Hey everyone! this is my first post in the forum, and it's a pity I didn't find this thread sooner...
I just wanted to express my excitement about the topic of seed stamping on washers, and congratulate the OP
@fillippone for his remarkable work on this subject! you have researched a lot indeed.
The point is, I was VERY interested on this topic last year, the blockmit got quite famous in 2020-2021, because it was developed by a spanish guy, and he disclosed it on a podcast which is quite famous, so many people in the local bitcoin community discovered it as well. I wish I had seen this post because it would have saved me maaany hours and mistakes...
Anyway, what happened is the following: I bought the blockmit, and I tried it, but my results were "mediocre", I mean, the words were readable more or less, but some of the letters were not uniformly engraved, I even stroke my thumb TWICE... The central part of the blockmit used to fly away after a hard strike... idk, the idea was good, but I thought it was quite improvable (maybe I did not have the most appropriate tools either, even though I had many).
I wanted to get a new solution on my own, so... over the past year, I've delved deep into this subject, conducting extensive research, and I've got to say, it's been a very enriching experience. I had already skills on 3D modelling and mechanism design due to my day job, so I decided to get into retail 3D printers (there are some professional ones at my work place, but this is still a hobby, and I wanted to develop it on my own), and decided to design an improved version of the blockmit. There are many variants of the blockmit on the internet, I ended up designing my solution from scratch, and after
many trials and errors, and picking many ideas, I got this:
https://youtu.be/FJwL2IVzqLAI called it the BitJig, here is a render:
And this is a real image:
There were some designs with grabbing mechanisms, and I decided to implement a similar one, I created a base with an inserted metal disc, so you do not need an anvil anymore, some dents to facilitate the grab and release process of the washer, and everything fits tightly. In my opinion the results were far better, this is an example, as you can see you don't have to strike the hammer with that much force (note that there is a hole at the base to place a nut inside, so the washer is placed on top of a thick steel disc, and a nut, to prevent the base from breaking):
The base, apart from being metal reinforced is made of solid PLA+ or ABS, and it withstands the hammer impact quite well. The washers are grabbed tightly and fixed, which facilitates the process a lot.
In the end, I liked it so much that I thought that it could be something "sellable" or "marketable", I was using it by myself, but decided to sell it on ETSY to see if there were people interested, earlier this year. And even more important, I decided to do several derived products, based on HIDING the washers, inside vases, flower pots, and even a fake drain for the garden (I have some more in mind as well)
I had to do a couple rebrandings, but I kept this name (HideYourKeys) in the end.
And... I thought that the ETSY store was fine, but it could be improved, so I designed a website as well (it is my first website, so if you have any feedback or suggestions I would appreciate it)
https://hideyourkeys.io/And that is pretty much it, I am surprised that there are these many people interested in this kind of seed backup, imho it is the best and cheapest way, I wanted to offer something in a reasonable price range, (below 50€ without the hammer, the same or less than as if you were to buy it in any local store), which could compete with the expensive solutions like cryptotag, billfodl and so on... which double or triple such price or even more (cryptotag thor was 350€...). And I wanted something which was easy to use, with decent results.
I have stamped MANY washers, so I can give many pieces of advice to people who are trying yo engrave the words on washers, I would really love to discuss this topic on the thread because as you can see, I am quite passionate about it.
And... with regards to new ideas, I have been testing many things, for instance:
- brass washers: they are softer and easier to engrave, but they are very expensive compared to steel ones. They have a lower melting point as well...
- new objects to hide the washers in
- I am also investigating a solution that might be even cheaper! I will share the outcome one I see that it is feasible
(I will keep it a secret until then) - This was done already, I called it BitJig Mini, it is a Jig which allows you to engrave M6 washers, far more compact and cheaper. This is a comparison of sizes:
The Jig is slightly smaller, but the inner parts are redesigned to engrave M6 washers. Here you can see some results, same 3mm stamps are used, the letters are closer but perfectly readable imo:
So I am eager to see your thoughts on this,
@fillippone if you live in Europe I could send you a BitJig so I can get your feedback, I would really appreciate it, as you might notice some issues that I have not, despite my research. You used a better version of the blockmit though, so that explains the better results than what I had.
Looking forward to your thoughts and ideas! (Sorry for my English, I am aware of the fact that it is not perfect)