Set yourself up for success by clearing off an area to work and make sure you have the tools you need to work on your metal stamping project.
Tools and Materials
Hammer, 1 or 2 lb Brass Hammer
Steel Bench Block, a larger bench block is much easier to work with
Hole Punch Pliers
Metal Letter or Design Stamps
Metal Blanks for Stamping
Sharpie, Liver of Sulfur, Enamel
Pro Polish Pad or Fine Steel Wool and a Polishing Cloth
Tape, we like painters tape or any tape that has a bit of thickness to it
Jump Rings
Chain
Step 2: Practice Stamping
Step 4: Planning Out Your Project
We are going to make a necklace for Anabelle. An easy way to plan out your stamping project is to trace your blank on a heavier card stock. Put that card stock on a magazine, or just flat on your work table (not on your bench block), and you can actually stamp an impression on the paper to see where your letters will land.
Step 5: Placement Planning
So you have your idea and you know what blank will work best, now it's time for placement. We recommend writing out the word(s) as spelling backwards can get a bit tricky. We will start from the center and work our way to the right. Then back to the center and work our way out to the left.
Use a ruler to find your center and a sharpie to mark it. Tape down your blank and get your stamp ready!
Step 6: Stamping
Go ahead and stamp it out.
TIP: When stamping lower case letters that hang low like a "j" or a "y", you will need to drop those letters down a bit too so they line up nicely.
Step 7: Add a Design Stamp
Now we add a design stamp, we've chosen the tiara metal design stamp here and added a heart too!
Step 8: Make a Hole
Since we are making a necklace we will need a hole in our blank. We've already marked the center when we were centering our letters so we know where to punch the hole.
TIP: You may notice the little bit of white paper on the hole punch pliers. Add a bit of card stock to your pliers to help avoid marring your metal as sometimes the pliers can scratch your metal.
You can hold your hole punch pliers lightly in place while you gently turn your blank to make sure it's placed exactly where you want it before you punch.
Step 8: Make Your Impressions Stand Out
After making your hole, fill in the stamped area with Sharpie. You can also use Liver or Sulfur or Enamel but this is the quick and easy way plus you have all the color options with Sharpie too!
Step 9: Polish Up Your Piece
This is the fun part because you get to see the fruits of your labor! We recommend the Pro Polish Pads because they are quick, easy and do a great job polishing but you can also use super fine steel wool followed up with a polishing cloth to get the same effect.
Step 10: Add a Jump Ring
We've used an oval jump ring here because the way it sits, we are less likely to lose the stamped piece if the gap gets slightly pulled opened. Learn how to work with Jump Rings here.
And finally, here is my necklace for Anabelle. A personalized gift that can take about 15 min. to make.
Tools and Materials
Hammer, 1 or 2 lb Brass Hammer
Steel Bench Block, a larger bench block is much easier to work with
Hole Punch Pliers
Metal Letter or Design Stamps
Metal Blanks for Stamping
Sharpie, Liver of Sulfur, Enamel
Pro Polish Pad or Fine Steel Wool and a Polishing Cloth
Tape, we like painters tape or any tape that has a bit of thickness to it
Jump Rings
Chain
Step 2: Practice Stamping
We recommend practicing on a 24 gauge copper sheet. Be sure your bench block is on a flat surface.
Choose your metal stamp and place it on the copper sheet. Make sure the stamp is facing the right direction and standing straight up.
Hold the stamp on the mid to low portion of the stamp to better stabilize it and press it slightly into the metal.
Let the weight of the head do most of the work holding the hammer about midway. Use your hammer to strike the stamp once.
Step 3: Line Up Your Stamps
One way to line up your stamps nicely is to use tape. You can gently slide your stamp until you feel the bottom of the letter catch the top edge of the tape.
We are going to make a necklace for Anabelle. An easy way to plan out your stamping project is to trace your blank on a heavier card stock. Put that card stock on a magazine, or just flat on your work table (not on your bench block), and you can actually stamp an impression on the paper to see where your letters will land.
Step 5: Placement Planning
So you have your idea and you know what blank will work best, now it's time for placement. We recommend writing out the word(s) as spelling backwards can get a bit tricky. We will start from the center and work our way to the right. Then back to the center and work our way out to the left.
Use a ruler to find your center and a sharpie to mark it. Tape down your blank and get your stamp ready!
Step 6: Stamping
Go ahead and stamp it out.
TIP: When stamping lower case letters that hang low like a "j" or a "y", you will need to drop those letters down a bit too so they line up nicely.
Step 7: Add a Design Stamp
Now we add a design stamp, we've chosen the tiara metal design stamp here and added a heart too!
Step 8: Make a Hole
Since we are making a necklace we will need a hole in our blank. We've already marked the center when we were centering our letters so we know where to punch the hole.
TIP: You may notice the little bit of white paper on the hole punch pliers. Add a bit of card stock to your pliers to help avoid marring your metal as sometimes the pliers can scratch your metal.
You can hold your hole punch pliers lightly in place while you gently turn your blank to make sure it's placed exactly where you want it before you punch.
Step 8: Make Your Impressions Stand Out
After making your hole, fill in the stamped area with Sharpie. You can also use Liver or Sulfur or Enamel but this is the quick and easy way plus you have all the color options with Sharpie too!
Step 9: Polish Up Your Piece
This is the fun part because you get to see the fruits of your labor! We recommend the Pro Polish Pads because they are quick, easy and do a great job polishing but you can also use super fine steel wool followed up with a polishing cloth to get the same effect.
Step 10: Add a Jump Ring
We've used an oval jump ring here because the way it sits, we are less likely to lose the stamped piece if the gap gets slightly pulled opened. Learn how to work with Jump Rings here.
And finally, here is my necklace for Anabelle. A personalized gift that can take about 15 min. to make.
We have two kits available to help you get started!
Included in our Stamping on Metal Starter Kit:
- Economy Block Uppercase Letter & Number Stamp Set 3/32" or 1/8" (depending on inventory)
- 1.5mm Metal Hole Punch Pliers
- 2.5" x 2.5" Steel Bench Block
- 3" x 3" copper sheet to practice your stamping
- An assortment of copper blanks
- 5 copper jump rings
- 18" 2mm copper ball chain and clasp
- 1 Industrial Sharpie pen
- 2 Pro Polish pads -for shining up your metal blanks
- Stamping Tape
- 8 page instruction booklet
The only other item you will need:
1lb Brass Head Mallet or a 1 lb household hammer. We opted not to include one in the kit because some folks already have one.
- Beaducation Block Uppercase Letter Stamp Set 3/32"
- 1 lb lil' Brass Head Mallet
- 1.5mm Metal Hole Punch Pliers
- Beaducation Original Tiny Heart Design Stamp or Heart Design Stamp
- Star Design Stamp 1/8"
- 2.5" x 2.5" Steel Bench Block
- 3" x 3" copper sheet to practice your stamping
- Copper Circle sample pack
- Aluminum Assorted Shapes sample pack
- 5 copper jump rings
- 18" 2mm copper ball chain and clasp
- 1 Industrial Sharpie pen
- 2 Pro Polish pads -for shining up your metal blanks
- Stamping Tape
- Instructional booklet
Stamping tools can be purchased separately and are below. If you have only a few minutes, check out this quick and easy 5 Minute Metal Stamping Tutorial and revisit this blog post if you like.
Find our Beaducation Originals here.
Find our newest stamps here.
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