No matter how long you have been working at the craft, you sometimes flirt with the idea that you can buy your way to better craftsmanship. I first picked up a crosscut saw at age 8, so I should know better than to fall for this false hope. And I expect it to continue doing this astounding feat for another 30 years.
This is always the last tool to touch my work — if it touches it at all. You see, this stamp is the tool that determines if my work is up to snuff. Or perhaps I need to go back and remake some assembly or part of the project, try to bring the finish up to a higher level or find some better hardware.
As an added bonus, the project has to be sturdy enough to receive the beating necessary to leave my name in crisp letters. That beating is necessary because the name stamp has the letters incised in the steel block. As a result, you have to hit the stamp very hard with a hammer into the end grain of your project to make it work.
When done correctly, the letters stand proud of a recessed background that is surrounded by a decorative border. Very nice. I usually pick someplace inconspicuous to apply the stamp, such as the lower edge of a door stile or the bottom of a leg. Then I place the project on the concrete floor of my shop and pinch the stamp between the thumb and forefinger of my left hand.
I rest my hammer head on the end of the stamp which is now mushroomed over from the beatings from my 16 oz. I pause for a few moments to make sure I am ready to bring the hammer down in one fell stroke. You get only one change to do it right. Maybe it needs a little wetsanding first. There are several other companies out there that make fancier stamps as well, such as Engraving Arts and Microstamp. Not only do I work for a magazine that encourages , other people to slaughter spruces, but I personally have a lot of sap on my hands.
