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I’m newly retired, and am getting into my long-time passion of woodworking. At the present, I’m making various kinds of decorative boxes using sold woods, exotic veneers, marquetry and parquetry. I plan to grow into small furniture items as well. All of my designs are original, and most are one-of-a-kind items.
I want to sign and date each piece, but am not happy with the methods I’ve tried so far. I’ve done some with a metal engraver, and then filled the spaces with contrasting Famowood putty. The result looks good in some particularly hard woods, but graining can cause a very unprofessional result. I’ve signed some with pen and ink, then applying finish over that for protection, without great success.
Any suggestions for a method that works well with you? Thanks!
Tom
Replies
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I draw the signature with a pencil and then use a veining chisel and small straight chisel and simply carve out the signature to about 1/16" depth. I like the simple contrast and subtle appearance. I see lots of piece with the ol' custom woodburner (sold in just about every catalog) and think the finished product looks too production oriented - like a Lane blanket chest. I've attached a photo of a date carved into a trestle table I made 11 years ago - The whole piece was made with no power tools and the date (marked "Cent. 2091) is meant to be almost silly and provoke questions in, say, 200 years.
*I have been thinking about getting something from these guys. But, haven't come up with a design that makes me want to spend the money. :)http://www.brandnew.net/branding_irons/irons.shtmlHope that helps.
*Seth, I really like the result of what you do. It makes your work look like an antique already! Very nice! I'd like to know more about the veining chisel - never saw one. Don't know if I would have the patience to use that technique for listing all the woods used in the project or not, though - would have as many hours in the signing, as the project, almost. :)Peter, I know some people use branding irons, but like you say, they can be expensive, and in my case, I like to put my name, the date, and also the name of the woods used in the project. I agree with Seth, in that it looks production oriented, and everything I make is one-of-a-kind.I talked with a man last year who designed a special ultra high rotation engraver that looked great, but it was extremely expensive, and i've lost my contact with him.Any other ideas floating around out there?Tom
*The "veining" chisel or "V" shaped gouge I use is from a simple linoleum carving set (I think manufactured by Speedball). Most art supply stores carry them. I also have a larger one from a wood carving set. They have a domed handle which make it very comfortable to simply push it along and fit comfortably in the palm of your hand. As an example, on the letter "T" I use a straight chisel to carve the ends of the letter and then use the veining chisel to connect them. Of course, letters about 1/2" or taller are best, and certainly the tighter the grain the easier too. You could practice a little and see you like the results.
*Name of business, sign, date, telephone number written inside a cabinet, back of a drawer, inside the rail of a table, or somewhere else not too obvious with a black felt tip pen. Takes less time than composing this post. Polish over the top, and it's done. Slainte, RJ.
*Like RJ in find a spot thats not to obvious and sign with a felt tip pen and put in a c'bore and glue a penny in it with the year(1999, 2001, 2002) I built the project.
*Branding is one way but I just use a Sanford Sharpie fine point marking pen. The ink will not run or smear and will not come off. I havent found a finish yet that affects it.Steve
*I've had some success "signing" my work with the readily available Avery Iron-On T-shirt transfer material (a plastic sheet which accepts Ink Jet printing.Create your logo/whatever in any photo editing program, then save it as a mirror image. Paste this image into a Word document or a label making program.Set your printer to BEST quality. Print a sheet.Cut out a signature label with sizzors, tape to underside/backside/drawer bottom, etc BEFORE ANY FINISH HAS BEEN APPLIED, i.e., barewood. Heat with iron, following instructions. Peel. Then finish, if necessary.You can design a blank for adding date with a felt tip pen.
*Take some thin strips of brass, about .015 x 1/4" and bend them around until you have your initials, logo or whatever. Make it so you can set it into a short piece of copper or brass tubing. Solder them together, then set it in epoxy in a wood handle with a counter bore in one end. Then file, scrape, or Dremel the edges sharp, and you will have a nice hallmark to stamp your work with. Place it on a board and smack it with a mallet or hammer. This looks great, is visible, subtle and unpretentious.
