Whenever I'd build anything in the shop, I'd use a magic marker-type pen to write:
"my name" "city" and "date" on the underside or a shielded part of the project. If you've not though to do it, it's a good time to start, and makes a project much more appreciated when given as a gift.
That is oh-so yesterday. These days, a fella slides his debit card down the strippers crack.
Yes it does. Not so much now, but it will later. It doesn't mean much if it says "Christmas, 2007", but it does if it says "Christmas
1977".When visiting my sister a year or so ago, she pulled out a little keepsake box I made for her in 1968. We know it was because I burned my initials and the date on it with my woodburning tool. The box was completely cut with a hand saw, sanded to death, and had some kind of stain infused colored finish that I also put on the hinges.
I was kind of touched she kept it for over 40 years. She told me that every time she runs across it when cleaning she smiles.
Robert
An easy way to do this is to print your labels with a laser printer (or copier - print a whole sheet and cut them out) then put one down and apply the finish over it. If you find the right kind of paper, it will turn transparent when you apply the finish so only the letters remain. Sorry, can't recommend a specific paper (onionskin comes to mind), but a copy shop should be able to print up a variety of paper stocks for you to experiment with for a few cents per sheet. Using a computer/laser printer you can print very small, and you can embed designs or logos, or use "creative" fonts.
Yet another way is to use the heat transfer paper hobbyists use to make their own printed circuit boards. You print the pattern reversed on this special paper with a laser printer (or copier), then transfer the design onto whatever you want by ironing it. I think I've even seen special paper for making T-shirts this way.
I provide some of my customers with a provenance of the article I made for them. This includes photos taken from each stage of manufacture from the planks of wood to the finished job.
One box owner told me it made his box very special. The box was for his subbuteo players and has now travelled around most of Europe as he plays in many international tournaments.
Alan Retired ...so yes I do have all day!
Yes it does. Not so much now, but it will later. It doesn't mean much if it says "Christmas, 2007", but it does if it says "Christmas
1977".When visiting my sister a year or so ago, she pulled out a little keepsake box I made for her in 1968. We know it was because I burned my initials and the date on it with my woodburning tool. The box was completely cut with a hand saw, sanded to death, and had some kind of stain infused colored finish that I also put on the hinges.
I was kind of touched she kept it for over 40 years. She told me that every time she runs across it when cleaning she smiles.
Robert
I use a branding iron.
Regards,
Tom Watson
I think there are a couple of my shop cabinets with my blood on them. Does that count?
I carve initials & year on an under-side spot.
Sonny
Woodcraft sells an electric wood burning "branding iron" that says "Hand Crafted by (name). You can order it and specify name or organization for name. Our daughter got me one for Christmas a few years ago and it works pretty well.
RonB
I owe you a big, "Thanks," since I hate sounding my age.
One of my uncles taught me to sign my work, and he always signed his. This was back in the 1950's. Then, one day he was at a yard sale and saw something familiar. Somebody had put one of his ash trays out for sale. He bought it himself, and never gave them anything again.
"Sonny" wrote
Only if you are selling to the vampire market.
I guess I'm a bit fussy about "Hand Crafted". If I used power tools, it ain't so - at least in my view. That's why my branding iron, also from Woodcraft, says "From the shop of (name)".
FUSSY.... Yikes! What a nice way to say it. Did your hands guide the saw and set it up to cut? Did you mark and measure? Did you sand and finish?
Or was it cut out on a CNC machine, sanded by a CNC machine, assembled by machines that glued, pressed and joined the materials, then sprayed it with robotic arms to apply the finish and cured the finish in an ultraviolet oven?
Using a strict standard, Duncan Phyfe and his contemporaries could not claim "hand crafted" work. He used steam and water power, as did those that prepared lumber for his use. He had a cadre of apprentices that worked under him as well as fellow craftsmen that assisted him in his efforts. It seems to be an unsure bit of ground (given his output) to determine how much Duncan Phyfe is Duncan Phyfe.
It's great to hold yourself to that ultrahigh standard, but remember, NOTHING you will make will make the absolute of "hand crafted". I don't think people expect you t brew your own finishes, make your own sandpaper, mill your own boards or use a hand plane to smooth out all of the mill marks from rough sawn lumber (sawed by a machine), or to hand plane your boards to thickness.
It's OK to use some power tools. Trust me...
But if you exclude one, you should exclude them all. Not just the ones you want. Then even your branding iron would actually be an iron made by a smith, heated in a hot fire.
Robert
I bought a branding iron from these guys:
I struggled with the language "handcrafted by...from the shop of... created by..." for a while until I concluded that when artists sign their work they don't write "Painted by...." and neither should I.
My signature is illegible so that wasn't a good choice
They will accept a PDF file as a spec so I could make anything I wanted. I settled on a slightly stylized version of my initials and surname. It's as much a logo as a "signature".
-Steve
I went with the "Handcrafted By..." one because, "Built According To The Ethic Of The Workmanship Of Risk" was too long.
Regards,
Tom Watson
Well, my daughter chose the wording when she ordered the gift.
But I personally don't see a problem with "hand-crafted". By the time I band-saw, glue and form (with drum sander or rasps) the 90 to 100 pieces of hardwood it takes to make a rocking horse or similar item, even using mostly Norm tools, I feel like it is hand crafted.
I was given a branding iron, but after using it a few times, decided to go back to my old handwritten version. Typically, I'd print out: Nonny Nonnymus Raleigh, NC Christmas 1991
The branding iron didn't let me insert a date and I also felt that since I had made the gift or item, that the handwritten note was more personal. If the item had been intended for commercial distribution, which nothing was, then the more professional brand would be my choice as well.
If you're a one-man operation and your hands are causing the thing to be built, then why shouldn't you be able to make that claim? If machines are building it (even if it's your design) in a production line, or if you're having hired labor do it for you, then shame on you if you make that same claim.
Even if the hired labor is a bunch of Amish lads who work exclusively and exquisitely with hand tools?
Hand tools?
There is an Amish community west of Wichita, Kansas with a couple of furniture making operations. One of them has a showroom in front of the shop and they have some very nice stuff. In true Amish fashion, the showroom is plumbed with gas a illumination is by gas light. We were leaving one day and walked past the open shop doors and I did a double take.. Then a third take. The shop would have turned Norm Abrams green. All new power tools. I queried in town about the fully mechanized work shop and was told they don't own the equipment. It is leased. And that is fine.
Also dropped into an Amish furniture store in Eureka Springs Arkansas a few years ago where we eventually purchased a bed. I was admiring a large and very nicely done walnut plaque with carving of the Lord's Prayer surrounded by grapes. Then I looked at the one next to it and it was identical. I asked the salesperson how long the Amish had been doing laser etching. She smiled are responded "Well, they farm some of their stuff out to the Mennonites."
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