Abstract: A stamping machine for stamping identifying symbols into steel plates. A hammer is reciprocally carried by a guide track. An anvil with a die on its lower end is also reciprocally carried by the guide track for receiving blows from the hammer. The anvil has a platform with a spring compressed between it and a point on the guide track. A linking member with end stops on its upper end extends between the platform and the guide track near the top of the hammer stroke. The plate is mounted above the hammer and carried by the rods. The hammer lifts the plate, and the plate lifts the rods, as the hammer approaches the end of its return stroke, to allow the workpiece to be removed. The spring urges the anvil downward to retain the die against the workpiece prior to the anvil being struck by the hammer.