*Hey Seth: I use a wood burning tool that can be bought in any hobby store with a skew chisel point. It is not all that easy, but with a little practice, the signature becomes an integral part of the finished work. It takes me about ten minutes to sign, date, and identify spc. I find wearing a jewlers magnifying visor helps.I often use it right out front as part of the ornamentation the same as any artist signs their work on the front.I can't remember if I have any scanned shots of just my signature to post, but I'll tell you briefly that I use cuneiform letters(that is an ancient form using wedge shapes connected together). It is a little tricky making 0's or letters with a lot of tight curves. My signature is also my logo, which I also orient vertically like Japanese conji.If I fail to sign something maybe because I don't think it qualifies for my signature, I often have customers insist on having me sign it. Cheers Keith
*Hey Seth: I use a wood burning tool that can be bought in any hobby store with a skew chisel point. It is not all that easy, but with a little practice, the signature becomes an integral part of the finished work. It takes me about ten minutes to sign, date, and identify spc.I often use it right out front as part of the ornamentation the same as any good artist signs their work on the front.I can't remember if I have any scanned shots of just my signature to post, but I'll tell you briefly that I use cuneiform letters(that is an ancient form using wedge shapes connected together). It is a little tricky making 0's or letters with a lot of tight curves. My signature is also my logo, which I also orient vertically like Japanese conji.If I fail to sign something maybe because I don't think it qualifies for my signature, I often have customers insist on having me sign it.
*Hey Seth: I use a wood burning tool that can be bought in any hobby store with a skew chisel point. It is not all that easy, but with a little practice, the signature becomes an integral part of the finished work. It takes me about ten minutes to sign, date, and identify spc. I find wearing a jewlers magnifying visor helps.I often use it right out front as part of the ornamentation the same as any artist signs their work on the front.I can't remember if I have any scanned shots of just my signature to post, but I'll tell you briefly that I use cuneiform letters(that is an ancient form using wedge shapes connected together). It is a little tricky making 0's or letters with a lot of tight curves. My signature is also my logo, which I also orient vertically like Japanese conji.If I fail to sign something maybe because I don't think it qualifies for my signature, I often have customers insist on having me sign it. Cheers Keith
Hey Keith,
I use a Branding Iron I had custom made. Oh yeah, and I only post one copy at a time.
Just Kidding,
Ty
Fecit A.D. Date
Name
City it was made in
on a brass plaque in an unobtrusive location.
Pretentious as hell but I don't care.
I always sign my pieces. I grew up with period antiques, being hauled around from auction to auction since I was five (more years ago than I care to say). I know the value of a piece that is signed and dated. I figure that if its quality work, built to last hundreds of years, then take pride in your skill and claim your part in history. I have thought of getting a branding iron from time to time, it just seems so inpersonal. I have a woodburning kit, and I draw out my name, date, place it was built, and the person it was built for and where they live. I free hand burn it in, with great care to make it look good. I always do it in the same style and place, say the inside back appron of a stand, so that when the drawers are pulled out anyone inspecting the interior will see the signature. Never on a drawer which can get lost or replaced over the years, as I have seen. I always put a couple of coats of shellac over the information to seal it. I've seen and own a number of period pieces that were signed in pencil and its faded to the point of almost not being able to be seen anymore, from dirt and the aging of the wood over hundreds of years.
By adding the name of the person I built the piece for it gives it provenance, a line from the maker to the first owner, then down through their family. A branding iron will work, but I'd like people to look at my handwriting in a hundred years from now and know that I had pride enough in my work to set my hand to it. You can spend countless hours making the piece spend an hour and record it by hand.
Another, thing I would recommend, is to keep a ledger of what pieces you have built, for who, date, general description. I have seen some period cabinate makers ledger books here in Vermont, and its a great thing to see, the list of what they built and when. Sometimes pieces that come to auction can be traced back to the ledger book of the maker.
Edited 5/3/2002 10:54:39 AM ET by JIM4890
Edited 5/3/2002 12:25:56 PM ET by JIM4890
No matter how you sign it, be sure that you have a way for people to contact you, either with a web site, e-mail or phone number along with your name. EVERY piece should be an ad for your work and must act as a magnate to receive new clients. Make sure they can contact you, literally, through your work.
I have a custom brand made up every year:
Mark Levin, Copyright 2002, http://www.marklevin.com
(I use the symbol for copyright, not the word)
Mark Levin http://www.marklevin.com [email protected]
Edited 5/28/2002 7:37:55 PM ET by MSL
I always sign my projects with the woodburner, and like you, try to do it the same each time. I use my last name and the year date. I think it looks cool.
weed
I'm signing mine with a sharpie pen now but just ordered a branding iron from Rockler. On special pieces, I'll probably sign them too just in case sometime in the distant future they become collector items. ..... Hey, a life without dreams pretty much s.....ks...Steve - in Northern California
I've been thinking about the branding iron myself, for my best projects of course. Some of the stuff I make, I don't even use the woodburner on, and somethings just get popped into the potbelly stove, (it don't have eyes)
I made some leaves out of scrap walnut, and used the woodburner to do the veining on them, looks pretty good, I also use it to put my name on things like my ice fishing poles and tip ups. Mine is a 35 watt that I bought from Woodcraft. Gotta have dreams.
