Stupid Human Tricks...

[Jim Frye]

Normally, I sign my work in one of two ways. Furniture gets a paper label soaked in varnish, glued to an inconspicuous place, and then varnished over to seal it to the finished piece. Smaller things that will be handled get my initials and the date carved into the bottom and then infilled with wood putty, sanded flush, and varnished over. I had the bottom of the newly turned bowl carved and discovered I had no wood putty, so I mixed up some glue and maple sanding dust, and troweled it in. The resulting fill doesn't look anything like the maple bowl bottom surrounding the inlay. Stupid me, again.

[jacobs]

I’ve had that happen too when the filler didn’t match the wood. Next time, I’d check Lowe’s for better color-matching putty, and their return policy makes it easy to swap if it’s not right, so you can get the finish looking exactly how you want without wasting supplies.

[capncarl]

I have a different take on signing my work. All Tiny Trees, Tiny Mushrooms and Tiny Tables that I craft for sales are signed with my first and last name, type wood and finish type then dated. I use a contrasting colored ink pin on the bottom of the item on raw wood and then heavy past wax it.

When i make something special for someone I write something short on an inconspicuous part if the item. For example, I recently completed several “special “ Tiny Trees” for my granddaughters. On each one I wrote in cursive , “Made for my granddaughter xxxxxxxx by first name last name, day, month, year. I’ve done simular signings on everything I make for gifts to friends and relatives. A co-worker requested a dining room table for his wife’s Christmas present. In return he would give me enough wood for me to build my wife a dining room table. For his table he scooped up a pile of junk wood from the demolition of his grandparents falling down barn and dumped it on my trailer. This trailer full of wood turned into a trash pile and I was unable to find enough usable wood for the table. I did find a whole busted up painted table though. Discussion with the co-worker revealed that this busted table was his great grandmothers kitchen table that had been saved from their old farmhouse. I was able to salvage the 4 old turned legs and the top boards. I turned the legs to remove many years of old paint and glued up the top boards to become the base for a barn pine glued on top. I wrote who the table was built for, that it was built out of wood from grandmothers barn and great grandmothers kitchen table. Signed and dated.
I believe that by leaving a note and information adds personal meaning and will be treasured by their descendants.
Many times I find hand built furniture and crafts at flea markets and antique shops than have no markings, dates or signature, making it impossible to identify who, what, when or why it was built.
My grandfather unknowingly taught me to do this. In his later years he made cute magazine racks for his adult children and some grandchildren. He didn’t sign or date any of these racks, not even scratch his initials in with a nail. I finally tracked down and acquired my late mother’s rack. I intend to copy this magazine rack for gifts to my children and grandchildren, and maybe cousins. They will definitely be signed and dated and will have a short paragraph about how they originated. Sad that family history is lost by unsigned good intentions.
capncarl