How can I sign & date My work??

[Brian Fulkerson]

I have completed a recent project (Short of finishing) for a family member and would like to sign and date the piece. Being new to serious woodworking, I think I need to start signing the pieces that I complete.
The project is a Hard Maple (end grain) cutting board. I will be finishing it with a deluted (with mineral spirits) mixture of GF's Salad bowl finish.

Thanks for your help,

Brian

[Todd Hoppe]

Several woodworking suppliers sell branding irons. Perhaps one of those would be ideal?

[Anthony Whitesell]

Check Rockler for branding-type iron's.

[Joe D'Attilio]

Why don't you try a brand for your name and wood burn the date?

Brands:

http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView.cfm?Cat_ID=433&filter=branding

Date attachment :

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=697&filter=branding

Burners

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2063&filter=wood%20burner

[J. Z. Guest]

The poor man's way would be to just wood-burn it in with a soldering iron and a chisel tip.

[Bill Huber]

I use the branding iron from Rockler and I also use a penny bit from them also. I put a new penny in for the year I made it.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17603&filter=penny%20drill

[Brian Fulkerson]

Any other methods besides branding. I have heard of methods using permenant pens. Anyone use this method?

[glenn bradley]

Any other methods besides branding. I have heard of methods using permanent pens. Anyone use this method?

I recess a penny of the appropriate year in an inconspicuous place (drawer back or rear apron) and sign in permanent ink.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I usually put a penny in (providing I remember it) and then sign it with a Sharpie in an inconspicuous place if asked. About the only more durable signing material I can think of would be india ink....but could be messy. It would have to be burned in on a cutting board and even then would probably have a limited lifetime depending on how much use and cleaning it got.

[David DeCristoforo]

Pen and ink (like Glenn). Sign and date. I have also found that pencil works just great if you seal over the sig. The brands are OK but there is something about an "actual" signature that people really seem to like.

YM

[richard poitras]

I had a rubber stamp made at one of the local office supply houses, they can put any design on it and your name .it only cost me about $8.00 I think plus the cost of an ink pad..

[Keith Starosta]

I use the branding iron from Rockler and I also use a penny bit from them also. I put a new penny in for the year I made it.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17603&filter=penny%20drill

This is exactly the method that I have started using since I got my branding iron for Christmas. Although, I've been using a quarter. ;) :D

- Keith

[tim mathis]

hi, on some turned items i use an archival ink pen they have many different sizes and colors and the ink is waterproof and fade proof. you can write really small with the 005 -- a .20mm line ( my favorite). i was amazed with them when signing really small items or just a small signiture. i bought mine at michaels craft store. this is worth checking out.

[Doug Shepard]

I've thought about the branding irons too but never seem to pull the trigger on one. I've also seen ads for small round medallions from wood that are printed with both a signature and graphic that you inlay into something using a forstner or brad point bit. Test anything done with a pen or marker on some scrap first. Some finishes will cause the ink to run, especially shellac (alcohol). The old trick about getting ink stains out of clothes with hair spray works because of the alcohol in the hair spray.

[Jeff Hallam]

A word of caution when branding an end grain cutting board. I made 6 boards as Christmas gifts and branded them... However, each time the brand was applied there was a loud *crack* and a fissure formed in the particular block that I was applying the iron to. This crack seemed to close back up after finishing so I suspect it was just the sudden change in temperature and the wood had nowhere to go (glued on all sides in an end grain board).

[Stephen Edwards]

I use a hand held engraver to sign and date my work, usually on the bottom or back of a piece. If you get one, practice a little on some scrap to get the feel of it. They only cost about 20 bucks and last for years.

[Bill Huber]

A word of caution when branding an end grain cutting board. I made 6 boards as Christmas gifts and branded them... However, each time the brand was applied there was a loud *crack* and a fissure formed in the particular block that I was applying the iron to. This crack seemed to close back up after finishing so I suspect it was just the sudden change in temperature and the wood had nowhere to go (glued on all sides in an end grain board).

I branded about 30 end grain boards and had no problems at all. I wonder if you had the iron to hot or something. I heated mine up to the point I had to hold it on for a few seconds to get the brand.

[Fred Miller]

I'm a hobby maker of period furniture reproductions, and I sign and date my chests on the inside with a sharpie marker, usually in a place where it can be seen when a drawer is removed. Also, I sometimes include a short reference to the piece, like where the lumber came from, or the price of the lumber. If there's space, like on the underside of a drawer, sometimes I write a short reference to some recent local historical event, or local weather, or other verifiable reference that will validate the place and time of construction.

[Don Bullock]

I bought some laser etched disks that I saw advertised in the back of one of the woodworking magazines. They include my name, but since I didn't think I'd use all of them last year (which I didn't) I substituted the words,"Hand Made," for the year. It turned out that the disks are exactly the same size as one of my Forstner bits, so I'm able to use it to drill a hole to set them in. I think that they look great. I'm sure that there are people here on Sawmill Creek (see - http://www.sawmillcreek.org/engravers.php) who could make something like that for you.

[Robert Payne]

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/customprofilepics/profilepic296_1.gif
I had a colleague in the photo engraving business make medallions like this on photosensitive plates. I cut them out to an engraved boundary, sand the edges and spray paint them with any color I want. Then I use wet/dry sandpaper (to 400 grit) to restore the copper face and epoxy them into a 1-1/4" depression made with a forstner bit in an inconspicuous spot on the project. My customers like them too.

[John Fry]

I have a 2" enamel coated brass disk etched with my artwork at a trophy shop. I get a new set made each year with the current date. I inlay them about 1/16" deep using 2" forstner bit.


http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Drum_table%252edb/Medallion.jpg


I put one inside a single drawer, unsigned as shown above, and I also place one underneath casework, or under table tops signed with a fine tipped Sharpie between coats of clear coat.

I think they look very professional and very classy.

[Joe Chritz]

If you know someone with a laser you could knock out an emblem on round anodized aluminum or something similar and inset it or otherwise attach it somewhere. It would be cheap to do and I have done hundreds of similar things for coat tags, key chains and the like.

It is one of my projects that hasn't gotten there yet. I sign cabinets up top somewhere under the finish.

Joe

[Gary Muto]

I used a sharpie and wasn't too happy. I got a branding iron from Rockler as an xmas gift and used successfully on the end grain of cutting boards among other things.

[Ray Scheller]

I too use an ink pad and stamp and recess a penny next to it. People have remarked that they liked it for posterity reasons.

[Warren Clemans]

I have always been fond of the signature that Krenov uses on his work--just a simple stylized "JK" carved with a knife or maybe a v-gouge. I don't remember if he included a date, but there's no reason why you couldn't. There are pictures in one of his books.

That said, I sign in pencil and then go over it with a wood burner with a fine tip.

[Lori Kleinberg]

I have been using a sharpie to sign my initials and the year of completion.
I have thought about a branding iron (electric) but they are costly:(

[Michael Gibbons]

http://brandnew.comis the company that made the branding iron for the NYW. You can get a generic iron or you can send them artwork and they'll make a custom one with a company logo or your name.

[Doug Schultz]

I sign it a vibrating etching tool before I oil or stain it. Subtle, yet readable.

[Steve Beadle]

On some of my projects I have used a set of alpha-numeric stamps, with a fence set up to get good alignment. Then I fill in the "incised" letters/numbers with a permanent ink Sharpie and finish as usual. Works for me! I think I bought the stamp set at Lee Valley, then made a holder with an inclined face to ease its use.