I am in the process of building another rod. In the past I have used a gold leaf pen that has a fairly wide tip. It covered nice ,but I'm not happy with the result. I bought another pen that has a finer tip(ballpoint I think) but it skips when practicing on a scrap blank ( it writes well on paper). Do you scuff up the blank lightly first? Do you clean the blank with something prior to signing? Do you coat the fianl signature with rod finish at the end? I'm probably a week away from this step,but would like input. Thank you

------------------
"Illegitimus nil Carborundum"