Zebrawood Bowl-ish

[Matt Wolboldt]

Hey guys. This is a zebrawood bowl with tung oil finish and beall buffed. 7"x1.5". Comments as always are welcome. I'm still working on how to sign the bowl. I'm thinking that a woodburning pen would work for me, but I need to locate one. Any suggestions would be great.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice looking bowl Matt! Rich color, beautiful grain and I like the slanted rim! Can't help you with the woodburning pen - I use an archival black ink pen.

[Matt Wolboldt]

Steve,

Do you apply that before the finish? And does the pen get absorbed into the wood if you do?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Matt - the pen I use is called a Millennium and it uses a pigment ink - like the old India ink. It's Archival Quality, acid-free, lightfast, waterproof, fade proof and non-bleeding (I'm reading this off the side of the pen) They come in different tip sizes and the one I have is an 08.

As soon as I remove the turning from the lathe, once sanding is completed, I write my name, type of wood and date on the bottom. I then walk over to the finishing room (my tablesaw) and apply either Watco Danish Oil or Minwax Wipe-On Gloss Poly. As long as you wait a minute or so after writing to give the ink a chance to dry - so won't have any problems. I've only had the ink smudge a little one time because I immediately applied oil and rubbed it into the wood. Duh! It wasn't bad - just one of those things where I wasn't thinking.

Just an option for you to think about. I know a few folks who engrave their info. Lots of options!

[Richard Madison]

Hey Steve, Who sells the Millennium pen? And will it write on finished (but non-oily) surfaces?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Richard, I picked this up at our local Ben Franklin but I am sure any 'craft' type store would carry something like it. I just tried it on a candleholder that I turned back in 3-06, finished with Watco - so I am sure it is about as cured as it is going to get... let the ink sit for about 1 minute and then grabbed a towel - it wiped right off. So, works great on bare wood but wouldn't count on it working to well on a cured surface!

[Mike Minto]

Matt, I like the bowl very much - it's very shiny, and that accentuates the contrast of the dark rings and lighter wood. Re signing, I just use a $10 soldering iron from HF - not the best, but it works just fine for an amateur like me. Mike

[Jim Underwood]

I'm using an engraver I bought at Harbor Freight. Turned on as low as possible, with a light hand - works better than a Sharpie. Then I rub the finish into it to seal the deal.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bowl. I have never had much luck signing a piece after finish has been applied. I use basically the same pen as Steve does. I have tried burning with a pencil soldering iron but just not steady enough to make it look good and don't want to spend the big bucks for a nice burning kit.

[Ben Gastfriend]

I really like the zebrawood, and the finish looks great. I use a pen, like Steve.