I'm new at woodworking and have been making some things out of oak for relatives. How can I put my initials on my work? I don't want to pound them in -- maybe burning is the way to go? I thought that inscribing initials with a dremel might be the way to go, but I need some sort of template or I'm sure that I'll mess it up. But I haven't seen any templates for routing with a dremel. Any ideas for other ways to do this stuff?
How do you folks "sign" handmade wood projects?
Terry
I use a Sharpie felt tip pen.
One day I had nothiung to do, so I decided to waste the afternoon by making astamp with my initial with the plan to use a propane torch to get it hot and press into the wood.
My initial are MG. The M is easy to file, the G was made out of two pieces, a tube and a mating insert. Hell, I surprise myself in doing a reasonable job. The M was made out of a 3/8 hex bolt, head filed to an offset cuboid, one face flush with the shank. Basically, two cylinders fastened parallel with two screws. The screws are also holding to L shaped brackets acting as handles. The handles edges on the top surfaces are cut to look like an arrow to indicate the proper alignment. The type must be made in mirror image, of course. The handle gets hot by the time you have the tip cherry red, because my propane torch is barely adequate to heat the tip quickly.
You could save a lot of work by buying a redy made stencil punch but you loose on the primary reason to sign the work, which in my opinion is to add one more personal touch.
Happy filing, grinding and drilling and taping. You should also post to rec.woodwork
MG
Some suppliers sell custom made branding irons just for this purpose.
Try Rockler at
Charlie
I sign them with initial-dot-last name and the year, usually on the back, underside or bottom of a drawer. Either use a small gouge, soldering iron, or pencil--no template. I like the year, as I often forget when I made the piece.
Thanks all -- great ideas -- I'll look into each one. I like the idea of burning initials and year. Not sure if I would buy or make the branding irons.
Terry
Alan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Or you could make one by bending steel wire to shape and then heating it in a torch flame.
"Terry Vacha" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com:
I also wonder if you could use a cheap set of steel metal stamps like what's available from Harbor Freight,the larger 1/4"ones.With letters and
0-9 numerals;heat them up and use then as stamps.They would no longer be useful for stamping metal,though,the temper would be gone.They're only $5- 10 a set at HF.On 12/11/2004 8:41 PM US(ET), Terry Vacha took fingers to keys, and typed the following:
How about the hobby type woodburning set? Looks like a small electronics soldering iron. I had one as a kid. They still can be had for about $10 US.
Heh Jim, that is a great idea. After reading your post, I found a Harbor Freight within a 30 min drive -- first time I had been there. I found some
1/8" stamps on sale for $3, but spent more than that before I got out of there -- neat place.Terry
"Terry Vacha" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com:
You're welcome! I love browsing through the local HF,it's only 1/4 mile from my apartment.
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