I've done quite a lot of pad printing back in the day. Yes it can be messy and a lot of work with inks, pads ect. I can't remember to much but first check out how much and where you can get the plates made for the item your running. They are great for production ran items which is what I used them for. That makes it a lot nicer as far as mixing a batch of ink up, building a fixture setting the plates and just running it all day on the same parts. As far as having to do all the work in setting up to do just a few things might not be worth your time or the mess. Just my opinion, I did enjoy it when I ran them though.
Coast Graphic Supply, one of our "Special Deals" advertisers, sells pad printing equipment and supplies. Jim Cagnina would be able to tell you the ins and outs.
My opinion of the process is, it's great for production runs, although, with so many ad specialty suppliers offering the service, at bargain basement pricing, your inroads would be in short run jobs, which, as Smitty pointed out, with all the set up etc., the hassle factor would probably be too high and it's doubtful you'd find a big enough audience, willing to pay a high price for the short run jobs.
David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA
