Signing work with sharpie

[Mike Vickery]

Alright I have finally started produceing work that I think is worthy of a signature on. I have a wood burner but am leary of ruining a nice piece with it still since I have not practived enough. I decided to just use fine tipped sharpie for now.
I ran a little test before signing it to make sure I did not run into any problems. My finishing method for the piece was BLO, dewaxed shellac, then a wiping poly. When I tried to sign the barewood (on my test piece) I noticed the sharpie had a tendency to bleed in the wood a little. When I signed over the shellac I eliminated most of the bleading. If I tried to put shellac over the sharpie it would take it right off. The wiping poly did not seem to effect it much. Mine is a homemade wipeing poly made by thinning down regular poly with Mineral Spirits or turpentine, I can't remember which.
So what I did was after the BLO put on 2 coats of dewaxed shellac let it dry, signed the piece, let that sit for about 5 minutes then put a couple coats of wiping poly over it.
Does this sound about right to you guys? Also is their a rule of thumb on what finishes (solvents in finishes) will take the sharpie off or make it bleed.

[Ron Sardo]

I've learned that a sharpie can fade over time on some finishes.

What seems to work for me is to let the finish cure (Waterlux) for a about two weeks before I sign my work. The ink seems to last longer for some reason.

I watched Cindy Drozda (cindydrozda.com) use a engraver to sign her woork. After she engraved it she filled it in with a gold wax, similar to "Rub n Buff". Looked really good.

I'm plan on moving in that direction myself.

[Bill Boehme]

I use a cheap Dremel vibro-engraver. It works wonderfully. Do this after finishing and then to make the signature stand out, use a contrasting wood color crayon. Use a cloth to wipe off the excess filler and then hit it with a shot of lacquer, poly, shellac, or clear acrylic.

Bill

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike, thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth.

I have been signing all my work with a BIC Griproller pen. It uses gel ink and I apply it directly to the bare wood. I let the ink dry for a moment then apply a danish oil. It has worked very well for me with with no problems. I think the key is using an oil as a top coat over the ink.

[John Hart]

I'm thinking about signing with Travis Stinson's name. It'll make my stuff worth more money.;) :)

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Mike

I will occasionally use a Sharpie for small stuff, but I also found out the hard way that permanent does not apply if alcohol is in the mix! :eek: I use my woodburner almost exclusively now, and it is real easy to do, since I sign everything with a pencil first. Fixing mistakes or problems with pencil is easy. Then, I just trace it with the woodburner and I am done. Any stray marks can be sanded out with very fine sandpaper or even erased with the eraser.

Bill

[Mark Pruitt]

I'm thinking about signing with Travis Stinson's name. It'll make my stuff worth more money.;) :)
John, I should take that into consideration regarding my "pricing your work" thread!:D :D :p

[Frank Kobilsek]

I use a woodburner. I sign in big autograph sessions. Maybe 8 or 10 pieces at a time. Practice on a couple pieces of scrap. Start with smaller least spectacular piece and then do them all. If your buffing or waxing do it after signing. My two cents.

Frank

PS: I like Bill's draw it in pencil suggestion. Last month I mis-spelt my name on a plate. My wife now uses that one.

[Mike Vickery]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the replies.
I am pretty bad with the dremel so looks like I will proactice a little more with the woodburner.

[Bob Noles]

Maybe someday I can have that problem... no way is my name going on anything I turn yet :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Michael Robertson]

Hi Mike, I picked up a "paint pen" from Staples. Actually two of them, one in silver and one in gold, PIL41600 and PIL41500 and both are FINE Point. You shake them vigorously for a minute and then press once before signing. I sign the bottom of the finished piece. Looks kind of sharp if I do say so myself. Think I paid a couple of bucks apiece for them. They are made by Pilot and you can find them in the Pen aisle. Here are a couple of options I found. I could not find them on the Staples website but the first link is to "Froogle" results for Pilot Gold Marker:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=pilot+gold+marker&hl=en&lr=&client=opera&rls=en&hs=7UV&sa=X&oi=froogle&ct=title



http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=0&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=37128&cmArea=SC1:CG11:CL140898


Good Luck!

Mike

[John Timberlake]

I almost always use a woodburner. If it is a large piece, then I will sign with a Sharpie and then woodburn over it to make it permanent. All the finishes that I use will smear the Sharpie. I have heard that water based PU will not smear, but I don't plan to change a finish so I can sign with a Sharpie.

[Sean Troy]

For using a woodburner, I find starting at a low temp and moving higher as needed for that particular wood saves me a lot of trouble sanding overburn.

[Dennis Taylor]

I don't post often, but read and learn alot, this is one topic I think I can add to...I attended a demo with Bob Rosand, 2 issues of the AAW he turned a bowl, and wrote in it, inside & out...he said that he used a, could be bad spelling, but a Archival Pen, I found one at Pat Catan's, craft store, it won't bleed, fade, or run, I have tested it with lacquer brushed & sprayed, poly, and tung oil, you buy it with a very small tip, I turn bowls & platters and make decorative ring on the bottom anyway, so I have a line, and it works very nice and clean, and by the way, I am a sloppy writer, so if it works for me, it will work for you to....Dennis

[Glenn Hodges]

I also use an archival pen. I have found them to do the job for me. I find them in most craft stores, but the best price I have found is in the craft section of Walmart. I like to write my signature and type of wood small, and it would be difficult for me to do with some of the other pens and woodburners. I don't have as steady a hand as Bill.

[Andy Hoyt]

I've been using the same pen Mike Robertson pointed out. Works very well on top of just about any finish and dries almost instantly. Here's a pic (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=46828&d=1158256633) showing the result (sorta). I keep meaning to try signing stuff before the finishing process, but I always forget.

[Ed Scolforo]

Glenn gave me the suggestion to use an archival pen awhile back, and it does a great job. I got it at Staples.
Ed