All that sounds plausible unless you actually tried to cold-stamp hardened steel. It doesn't work very well.Quote:
...and came across an article about collecting that said there are people who grind out the name on a blade to re-stamp it with the markings of one more valuable.
Most stamping is done before the blade is heat treated. The only way to do it afterwords would be to remove the blade, heat it so it loses the temper in the area of stamp location and then cold-stamp it. Then you have to refinish the area of the blade you just turned a different color if you used a torch. You would not be able to heat treat the blade again without warping the edge, so if any loss of integrity from the heating process is now permanent. This fact could be hidden by buffing and sanding the entire blade.
You would also have to have the counterfeit stamp. Not so easy to find those at the local hardware store, either. Tooling companies would not make such a stamp for you because they could be sued out of business if they got caught making it for you.
Etching is a different story. This is done after the heat treating process. Counterfeit logos are quite possible if they are etched. I can't remember if Winchester was stamped or etched as I sold the last two of them that I had.
That guy's article was mostly plagiarized from a few different sources. One of them is P. Krumholz's book on straight razors. 3/4 of what he said I'm pretty sure I have seen in other publications that certainly did not have his name attached to it. Regardless of the source, he may have had good intentions, but the information is misleading.
And, as good as my intentions are, I can't tell you why Chris' tang looks to have a ghost stamping behind the arrow. I doubt it is a counterfeit, though.
Chris... rubber cement should hold them together. When you separate them, just roll up the rubber cement like a booger. Eating it or throwing it away could be your choice. :D Vlad's suggestion definitely works. But, do either one of them. Don't make the scales separately. They won't come out as good. The good thing is that the scales are bowed symetrically.
You are doing just fine with them. Keep us posted.