Signing work with woodburner

[Ben Richardson]

I would like to try to sign my work using a wood burning tool. I don't have good hand writing so I need one as close to a pen as possible. Any Ideas gratefully accepted.

[Jim Burr]

Depending on the size of the area you want to sign, you can have a branding iron (of sorts) made with the desired information. Lee Valley, I think, handles them and others to be sure.

[Tim Rinehart]

I think the small ball tip pens are supposed to be the best for woodburn signing and also for making any other dots for texturing, etc. I've tried by using a create-a-tip bent pretty severe, and it's ok...but I suspect a small 1/16" or smaller ball would be alot better. Not sure smaller better...as the smaller one may have a tendency to burn and dig down if your hand pressure is too heavy when writing.
Hopefully...experienced pyro folks will chime in. Look forward to hearing what others say...I would like to know what is best.

[Richard Allen]

I am unaware of a burning pen which works like a writing pen. The burning process much much much slower and writing with ink. If the burning pen is hot enough to write as fast as you might with an ink pen you will have a burned mess.

I will often write my name with a pencil and then burn my name following the pencil marks.

The burning tip I like is a small ball tip. The ball tip tends to work better for me when crossing lines of grain. Specifically the Razortip 1/64" ball tip pen (99.04).

Practice on some flat wood, I use cutoffs that I have sanded smooth, to determine the burner setting and the speed of writing. Different woods need different burner settings and different writing speeds. You can also practice the process on any piece of wood. Just like any other hand operation a little practice will go a long way towards achieving the results that you are looking for. Expecting to burn your signature on a curved wood surface perfectly the first time you use the wood burner is expecting a LOT. You will very likely be disappointed with the result. Because the signing process is toward the end of the over all abject creation task a failure, or less than satisfactory results, can be very frustrating. When you feel that you are writing your name to your liking with a woodburing pen try the process on a piece of red oak across the grain. Once you can sign ash or red oak diagonally across the grain you will have mastered the process and you should be able to sign your name with confidence.

Using a branding iron or a laser created medallion can often be a solution for those who are unsuccessful at wood burning. Please note that to my eye a hand burned signature even poorly done looks loads better than a medallion or a branded signature.

[steven carter]

I use a Colewood Cub with the writing tip, and am happy with the results.

[Paul Williams]

I use a small ball tipped pen. 1/32 I think. The only difficulty I have is with hard grained wood I have a tendancy to dig in between the grain lines.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I have always had bad penmanship. The pen tip, or ball tip burning tips work about as good as it will be. Practice on scrapes of the same wood as the bowl. Sometimes I print, some times I write, it seems to matter what the grain of the wood is and how hot the tip is.

[David E Keller]

I find cursive easier than print since it allows me to burn continuously rather than start and stop. I use the 'writing tip' with my pyro pen, but the small ball tips seem to be more popular for signing work… I'd use one of those, but I don't have one!

[Baxter Smith]

I bought the Colwood Cub with the writing tip becasue signing my name was all I wanted to try at the time. It seemed like the least expensive of the decent alternatives.

[Jeff Myroup]

I use a writing tip, and I also have a small ball tip. I always write in pencil first and then trace. I do a lot of burning so I can sign almost as fast with the writing tip as I can with a pen. When I sign, my burner is set around 3 or 4 depending on the wood. Type of wood will determine how fast you can go. The open grain of red oak can cause a very bumpy signature for example. It is also easier if you make the sig a little bigger.

[Stuart Reid]

I use a unit by Dagger, made by Leisure Time Industries. The model is the Detail Master III. It heats up quickly and the small tip makes it much easier to write, or in my case print, whatever info you want to write. I usually put my initials, the year, and the wood type on all of my bowls & pepper mills. Had to write a little smaller when I did some Myrtlewood pepper mills.

Stu

[Tim Boger]

Jeff and Stuart ..... thank you both for the input, I think I have arranged the purchase of a lightly used Burn Master Eagle with some pens. If that deal pans out I'll be giving a try to some Pyrography work as well.

Thanks again ... Tim

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use either a 1/32" ball or pen tip.

[Jeff Myroup]

Jeff and Stuart ..... thank you both for the input, I think I have arranged the purchase of a lightly used Burn Master Eagle with some pens. If that deal pans out I'll be giving a try to some Pyrography work as well.

Thanks again ... Tim

Any time Tim. I use a Burn Master Hawk. I really like the unit. Most of my pens are Detail Master. You will find, like turning you will only use a couple of pens. Just an FYI about the Eagle, you can only use 1 pen at a time. You will have to switch back and forth. A lot of people don't realize that and think the unit is broken. If you plan on burn hot and do texture with your own home made tips, spend the money on the Burn Master hand piece. It stays a lot cooler than the others I have used

[Tim Boger]

I use either a 1/32" ball or pen tip.

Hey Bernie,

What sort of burner do you use?

Tim