letter punch sets

[LCHIEN]

Anyone ever use the letter punch sets for woodworking?
its not precision stuff, but its handy for marking. Can be used on wood, leather, metals

I've got a 1/4" set I pulled out and played with a bit.
I decided I can use it mark underneath my personal "brand" the date of a piece.
or personalize other stuff.

I suppose they can can also be used to mark tools and metal items.

set usually is U/C 26 letters + 9 numbers + &

[capncarl]

I suppose that you could heat them up and use them like a branding iron as well?
capncarl

[LCHIEN]

I suppose that you could heat them up and use them like a branding iron as well?
capncarl

i guess you could but that would be really really tedious.
You'd have to keep them all hot then deal with the manual handling of them that you normally do... select each one, look at the front (backwards lettering) and rotate to the correct orientation (three wrong, one right), hold aligned correctly, spaced correctly and then hammer with one blow. Its difficult enough to select, look, rotate, hold, space and align holding it when cold, doing so with gloves or with tongs or pliers with very hot small punches would be tough. Not only that you have to think a bit. to center it you start in the middle and work to the ends so you have to spell backwards, and identify letters mirror imaged. And not get burned (literally and figuratively). Oh yeah, not to mention that you can't touch the punch to the wood until its all correctly rotated, spaced and aligned... or it would burn the wood. Then you have to press it firmly and perfectly perpendicularly. When punching, you can touch the wood all day and not leave a mark until you punch it.

I would say its way less than ideal for branding.

[jaybee]

I actually do have a set of these. 'Twas a Xmas gift from several years ago. It has never been used. And, as the basement steps have been redone to a civilized slope, the old boot storage cubby has been relegated to scrap and where the contents went is now a mystery to be solved as I need things from there.

[downtheroad]

I've used them to identify kitchen cabinet parts before finishing. Makes assembly easier later. Quick Tip - In our shop, we clean/degrease them and paint white on the side corresponding to the top side of letter/number, makes it easier to correctly orient position.

[LCHIEN]

I've used them to identify kitchen cabinet parts before finishing. Makes assembly easier later. Quick Tip - In our shop, we clean/degrease them and paint white on the side corresponding to the top side of letter/number, makes it easier to correctly orient position.

that's a good idea, good for any complex assembly of similar parts or parts that can be reversed and you have a particular grain or direction or side you want showing.


I think personalizing toys and items is also a nice touch if done on the bottom, back or inside. Probably not a good idea for pens!

[LCHIEN]

Hey what's a good fill media/ink to increase the contrast of the lettering?
I'm thinking something black or dark I can wipe on and have it fill the impressions, then use a gentle rag and wipe off the top leaving the ink in the impressions but completely cleaned off the face. Then dry or cure naturally.

[downtheroad]

Hey what's a good fill media/ink to increase the contrast of the lettering?
I'm thinking something black or dark I can wipe on and have it fill the impressions, then use a gentle rag and wipe off the top leaving the ink in the impressions but completely cleaned off the face. Then dry or cure naturally.

That is pretty much what we do when accentuating moldings and carvings using wood glazes. Internet searches will find you products and/or recipes and techniques. YouTube should yield good results for wood glazing techniques

[gsmittle]

Hey what's a good fill media/ink to increase the contrast of the lettering?
I'm thinking something black or dark I can wipe on and have it fill the impressions, then use a gentle rag and wipe off the top leaving the ink in the impressions but completely cleaned off the face. Then dry or cure naturally.

Windsor & Newton oil paints should do the trick. They're linseed-oil based.

g.