Young Brothers steel stamp set.

[Highpower]

Young Brothers # 03365 (36 character set.)

"Made in the USA" steel stamp set. I held off on buying an import set of stamps for a long time wanting to get a fairly decent set that would last and hold up against harder materials. Young Brothers claim that these stamps are good for materials up to 50 Rockwell C.

After opening the box I think that a set of import stamps might have been the better way to go. These look horrible. Every stamp is covered in some kind of black chunks and goo. It sort of looks like weld spatter although it is not. They will all have to be scrubbed clean on a wire wheel. (You can't really see it in my last pic because the batteries died in my camera.)

The width of the font lines are different on different stamps. Some characters are thick and some are thin. The "4", "R" and "&" are thinner than the surrounding letters. The bevels on the stamps are ground unevenly and haphazardly leaving some of the characters off center on the end of the stamps. The letter "I" is on a slant and not aligned with square body of the stamp.

There are supposed to be 3 "thumb grooves" on each of the stamps to get a good hold on them. All of these grooves were ground by hand with a cut-off wheel. Some straight, some slanted, some ground too deep, and some barely scratched the surface. Spacing of the grooves is all over the place. Many of them are ground right through the lettering stamped into the shanks themselves. Not to mention those stamps are VERY poorly done and again many are double and triple stamped to the point where you can even read them. (Character and font size.)

I haven't tried using them yet but I know I won't be buying anything else from Young Brothers.  

   

   

   

   

[EdK]

Willie,

Were those new or used?

Ed

[Roadracer_Al]

They also appear to have quite a rounded profile. I don't know much about stamping, but that seems to be less efficient.

Can you return them?

[Mayhem]

If it were me, I would send them back and ask for a full refund.

[TomG]

Those are hard steel stamps, which is the reason for the bold, rounded profile. They will stamp hardened steel, but it won't be pretty.

Tom

[Highpower]

(04-26-2016, 05:33 PM)EdK Wrote: Willie,

Were those new or used?

Ed

Brand spanking new from Enco. The wooden box they come in was held together with staples for shipping and they were fresh and undisturbed. The staples were fully driven into the wood with no marks around them so I know they haven't been used.
Even with 20% off they still set me back $106

I've got tools made in China and India with better workmanship.

[Highpower]

This is what they say about their rounded profile stamps.

Quote:
Round Face-Full Character Hand Stamps
The cutting edge of the character is 1/32" radius, with a 40° bevel. Rounded character stamp makes low-stress impressions suitable for use anywhere metal strength is critical. The aircraft, missile, oil supply and nuclear power industries depend on these stamps to avoid risk of fracture from too sharp an imprint.
Character identification and size, three thumb grooves.

[f350ca]

Would some letters and numbers like the 4 be finer to give equal depth of impression with the same force as a simple letter say the U.

[Mayhem]

Just read this on their website (About Us): "Each stamp is manufactured to our high standards right here in the U.S.A." I guess your standard is higher than theirs Willie. I appreciate what Tom has said about the profile of the characters but given the overall finish on the stamps and the price, I would definitely be calling them.

[Highpower]

(04-26-2016, 09:13 PM)f350ca Wrote: Would some letters and numbers like the 4 be finer to give equal depth of impression with the same force as a simple letter say the U.

I suppose that is a possibility Greg. But still the overall size of the characters are just slightly smaller and I think they will stand out. I just expected something better for the money.