Good luck with the branding iron.
Weed
For years I used several different methods to sign my work but was never very happy with any of them. I burned my name, used metal stamps, signed with a pen and used a flexible shaft to crave it. I finally took the time and effort to carve my name using the methods that Chris Pye shows in his carving book (I think its called "Letter Carving". The method is a little difficult to pull off the first few times but with some practice it turns out to be very attractive and a permanent addition to each piece.
Later, Dennis
CAUTION: MOST MARKERS ARE NOT PERMANENT
If you want to have your mark last for a century or two, or even a decade or two take note.
The problem with most felt-tip (or roller-ball) pens is that the ink is a dye, and is not a pigment (mineral-based) colorant. Simply, the dyes are often / usually not permanent and will fade over time, unlike a pencil mark or india ink which leave a solid, light-insensitive inorganic marks. The speed of fading is slower if the inks are kept in the dark, and varies from pen to pen - but information about the relative permanence of most pen's ink is NOT readily available.
You can buy permanent ink (pigment ink) markers at art supply stores, or use a fountain pen / caligraphy pen and a good quality permanent ink. You even have a choice of colours.
Many musical instrument makers use printed gummed labels (laser print is OK; inkjet inks are usually fugative dyes (but permanent inks are available); letterpress is fine) and a pen and permanent ink for signatures, etc. Acid-free paper, time-tested glues (hide, fish)....
Tom, I have an engraved steel die with a monogram on it and just Tap it with a hammer to "brand" my stuff. Another method I sometimes use on more important pieces is a simple label, usually hand written on paper, with my name, date and sometimes the species of wood or other trivia that might have some special meaning. I glue it to an inconspicuous interior panel or inside the sound box of my dulcimers prior to finishing and then just slap a couple of coats of shellac over it for protection. Nowdays, labels have a "mass production" image, but this technique was used by some of the 18th and 19th century cabinet makers, so it has a legitimate tradition.
All of these are great suggestions... I think back now and the best signatures are my mistakes. I always do something wrong consistently... Not because I want to but because that is just me. That'll be my signature Thank you...
P.S. it never hurts to throw on a varnished label or two also.Steve - in Northern California
If the doctor says you have Attention Deficit Disorder, do you pay attention to him?
I use a branding iron and letter/number metal punch/stamp combination. The iron has my name and then I add the date with the punches. The punches are nice and simple, and look nice after they fill with stain. I think I paid $10 for them at Woodcraft.
25-30 years ago I bought an AC powered "Vibrograver". Probably from Sears.
When I finish a project I may engrave myt intials and the date finished on it using the tip of the Vibrograver. I used an Opti Visor for magnification.
I print the initials and date in pencil first. Then I use the Virbrograver ovr the penciled lines for guidance.
The tip wants to follow the grain. One works around this. I don't make big letters or numbers.
I fill the "grooves" of the letters with a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point felt pen then over coat with a couple coats of whatever finish I'm using.
It isn't as fine as one might like.
With reference to paper labels. Violin makers since the 1600's have used paper labels glued into the inside surface of the back plate of the instrument. They write the year finished, sometimes the "number" of the instrument and their name.
Unhappily, the labels have often been changed. A lesser maker can easily install a label using the name of a famous maker. Sometimes the practice is quite profitable.
We all know, however, that no cabinet maker would stoop to such chicanery.
Perhaps cabinet makers will not become as famous as some of the Old Master violin makers and so no one will trouble to "fake" their labels. But, again, some may become so famous.
FWIW
William
I just wrote a little thing on the back of the kitchen cabs I built and installed. something about me being the 2nd owner of the house and I built them in the garage and installed them on 05/18/02 and gave my name. I think the next owner will find it as interesting as the old cabs I tore out and found a ink stamp on a piece of wood something about the cabs being build by carpenter.jointer union 548 LA Calif. I wonder if there still around. ill have to look them up. Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
i like many of your ideas. i just finished my first project in hardwood and am about to sign it with a spring loaded punch set i bought from lee valley. i'll let you know if it's any good. long-term there is an article in wood magazine, issue 142, pp. 38-40 on creating your own custom brass name plate. looks like a bit of work, but the exam,ples they provide look very professional.
