer took 20 minutes instead of 8 minutes as suggested in the instructions. Not sure what they constitute a cool room but my place is 72F so far from cold. This was a piece of unfinished 15N20 that I tried the mark on and should be much better on a polished blade. Maple Leaf for Canada, the haiku is supposed to be NOON. Figure if I ever make something the Chinese want to steel then they should get my name right
I have looked for reviews or tutorials and have come up empty. Any guidance for using this contraption and stencil maker? Above stencil worked once on second try it was a total failure. Every attempt at another stencil has failed, can never get both inside and outer portion of graphic to develop correctly. All line weights are the same height is 11/16" I do have fairly bright LED lighting in the 5600K range but try and keep blank stencils in the shade as it were. Even resorted to working with lights off and indirect sunlight
When i made my own stencils they turned out very well. I darkened the room to complete black, at night and ran a single lamp with low wattage yellow bug light in the corner. Didnt have any issues, but my font and lines were also thicker
I moved to a stamp, more my speed. Hammers are great USA knife works has some stuff and I think they've have a tutorial on how to etch
I will be working with far less light next time and the last attempt with thicker lines was much better so staying with that. Will post up more info when I run the next stencil through the process.
