December and January bring a predictable spike in stamping errors. Custodians work at kitchen tables near heaters, gloves off for dexterity, rushing before guests arrive. The last four words on a 24-word plate receive shallow impressions that look correct under warm light but disappear under our desk lamp.
We ask clients to stamp a test plate first — nonsense words, not real phrase fragments — and bring it un-reconciled. If the test impressions are uneven, we reschedule metal work before wasting a reconciliation slot.
Reversed letters are the second most common issue. “dawn” stamped as “wand” because the letter dies were upside down. A magnifying glass at home catches most of these; we keep one in the room but prefer you find them before the session.
Finally, watch spacing. Plates divided into quadrants tempt people to centre words aesthetically rather than sequentially. During read-aloud, aesthetic spacing causes eye skips. Stamp in strict reading order, top to bottom, left to right, even if the final row looks unbalanced.