Do you date your project?

I dremel tool and engrave my initials and date on the bottom of all projects. On small items I sign with a very sharp marker.

-- Genius is immediate, but talent takes time.

My Wife doesn’t let me date.

And I have asked.

-- Mark

Dang, Mark. You beat me by an hour.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

i use wood burning sometimes. other than that i don’t date my projects much.

I sign and date only my best ones. Which I haven’t got to yet. But I’m working on it! I like the penny idea.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Ok, ok. In all seriousness. I do sign my work with a woodburner from Rockler. I haven’t dated anything, but, I would like to. It would be nice to look back some day and know when something I made was actually made. I’m sure at that point I will not remember.

-- Mark

Yea Mark. Reminds me when I was dating in high school. There was this sweet ‘Butternut’ girl named ‘Holly’, always had a ‘Diamond’ in her ear, she was very ‘Poplar’, had a brother named ‘Burl’. And then there was ‘Laurel’, she was a real ‘Birch’. Oh yea, ‘Maple’, we called her ‘Curly’. I always liked ‘Cherry’, she was so ‘Robusta’ and was always on a ‘Benge’. There were others, and they all had a ‘Purpleheart’.

-- Ron in Osseo, Minnesota

Is that midwest humor?

Dang. You beat me by 11 hours (and had far more than I had thought of)

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

I sign and date my stuff because I want to remember when I did that, or why I did that, or what I was drinking when I did that.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I have stamped furniture with date and initials using letter (and number) dies. Musical instruments I use a pencil to sign and put the year inside on the top near the neck block.

-- Maplewood, MN

I brand each of my project with a stamp I picked up from Rockler it think. It includes a date stamp along the bottom. My problem is remembering to change the date (I think I still need to do that this year.)

-- Greg - Charles Town, WV

I had a rather blue comment ready but remembered there are children present. So, I too have a branding iron from Rockler my wife bought me as a Christmas present. I’d like to get the add on date brands from Rockler.

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

Doubt that any of my projects will be around for any great length of time, but I have started signing and dating the stuff I make. What got me started was not knowing the age and maker of a table that was handed down in our family and goes back to at least my great-great-grandmother. The gentleman that made it was a maker of “Stottlemyer” rocking chairs.

Lew

I woo the wood as much as possible before it really understands what I plan to do with it

-- Pretzel L8agn

Once, back in high school, I pined over a girl because she wooden let me date her. -SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Dating is a good idea. I don’t know about the penny thing, for me at least. At present, all I do is burn in my name with one of those branding irons.

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/

I always pencil in my signature, & date, then I go over it with an vibrating engraver.

Lately I’ve been going over them with an indelible marker.

When I first started carving I didn’t do so, & is it ever hard to remember when you did it.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

When I started I was dating my work with the month and the year, mostly to remember when I did what. I made some progress in the mean time and I’m dating my work using only the year. I always sign my work unless it is a woodturning I do not intend to finish.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

I have always dated, signed and numbered all my projects especially birdhouses.

-- John in Cranbrook http://www.extremebirdhouse.com ....http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

We are really lucky to have a laser engraver. If there is a piece small enough to fit in the engraver I burn our logo and the date into it. If not I have a ready made cutout that the laser does out of veneer that I apply somewhere out of sight.

-- Chris ( Eaglewoods@sbcglobal.net )

I know a woodworker that takes the time to write out a brief history of the piece- wood species, date, construction techniques, finish, everything. Then she applies it to the underside of a drawer, dust panel, someplace hidden, and finishes over it to protect it. She feels that when her grandchildren or whoever owns it finds it, it will provide them a link back to her and her craft.

-- Furniture Medic- the prescription for damaged furniture

Wow Myron! Now that will be real interesting for someone to read 100 years from now.

-- Ron in Osseo, Minnesota

I date my projects and sign them (if they came out nice). On my “Special” projects I use a plastic Medallion that I buy from the Wooden Post.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

I date and sign the ones I like with a burning pen and India ink

the rest just get burned in with a stamp

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

I never date outside my own wood species.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"