how to sign bowl?

[alex carey]

I've noticed some people sign the bottom of their bowl by burning the wood. Anyone know how to do that?

Alex

[Jeff Nicol]

Alex, There are a few ways to do this but most use a wood burning pen. They are basiclly a small soldering iron with interchangble tips for used in woodcarving for detailing and texturing. There are many styles and brands but most hobby or craft stores have them and most of the BORGS do also. There are some more expensive ones on the market that have better controls and heat settings. These are used by decoy makers and others who use them to pierce thier turnings and for texturing. More info will be posted as I don't have one yet to give you the specific names, brands etc. But if all you want it for is to sign the turning one of the inexpensive woodburning pens would do the job.


Hope this helps

Jeff

[Bill Blasic]

I have used a Cub Woodwriter burning system, a Dremel engraver and black Sharpies. My penmanship is not the greatest and when with burning or engraving it just seemed to make it worse. The Sharpie let me be neater but the ink would run with some finishes. I now use a Pygma Pen .005 in black I believe. This pen has not run with any finish I have used and allows me to put a decent signature on my work. For darker wood I use a Pygma in silver. These are available in the common art stores. I also tried one of the cheap woodburners and was frustrated after the first letter as they just cannot sustain the amount of heat needed to keep the steady flow of a signature. Now this is my preference as I know that Dick Sing signs with a burner and his signature is perfect and really small but I'll stick with the Pygma.

[Allen Neighbors]

Alex, I bought a little pen-type wood burner at Walmart. I've used that type for five years, and they did alright. I had to file the tip down to a finer point and then smooth it out with some 320 grit, to make it do the right size line for me.
Recently, I've graduated to a home-made burner that works like a charm. Someone on another forum made one, and had some pictures of it. It takes an old style Battery Charger, a rheostat switch like the ones that control the speed of a ceiling fan, and a couple of little terminal blocks, and some nichrome wire. I mounted mine on a scrap piece of plywood that I scabbed from another project. (Redneck engineering)
If you'll pm me, I'll send you a couple of pics of it. In fact, I'll try to post some in this thread. If they aren't in this post, there already on this forum.
I've posted pics on a couple of other forums, and maybe this one, but I can't be sure. If you'll google Battery Charger Wood Burner, you should be able to locate some information. Here's how it can be done:
Take the electric cord of the Charger, and run it through the dimmer switch, so when you plug it in, you can control the amount of power it receives.
Make a "pen handle" from a scrap of wood. Drill a hole through the pen that is big enough for the Charger pos and neg leads to go through. Cut a flat on one end of the pen that is large enough for a pair of terminal blocks to attach to. Cut off both battery clamps from the pos and neg leads, and run both wires through the handle. Connect each wire to a terminal (It doesn't matter which lead goes where). Attach a short (1") piece of 12 gauge stripped electrical wire to each terminal. Attach a terminal block to each wire (remove the plastic from them). Make your own writing tip from a piece of nichrome wire. This writing tip is made from 16 gauge wire, bent, flattened, filed, and smoothed.
Nichrome wire can be purchased from MachineTechEngineering - 990 N. Enterprise, #C - Orange, CA 92867
Just ask for the MollyWinton Pack of nichrome. 12.99 including shipping for three sizes, for just about any type tip you can dream up. I wish I'd known this 5 years ago. :D

[Dennis Peacock]

I've used a fine point Sharpies for a long time, but have moved to a simple Dremel engraver that works rather well. I just need to get back to turning again. ;)