I have a branding iron of my logo that was a gift from a very good friend. The top right corner of the attachment was originally scanned from the art work but it's fairly distorted after several generations of scanning and printing. It's about 2" diameter. The iron is handheld and is sometimes difficult to get a nice even imprint, I'm thinking of changing it around to go into the drill press. On the very occaisional painted item I'll burn a small wood plaque (tenon cheek offcuts work well) and screw it on. I usually date it with a sharpie next to the brand, but I like the penny idea alot. My biggest problem is remembering to brand before I finish.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
As an alternate, I started doing this on some music instruments I built. I use a piece of parchment paper, and then sign with a calligraphy pen or such thing. That is just glued inside the body of the instrument, or on the inside of a drawer front. It looks old, and is real flexible. You can laser print patterns on, cut it out, and then ink your signature and date.
I am working on that!
An illustrator I know is making a drawing of a logo I came up with and that will then be turned into a wood burning brand.
I hope to have it done in a couple months.
I'll try to post an image at that time
all for now......
Tom
For hundreds of years, woodworkers have used steel stamps to mark their tools and personal items. Often on wooden planes you can find the stampings of multiple owners as the tool passes from hand to hand. I mark all of my tools and work with a simple stamp with just my first initial and last name. These stamps are available thru Harper Manufacturing Co. 800-776-8407.
Regards,
Carl
Simple signature and date in pen. Mostly I use 'Sam Maloof'. Sometimes I use 'James Krenov' or others; depends how I feel. I used 'Richard Jones' once; customer asked me if I was the famous Texan pornographer.cabinetmaker/college instructor. Cape Breton, N.S
"used 'Richard Jones' once; customer asked me if I was the famous Texan pornographer."
Well,............ are you? <g> Slainte, RJ.Link to RJFurniture site.
I sign my work with a sharpie as most do.. But, years ago when sharpies first came out I use it to number plastic survey flag on an outside job, during the end of the winter.. Came back the following fall and had a difficult time seeing the #'s I wrote on the plastic survey flags......Sooooooo the sharpies are color fast....Something to think about. Maybe sign where the signature will in the dark most of the time???
In that length of time the survey flagging was probably starting to break down.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
When I planted my pasture to trees 1993, I put surveys flag beside each tree because I was going to mow between the trees, come spring.. Many of the survey flags are still there and many are still good if you can get them out of the ground.
I'd like my work to speak for me. But I can't get it to whisper my phone number into the ear of a willing gallery patron when I'm not around.
I've been signing my work with a simple waterslide decal that I create myself using the decal system from SuperCal http://www.supercaldecals.com There are other systems, but SuperCal was the first one I found when I searched online a couple of years ago and I can get supplies from a local hobby store.
A decal may not be as permanent as other forms, but it's affordable. In addition to the "standard" label, it allows me the luxury of creating a custom label for special occasions...
"Designed and Built for John and Jane Doe to commemorate the occasion of their wedding."
Virtually anything you can do in the computer, you're able to do on the label. Want you're signature? Sign, scan and scale. Got a logo? Scan it. Want one? Create one for yourself. There's no shortage of free fonts available for download. Something simple, but DISTINCTIVE, can be done in Microsoft Word (or equivalent), printed on the decal paper and ultimately affixed to your work.
Eventually I will invest in a woodburning logo, or metal stamping tool, but the decal works fine.
Good luck and good skill!
tony b.
I sign my stuff with a silver paint pen. The kind you shake. It's permanent and looks good on a dark background.
Tom;I didn't look to see when you made this post so you may have something lined up by now. But if not I will give you my 2cents worth! I did mainley wood turning in the last 15 years and I tried all diffrent methods and I needed it to be very small for miniture work I would do from time to time. I found a Wood Writer I think it was called and it is basicly kinda like a wood burner but the tipis made for doing writing and fine detail.
I looked at their web site and they still sell one made by someone else but is the same item. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/frames/frameset_shop_acc.html
Go to this site and this is the item so you don't have to look for it. The price has gone up about $28 since I bought mine 15 years back.. Is a simple device though, I built one for a friend of mine after opening mine up and seeing what there was to it, he just had to buy the replacment Pen! I also use a magnifier viser to do the writing, about have to weare them to see any thing now!
Hope this helps Good luck Marsh
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