Personalizing Handcrafted Projects

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I fool around in my shop welding and bending various metal projects strictly to pass time. Believe me, nothing as advanced as what many on this board have posted pictures of. I am into small easy projects that I often give away to family members. My wife said it is to bad I can't personalize things so in 50 years long after I am gone people, would at least have an idea of who was responsible for this junk. I was just curious if and what you people do when you want to initial or affix a name to an item. I used to make a plate and take my ark welder and write my initials, then tack the plate to whatever, but my success was very inconsistent. Right now I am working on a couple of log lifters that I bent out of 1/2" hot rolled steel. There isn't a lot of room to work with, I was wondering if the alphabetical punches work very well in marking iron. Any help, thought,or ideas would sure be appreciated. Thanks for any replies!                WSMiller Thunderboldt AC DC Miller 211 MIGSmith O/A torches Torches and GaugesRyobi chop saw
Reply:you can buy letter/number stamps fairly cheep then you can discretely (or otherwise) personalize your work.i.u.o.e. # 15queens, ny and sunny fla
Reply:There are a few different ways to leave ID marks. As you said, alphabet punch sets can be used on all but the harder steels, and work well in softer metals.You can use an electric scribing tool (sometimes called engraver).  Dremel makes one that works well and is not too expensive.An old, but tried and true method is to use a sharp pointed prick punch and make a series of "dots" or punch marks to form letters and numerals.  I have noticed that a lot of identifying numbers/characters are being spelled out using prick punch engraver machines on modern assembly lines, kind of like a "dot matrix" typewriter for metal surfaces.I suggest (strongly recommend) that if you use the electric scribing tool, or the prick punch method......that you "lay out" the characters for whatever words/numbers you will be putting into metal with a Sharpie or an "old school" pencil before you touch the metal with any engraving tools.  I don't know why, but it seems like I would almost always misspell something by getting letters out of order or leaving them out altogether if I just went head long into digging the metal without writing out a pattern to follow first.  It's kind of embarrassing  when you misspell your own initials.
Reply:Smiths since time began have been marking their work with punches.  Blacksmiths, silver smiths, gold smiths etc. There are companies who will make you distinctive personal "touch mark" or "makers" mark stamps. Most last longest if stamped in hot metal, but some can be used cold.http://cermetalmark.com/Logos.htmhttp://www.incandescent-iron.com/toga.htmlI've also seen guys use the individual letter stamps, engraving, etching or as mentioned simply a series of dots to spell out what they wanted.One trick with cheap stamps is to make sure they are marked as to which way is "up". Many times guys who aren't paying attention flip or turn  a stamp by accident wrecking the work they have done. I've seen guys do simple things like grinding a groove on one side of the stamp so they always know which side is up or down. Also the really cheap import stamps usually used to stamp cold steel will last a lot longer if the steel is hot and soft. You do need to watch out that you don't over heat the stamps if you do this. Often you keep the stamp in contact with the hot metal as little as possible, and dip them between strikes in water or oil to cool them..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan