12/29/2023 0 Comments Fumy metal skill sawAs you get better at spacing you may not need to do this. Starting in the middle and working out to both sides usually works best if you are trying to center a word. When stamping the 123, it’s easiest to start with the 3 and move up. When stamping the abc example it’s easiest to start with the a and move to your right. The letters will actually be a bit above this line.) (Note this line is not where the letters will occur when stamping. *The red asterisk is the location of the curved portion of the metal stamp that I use to align with the guidelines I’ve drawn. If you make your guidelines at even spaces apart, some words can look a little funny if they consist of a lot of wide letters (m, w) or a lot of skinny letters (i, l, j). See how the guidelines aren’t spaced out the same? “Kerning” is the process of adjusting the space between individual letters, which you can do while drawing your guidelines to achieve a more natural look. See the words “family” above? Take a look at their spacing. This is much easier than trying to center something on your first try. Starting at the left and working to the right means you don’t have to worry about how much space is remaining on the right. If paste gets in the hole you can use a toothpick to poke it out. After the entire surface is coated, turn it over on a paper towel and wipe it off, burnishing it a few times to add a little polish and let it dry. Using a Q-tip or small brush, wipe the Gilders paste over the entire surface of the pendant, filling in the depressions with the paste. I really like using Gilders paste over a Sharpie Marker, but a Sharpie works as well. It’s too easy for the stamp to travel and you’ll end up with a shadowed letter. If you align your stamp exactly in the same grooves, you can re-stamp, but be very, very careful or you can end up with it looking like the sample on the right.ĭon’t double-tap your initial hit. You might want to try re-stamping if your letters aren’t the same depth or if a portion of the letter doesn’t show. It’s better to start hitting lighter than you think you should. If you hit too hard – there’s no going back. If you are seeing the impression of the circular edge of the stamp, you are hitting it waaaaay too hard. If you hit too hard, it can crack the pendant. ![]() If you hit too close to the edge of the pendant it distorts the shape. Metal doesn’t disappear, you’re moving it when you stamp. Don’t hit too close, don’t hit too hard and don’t hit twice (If you fingers are turning white from pinching, that’s probably holding it too hard.) Hold the stamp as perpendicular to the table as possible. Hold the metal stamp with the text facing you and the flat end up. It has an ergonomic handle, a 1 pound brass head with both flat and peen heads. The hammer above by Impress Art is my favorite hammer. ![]() Holding the handle near to the head will help prevent you from hitting too hard. I’m asked in every class “Can you use any hammer?” And the answer is yes, but if you are going to use a standard nail hammer from your tool bucket or garage – just remember you are NOT hammering nails. This will 1.) help prevent misspellings and 2.) make it easier to focus on the rhythm of stamping and maintaining the same amount of pressure for each hit. Before stamping, lay out your metal stamps in their order of use. Pendants can get expensive, and wasting 2 or 3 of them due to misspellings can be frustrating. Before stamping, lay out your stamps in order Taping isn’t really required, but it sure eliminates worrying that your pendant is going to shoot out across the table when you bang it with a hammer. Use a stamping block and tape your pendant down. (More on aligning below.) Tape down your pendant to a stamping block Wipe off the marks with a wet-wipe or by using your fingers. ![]() The guidelines really help space the letters out nicely before stamping. Most pendants can be marked on lightly with a pencil. (If you wanted perfection, you would be standing in line at a mall getting something engraved by a machine, not reading a blog about making things, right?) So here are some metal stamping tips and tricks and lessons I’ve learned. After teaching a metal stamping class for a couple of years, I’ve found that most people aren’t striving for perfection with their metal stamping, they just want it to look good. And it can start to get expensive if you are unhappy with your first attempts and keep trying and trying again. If you goof up on a pendant it’s not like you can just erase it and start over. Metal stamping can be a bit intimidating.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |