writing on a bow

[Carey]

what is the best thing to write info on a bow with?

[Pat B]

I use India ink.

[Stump73]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Mike/Columbia Basin]

There are some pens sold for fishing rod building that work too but I like the india ink also. Cabelas tackle craft catologs have the pens.

[vanillabear?]

[4est trekker]

I use India ink.  Never had a problem with it.  I've tried a LOT of pens/inks, and this gives me the most professional results.  But, I'm left handed, so I'm already at a slight handicap  

[Eric Krewson]

I use white acrylic ink and a calligraphy pen.

[scrub-buster]

I use a sharpie PAINT pen with fine tip.  Picked it up at a craft store for a couple of bucks.

[Ranger44]

Eric's setup works great!  I have both black and white ink.

[Carey]

thanks for replys, where do I get India ink.

[Ranger44]

I found it at Hobby Lobby .  Any craft store or art supply shop should do.

[matts2]

I just picked up some white India Ink and a pen at Hobby Lobby today.  Never messed with this kind or writing, should be interesting.

[Shakes.602]

Mr. Krewson comes through again!    

[Sixby]

Yep, Ditto the artist pen and white , black and gold inks.
The ink is an acrylic and does not bleed when you finish over it. You also can write very small, sharp and precice.

God bless you all, Steve

[Eric Krewson]

Be sure to get the finest pen point you can find and practice a little first. The pen writes easily on paper, not so on wood. The best thing is if you goof up you can wipe off the lettering with a wet paper towel and start over, I start over a lot. If you get the kind of ink I bought be sure to stir it up, the pigment settles in the bottom of the jar.

I like white on osage because the darker the osage gets the more your lettering stands out.

 

[Tommy Leach]

Eric - do you finish your bows before lettering? Also, what type of finnish do you seal the lettering with?

[Eric Krewson]

The pen writes easier if you have the area to be lettered very, very smooth. I sand the area with fine sandpaper and go over my sanding with a green scotch brite pad and polish it. Next I apply three coats of Tru-oil, letter and add three more coats of Tru-oil over the lettering.

The finish of most of my bows consists of 6 or more coats of Tru-oil followed by a coat of satin Spar Urethane to dull the shine, the lettering gets a finish coat of spar.

[Eric Krewson]

One thing I forgot to mention is the pen tips wear out after a year or so and you will need another one. I found you can't fix a bent tip or one you drop on the point that shows no damage, they just won't write correctly.

I knocked my pen off my work bench the other day, looked like it hit on the point but didn't show any damage but just wouldn't make a fine line.I put a new point in my pen and the difference was like daylight and dark. I could make the finest line easily.

I made a bow that was auctioned to raise money for the Alabama's Children's Hospital. The guy that won the bow bid very generously to win. The bow was a righty and Tim is a lefty. To cover up the old rest when I swapped it to the other side I inletted a disc of highly figured osage burl wood over the R/H rest and put Tim's name in the circle.

Tim's bid was really huge so I made his wife a BBO as a "thank-you" note. I couldn't personalize Tim's bow without giving his wife's bow the same treatment so I did the same inletting on hers.

Long, boring story but my point is you can do some mighty fine lettering with a calligraphy pen with a new, extra fine point. New points only cost about a buck fifty so there is no reason not to change them out on regular basis. Here is an example of my latest attempt with my thumb in the picture to give the lettering size some perspective.

   

[bigcountry]

Do you guys sign in between the layers of Spar Urathane?

I see Eric where you first put tru oil on then spar.

But if you are going to use only spar, is that an issue?

[Eric Krewson]

If I am in a hurry I use spar only, one coat, let it dry, letter and add another coat or two over the lettering. I might not spray the whole bow three times but I do put a little extra over the lettering.