I was really curious about the Shachihata Daily Log Stamps. I grabbed the Weather and Days of the Week ($26.50) as I was hoping that it might make a fun, new way to add the date and the weather info to my daily page spreads. The stamp includes an assortment of weather icons, a line for a key note or observation, the days of the week listed to be circled or highlighted and space for the date which can be written in by hand or can be added using the built in rolling date stamper which is hidden in the handle.
There is a rolling date stamp embedded in the handle that can be rolled to add the day, month and year above the weather icons. The instructions re in Japanese so I followed along with the photos until I figured out what I needed to do.
The rolling mechanisms are small and a bit fidgety but they are neatly hidden in the handle. To access them, twist the handle and then pull up on the handle to slide the tub away from the stamp area and reveal the turning gears to rotate the stamping wheels.
Once the date is set, the black screw in the end cap under the plastic lens must be turned using a coin or a screwdriver in order to lower the date stamp in line with the the icons.
This is SUPER fidgety so its definitely something you probably want to decide if you want to use or not as it is not easy to change the date part on the fly.
Also, the date shows up as DAY then MONTH then YEAR which is more common in Europe and Asia so know that going into to trying to set the date.
It turns out I prefer the stamp without the rolling date. I prefer to write it in myself. The numbers are not as aesthetic and the date in the reverse order for me is disorienting. If the month was written out it wouldn’t bother me as much but with it being all numbers I lost the plot a bit.
After trying the rolling date a few times, I got my coin back out and moved the rolling date stamp back up so it wouldn’t print when stamping. It makes for a rather expensive weather stamp when you choose not to use the rolling date stamp part.
Also, be aware, this is not a self-inking stamp like the Midori Paintable Stamps so you’ll need to have a stamp pad handy to use this style stamp. The advantage is being able to choose a color other than black for the stamping but if you are planning to color in the weather icon with fountain pen or marker, be sure to use an archival or waterproof stamping ink or you will end up with a smeary mess.
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