How to put kanji or other marks on a blade?

[Dave Martell]

Why do you want to engrave or etch blades?

Hopefully some day soon I can sell the knives I make. I am just trying to figure out how to put my mark on them.

Ok heads up then, market research is prohibited here. Looks like you might want to check out some of the stickied threads around here for that sort of thing.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/sh...es-for-Posting.

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't think these kinds of questions would be considered market research. I am not trying to break any rules. Is there any way I can take this post down then?

This sub forum isn't here to teach pro (future pro) knifemakers how to make a knife or for researching what this market wants. This is a sub-forum for the non-pro knifemaker to ask questions and seek help from the more experienced members. If you're a knifemaker asking questions here in this forum then I'd suggest that you're not ready for KKF just yet and might even benefit from going with a hobbyist subscription so that you can do your market research and find your way through passarounds and sales, etc.

[greasedbullet]

Thank you. I will give it a try.

[JMJones]

For marking blades, electro etching is probably the easiest and etchers are pretty easy to make yourself or a few hundred bucks new. Stencils can be bought or make to just about anything, including traditional looking Kangi.

Other people use a stamp and mark the blade either when it is hot or before it is heat treated. It can be marked after ht, as Dan mentioned, if the outside layer is not hardenable, such as mild steel or wrought iron.


The most labor intensive and difficult would be using the hammer and chisel. Again this would have to be done before heat treat or on a non hardenable material. I attended a sword making class and watched Howard Clark carve in his Kanji on a small sword he made and it was pretty cool.

[greasedbullet]

Thank you. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

[JBroida]

@jmjones there are actually chisels geared towards engraving hardened metal too, but they are really difficult to use... kind of slippery feeling on the surface of the steel

[JMJones]

@jmjones there are actually chisels geared towards engraving hardened metal too, but they are really difficult to use... kind of slippery feeling on the surface of the steel

I didn't know that, thanks for sharing your info.

John