Show us your wax seals

[Nic13]

Amazing looking seals! now I want one to, problem is I dont know what to design or where to start

 

Im open to suggestions!!

[SamCapote]

Amazing looking seals! now I want one to, problem is I dont know what to design or where to start

 

Im open to suggestions!!

 

There's no right answer. I started with a photo of the Coast Guard Eagle sailing ship, and Dexter did a fabulous job. Most seals were marks of a family coat of arms, or organizational symbol. You could pick anything you are interested in. Dexter can use photos, unlike most other operations I tried that with.

[jjlax10]

I also recommend Red Comma for a low priced alternative. You could send them any black and white image thats not too detailed and they can make you a great seal.

[joelchan]

this is my wax seal..

 

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7039/7118477423_8aef4faa50_m.jpg

 

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7095/6972380910_c7ab445991_m.jpg

[inky]

Very cool joelchan, please translate or share the significance. Sorry, just not sure if that is Chinese, Japanese, something else or if it just has some special significance for you.

 

Other than a very little Spanish, I am totally inept at foreign languages. However, the Chinese and Japanese symbols fascinate me. I have a seal for Luck and would love to find one for love and one for prosperity. Feel free to share any suggestions on this.

[raging.dragon]

Very cool joelchan, please translate or share the significance. Sorry, just not sure if that is Chinese, Japanese, something else or if it just has some special significance for you.

 

Other than a very little Spanish, I am totally inept at foreign languages. However, the Chinese and Japanese symbols fascinate me. I have a seal for Luck and would love to find one for love and one for prosperity. Feel free to share any suggestions on this.

 

The seal looks to me like a Chinese chop, the characters on these are usually the owner's name expressed in Chinese characters. They're traditionally used with an ink like cinnabar paste, but will also work with sealling wax.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_%28East_Asia%29

[joelchan]

hi inky, ranging dragon,

 

it's my last name 'Han' in my Chinese name

 

this is a seal done with the character curved in.

 

My chop is done with the full name curve 'out'

Edited April 28, 2012 by joelchan

[inky]

Thanks for the update, very nice.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Made it half a lifetime ago, in metal shop, at CSU Long Beach.

Lost wax cast in silicon bronze. The die, and the handle decoration, were poured in Karvex, from a copper photoengraving (and a reverse matrix made from the photoengraving, from phenolic rubber stamp matrix material bought from the Graphic Arts lab), while the rest of the pattern was sculpted from various other patternmaking waxes.

[SamCapote]

That's really great to have made that yourself. Congratulations!

[shaylenwilliams]

Did this one with a wood block stamp. Means "joy" according to the handbook... Of course, I cannot read it, so I am not going to be bold enough to guarantee that.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u48/luuuckyclover/PICT0106.jpg

[theswordguy]

Finally I received my signet ring from Dexter yesterday and took a few pictures. I've been using J. Herbin's supple wax for most of my seals. It makes good impressions but has a tendency to stick to the ring, especially in the tail of the J where it is very thin. Cleaning the wax out of the lines is difficult since they are so thin. The ring size/style is the Gents Large Cushion, roughly 13mm wide and 14mm tall.

 

The ring

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/MonogramSignetRing.jpg

 

The wax impression Dexter made

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/DexterWaxImpression2.jpg

 

And an impression I made with Abraxis Amber wax.

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/MonogramAmberWaxImpression.jpg

[hardyb]

This one just arrived from Germany on Thursday (vendor image):

Edited May 12, 2012 by hardyb

[Skyppere]

Did this one with a wood block stamp. Means "joy" according to the handbook... Of course, I cannot read it, so I am not going to be bold enough to guarantee that.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u48/luuuckyclover/PICT0106.jpg

 

 

Beautiful sealing wax. Almost pearlescent. What kind is it?

skyppere

 

 

[kiavonne]

Finally I received my signet ring from Dexter yesterday and took a few pictures. I've been using J. Herbin's supple wax for most of my seals. It makes good impressions but has a tendency to stick to the ring, especially in the tail of the J where it is very thin. Cleaning the wax out of the lines is difficult since they are so thin. The ring size/style is the Gents Large Cushion, roughly 13mm wide and 14mm tall.

 

I like your unique design for a signet. Very cool indeed.

 

I found with my gold pendent that wax would stick in some areas of the design if it wasn't at a perfect temperature for creating the image and I took the seal away before the perfect set. I haven't perfected it yet. :embarrassed_smile:

 

By the way, I love the look of your seal in the amber wax. It's beautiful!

Edited May 12, 2012 by kiavonne

[yachtsilverswan]

Finally I received my signet ring from Dexter yesterday and took a few pictures. I've been using J. Herbin's supple wax for most of my seals. It makes good impressions but has a tendency to stick to the ring, especially in the tail of the J where it is very thin. Cleaning the wax out of the lines is difficult since they are so thin...

