Supplies To Make Hand Stamped Metal Jewelry

Now that you know what metal hand stamped jewelry is all about, these are the basic supplies you will need to start.

• Bench Block - I used the side of a sledgehammer while my ordered bench block was being shipped. A bench block is quite essential.
• Letter Stamp Set - Get the cheapest set you can from a craft or hardware store before investing in more expensive special font sets. 1/8" or 3mm are great sizes to start.
• Household Hammer - Beaducation.com recommends a 16 oz brass hammer. I use a 20 oz regular household hammer.
• Stamping Blanks - you can try copper or brass ones first as they are cheaper before trying the more expensive sterling silver or gold-filled blanks.
• Permanent Black Marker (Sharpie)
• Pro Polish Pads / Sandpaper / Very fine steel wool - pro polish pad gives a nice mirror finish to the blank very easily but you can skip this by using regular wet/dry sandpaper to achieve a brushed finish look or use very fine steel wool instead.
• Practice Metal (Copper) - you can get this at your local sheet metal if you don't want to wait from ordering online
• Hole Punch Plier or Drill Press - you can use a drill press to drill holes into the blank before buying one. A hole punch plier is a good starting tool, however, if you can afford it, and is bothered about precision as much as I do, I recommend the screw down hold punch. The plier leaves a mark (although the mark can be sanded off) and is not as accurate as I would like.
  

And if you are making a necklace, you will need a chain and basic jewelry making tools like a flat nose pliers to open and close the jumprings.

In addition to the basic supplies above, here are some other supplies that are not essential to start hand stamping but are really nice to have:

• a dapping block - this is to cup or dome the metal disc
• a tumbler - this is for polishing your jewelry
• design or decorative stamps - hearts, shamrock, key symbol etc
• special font letter stamp sets - old typewriter style, kismet, fancy script
• ring blanks - personalized stamped rings are getting to be very popular with brides and grooms
• cuff blanks - a stamped wrist cuff is very popular too