Woodburning tip for signing

[Alex Ku]

Guys,
what woodburning pen tip do you use for work signing?
I've settled on getting Razortip burner. As for pens there is Razertip pen tip that seems to be good for signing - #F99.008 - Ball stylus 0.8 mm
(small ball soldered to the tip)
It's their smallest smallest ball tips available. [FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]

Does anyone here embellish their turning with pyrography? What pen styles do you you use?

I used to do some woodburning back in the day when I was growing up in Soviet Union. My woodburner had only two settings: one and off and was getting too hot within 2-3 minutes [/FONT][FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]to hold of usage [/FONT][FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]but for some reason I preferred it to marching [/FONT][FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]with other Young Pioneers [/FONT][FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]and singing songs about our fearless leaders
[/FONT]
[FONT=book antiqua,times new roman,times]Any advise is appreciated.

Thank you,
Alex [/FONT]

 

[Alex Ku]

Just got a reply from Dedra. She owns www.nedradenison.com online store.

She recommends to get a "round heeled knife" pen.

 

[n7bsn]

I use a 0.4mm tip from Treeline. With a pair of mag-eyes, I can sign under the clip of most pens

 

[waltben]

This is what I use: http://www.woodburning.com/toolshop/detail.asp?iPro=263&iType=26

I rounded off the bottom a bit, but normally use it point first and very gently at high temp. That burns the wood a bit, but is easy to control in spite of grain.

 

[Vaughn]

Alex, I use the .8mm ball point burning pen from Razertip to label my pieces, and have been happy with it. The only shortcomings I've found have been on the part of the operator.

 

[Charles Henderson]

Another vote for the .8mm ball. My Razortip SK was bought for me from CSUSA, but I like to deal with Treeline.

Just got a reply from Dedra. She owns www.nedradenison.com online store.

She recommends to get a "round heeled knife" pen.

Judging by her work, she is definitely an expert. However, my own experience leads me to disagree. Any tip that is too sharp (even the .4mm and the sharp "writing" tips) can easily cause a dig in any time I am moving the pen away from my hand (upstroke of letters such as C or G, and down stroke on letters such as D or B). Just my humble opinion, but I've experimented with making dozens of different tips for the interchangeable post pen. A lot of them are useless just from me trying to figure out what works for me. So, I find the .8mm to be the best balance, depending on type of wood, of course (softer wood, thicker tip).

 

[Barbara Gill]

I use the ball and find it is very easy to get a good signature.

 

[Mark Warden]

Does anyone know if these tips will work on a DETAIL MASTER pen.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I use a very fine tip that has been sharpened to be needle sharp. Make sure to hold the tip perpendicular to the surface and NOT at an angle as you would normally hold a writing instrument. Use a very light touch and a low-medium heat. Keep the pen tip moving. Wood that has a great deal of difference in hardness between early and late wood will always be difficult when it comes to writing. Do a lot of practicing before signing a bowl bottom.

 

[Vaughn]

Does anyone know if these tips will work on a DETAIL MASTER pen.

The .8mm version I have from Razortip is integrated into the pen. From the looks of this list, Detail Master doesn't make a ball point tip for their replaceable tip burning pens.

http://www.detailmasteronline.com/pen_tips.html

 

[Robert Groover]

I'm just starting to get some pieces worth signing, so this is a useful topic - thanks!

I'd thought about signing in ink first - maybe with a callibraphy brush - and using that as a template for burning. Is that a silly idea? I just don't want to ruin a good bowl with a bad signature.

I've also thought about getting a custom branding iron, and using that. Do woodturners do that?

Thanks,

 

[n7bsn]

Robert

SWMBO gave me a custom iron one year, works fine on flat work. But I can't get my bowl bottoms flat enough for it to work there.

 

[Mark Warden]

Thanks Vaughn I went to Razortips web site turns out they sell an adapter plug for there pens to plug into my base.One on the way.

 

[Vaughn]

Thanks Vaughn I went to Razortips web site turns out they sell an adapter plug for there pens to plug into my base.One on the way.

Glad you got it sorted out, Mark. I've got Razortip and Detail Master pens, and plug them both into a Burnmaster power unit. The plugs are all various audio connectors, so Radio Shack is another source for adaptors.

 

[S. Clark]

I use a 6A (detailmaster) that has been filed/honed to a bit smaller diameter. The tip feels and writes much like a ballpoint pen.

- Scott