 

The wax impression Dexter made

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/DexterWaxImpression2.jpg

 

And an impression I made with Abraxis Amber wax.

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/MonogramAmberWaxImpression.jpg

 

Congrats SwordGuy - the ring turned out exceedingly well - the cushion shape was the right choice for your monogram. I like the edging Dexter put around the borders of the letters.

 

For removing wax stuck in the nooks and crannies of seal rings, read SamCapote's advice: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/220707-cleaning-a-wax-seal/page__view__findpost__p__2335545

"Nail polish remover or acetone will remove sealing wax of any sort from the seal, as long as the seal is not made of plastic. Acetone can destroy plastic seals."

 

I put an ice cube in a shallow bowl, cover the ice cube with a paper towel, and rest my signet ring face down on the paper towel while preparing the wax puddle. Just before making the impression, I pick up the ring from the towel and ice, blow on the engraved surface, and then press the ring into the wax for a count of seven. The ice cools the gold and so speeds the hardening of the hot wax in the engraving. The moisture of the ice and my breath leaves a thin moisture vapor on the ring face that may improve separation of the seal from the wax.

 

Have fun.

[GSteer]

This one just arrived from Germany on Thursday (vendor image):

 

Does the vendor have a website you could link ?

[SamCapote]

Finally I received my signet ring from Dexter yesterday and took a few pictures. I've been using J. Herbin's supple wax for most of my seals. It makes good impressions but has a tendency to stick to the ring, especially in the tail of the J where it is very thin. Cleaning the wax out of the lines is difficult since they are so thin. The ring size/style is the Gents Large Cushion, roughly 13mm wide and 14mm tall.

 

 

And an impression I made with Abraxis Amber wax.

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/matteo_bok/MonogramAmberWaxImpression.jpg

 

Very nice seal. Isn't that Abraxis Amber wonderful!

[theswordguy]

 

Congrats SwordGuy - the ring turned out exceedingly well - the cushion shape was the right choice for your monogram. I like the edging Dexter put around the borders of the letters.

 

For removing wax stuck in the nooks and crannies of seal rings, read SamCapote's advice: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/220707-cleaning-a-wax-seal/page__view__findpost__p__2335545

"Nail polish remover or acetone will remove sealing wax of any sort from the seal, as long as the seal is not made of plastic. Acetone can destroy plastic seals."

 

I put an ice cube in a shallow bowl, cover the ice cube with a paper towel, and rest my signet ring face down on the paper towel while preparing the wax puddle. Just before making the impression, I pick up the ring from the towel and ice, blow on the engraved surface, and then press the ring into the wax for a count of seven. The ice cools the gold and so speeds the hardening of the hot wax in the engraving. The moisture of the ice and my breath leaves a thin moisture vapor on the ring face that may improve separation of the seal from the wax.

 

Have fun.

 

I've spent some time making seals and trying to clean the engraving out. I tried the paper towel trick which works well. The ring releases much more easily now. Silver has a high heat conductivity and I can feel the ring heat up when I press it into the wax and cool down again when placing it on the paper towel. I changed my count too. With the brass seal I had been counting to five but I tried seven with the ring and it's perfect timing. Also when using my butane torch to melt the wax I count to 15-20 (longer for bigger puddles of wax) before pressing the seal.

 

Cleaning out the ring with nail polish remover works somewhat. Originally I bought a bottle of purple nail polish remover which has nail strengthening stuff in it since the store was out of any other kind. That didn't work well; it couldn't dissolve the wax in the tiny lines even when scrubbing it with a toothbrush. I went back today and the store had regular nail polish remover in stock so I grabbed that. The regular, non-strengthening kind works much better. I still had to use the toothbrush to get the acetone into the tiny lines but it dissolved almost all of it. There is a very small amount of residue still in the tail of the J but it looks better than before. It may not be easy to get a sense of the scale of the engraving but where the tail of the J tapers, it is hair thin. I don't know how they could have engraved it so well but their skill is amazing.

[Cepasaccus]

The "Gnmnarium" on the seal is actually really "Gymnasium". The s is a long s, i.e. ſ, and the y might be a bit strange, but you see that it is different from the n.

 

Cepasaccus

 

Staatliches: National - Jahn Gnmnarium: Jahn Gymnasium: Friedrich Ludwig Jahn School - in Salzwedel: Town of Salzwedel
So, this was likely the seal used for the 'National Jahn School in Salzwedel' during the Nazi rule.
(To be honest, I've never used this one to seal anything traveling by mail.)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_A9CVkbZ9fFU/SPu1FL-0gWI/AAAAAAAAAUA/oNmZjXDRkF0/s400/Salzwedel%20Nazi%20Seal.jpg