I’ve stamped metal before for but never on jewelry. Here’s what the basic metal stamping kit includes:
All you really need is:
Metal Letter Stamps
Steel Bench Block
Brass Faces Dead Blow Hammer
Here’s how I made an easy necklace for a friend who just had a little baby girl named Ava:
First, use painters tape to to keep the silver metal tag in place. It also serves as a guide so your letters are stamped in a straight line:
Use the permanent marker included in the kit to mark the center. Make sure your steel bench block is on a hard, firm surface. The steel bench block keeps the impression from showing too much on the other side.
Position your metal stamp on the piece making sure it is straight up and down. I started in the center and worked outwards. Strike the stamp firmly once with your hammer! You can strike it again if you need to just make sure your stamp is still in place or you’ll get a ghost impression.
My first stamp!
Repeat the process for the remaining letters.
Use the hole punch plier to punch a hole through the top of the tag.
To add contrast to the letters, use the industrial permanent marker to color them in:
A polishing pad will remove the excess marker and leave only the coloring down in the grooved letters:
You’ll want to add a jump ring so that you can string the tag onto jewelry. I have a fear of jump rings falling off, so I solder them shut. You don’t want your hardwork falling off the necklace!
Mr. LBB’s grandfather gave me this soldering iron a few years ago. It’s just a 25W tool and I used 96%tin/4%silver solder. I don’t know anything about metal but it worked for me fine.
I don’t use any flux or pickle or any of that fancy stuff. I just touch the soldering tool to the solder (tin/silver) to get a small bead on the end:
Then I touch the hot end to the opening of the jump ring”
Once the jump ring cools I use a nail file and a polishing tool to remove any excess metal and smooth the jump ring:
This ring isn’t coming off!
String the tag onto a necklace or another piece of jewelry and it’s done!
Think of all the things you could make: baby shower gifts, party favors, stocking stuffers, BFF necklaces!
Stay tuned for more jewelry making soon!
thank you for this! I have been thinking of getting something like this but was worried about my lack of skills in this particular area, but this seems very doable. The painter’s tape is a great idea too. btw, where did you get your silver tags?
I get all of mine from Beaducation (www.beaducation.com). They have so many types of tags (blanks) to choose from, and their customer service is excellent! Hope this helps!
thanks Heather!
You are the person who inspired me to start hand-stamping jewelry (through The Vintage Pearl and The Rusted Chain), and Beaducation has been my go-to website for everything! 🙂
Love this one thanks for sharing. Here is a heads up for any frugal momma’s out there. You do not have to spend a great deal of money on your basic metal stamps and numbers. If you have a Harbor Freight in your area you can purchase a nice set for……….are you ready?….$4.99. They truly are a nice set to try metal stamping before investing a great deal. Thanks again for sharing Ashley.
Yep you can get the letter stamps at harbor freight but they are $10 at my local store. They also almost always have a 20% off coupon that you can find in either a magazine, online or in their mail ad if you get that. You can even apply the coupon to sale prices in my experience.
Thanks for this,I wanted to do a necklace when my daughter was born and didnt know how.I opted to cash in my gold and still couldnt find a jeweler to design/melt a pendant for me.I ended up buying a pendant with an initial from the cashed in gold.
Oo, this looks like a great project! I really want to get one of these kits now and give it a go.
Hobby Lobby has all of these stamping supplies as well. They have the tags in a lot of different shapes and sizes and colors. And… they usually have good sales where the supplies are 50% off.
Thanks for the tip on the blue painters tape – genious! I kept having issues with my tags slipping while stamping and never thought to tape it down.
where are the tags located at Hobby Lobby? I haven’t seen them there!
Wonderful tutorial. But I’m afraid of soldering!
Thanks for the tutorial. I want to try soldering, thanks for making it sound easy. I’ll give it a try and see 🙂
I love these! What size letters do you use?
which store would that be?
I cant wait to try making my own stamped jewelry!!! Thanks for sharing!
I’d like to know where you can get the metal plate/ coin please.
Thank you. A generous post. 🙂
I’ll definitely try making my own stamped jewelry!!! Thank you for this helpful post!
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You could also tape down a smaller metal or paper circle for a guide to stamp around the outside edge. I am thinking of buying all the supplies to take with me when camping so all my camping friends can make their own.
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