Make sure you mark on a solid, stable bench, located over a support or leg to eliminate any bounce or flexing of the bench surface. Use a large, flat piece of soft steel as a base to lay your parts on when marking with a steel hand stamp.
Choose the proper marking hammer size based on the following criteria: If you're marking a single 1/4" tall character into tool steel you'll need approximately 2.1 tons of pressure. Choose a 3/4 to 1-1/4 lb. hammer. (Note - a more experienced operator can usually use a lighter marking hammer.)
Speed and accuracy of the hammer blow when striking the stamp is very important.
When marking multiple characters using a hand stamp holder the amount of striking force required is dramatically increased. If you're marking (4) 1/4" tall characters at once using a steel hand stamp, the pressure needed will be approximately 12.6 tons. This amount of force would require the use of a 3 to 3-1/2 lb. marking hammer.
Place the hand stamp onto the part to be marked and rock it back-and-forth to make sure the stamp is laying perfectly flat on the part. When hitting the hand stamp with a hammer only strike the stamp once; hit the stamp and pull the hammer away. If the hammer bounces on the stamp more than one time, you will end up with a double or triple impression.
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