I’ve been building rods for some of my clients and several of them have asked me to put their names on the blanks. I have been using an extra fine pointed silver or gold paint pen. It works, but I can’t keep from thinking that there is something better out there than this.
What do some of you guys use to write on blanks?
Thanks guys
Phil
While I couldn’t think of anything better to use for writing (and I’ve actually never built a rod but have had my first one planned out for about 4 months now) I have a friend who runs a sign making business out of his basement. He can print anything you want onto a sticker and make a classy decal.
That is an option…
I use a place called decal connection. They have tons of fonts, and have metallic silver and gold ink, too. I really like the look of them.
One of the old school drafting pens was the Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Pen,
they come in different sized tips—they were the state of the art drafting pen before autocad. that would do the job nicely.
Decal Connection 110%.
Nothing gives a more personal touch and class, than hand written ink inscription on a custom rod.
Arkansas,
I use a calligraphy pen with a fairly small nib. I also use a water based ink that I get from a local craft shop. If you goof it up, wipe it off with a damp paper towel and start over. Best Regards…
try looking at performance fly rods site. his wife signs the rods with a quill pen. its really nice. it shows her doing it under the heading “pictures”.
I have used Gel-pens, heating the blank slightly with a hair dryer to soften the surface before writing on it.
Thanks as always for some great input. I’m interested in trying out all of the above on future rods to determine what I like the best. The decal thing sure does seem like the easiest method and I think that will work in many cases, but I also like an ink inscription. The water based ink sounds like something I might look into as well. By no means does this reply mean that if you have another suggestion that I don’t want to hear it.
Decals are NOT the easiest method, at least not to make them look “painted on”.
IMO machined labels look great. Hundreds of fonts are available and you can even have your signature digitized. When applied correctly, they definitely look just like they were directly inscribed.
Definitely get one label and give it a try. I started off inscribing by hand and wouldn’t dream of going back now.