[fyshstykr]

I have always had difficulty "signing" rods that I've built, I am curious as to what methods and or pens other people use?

Thanks for your help in advance. J.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi fyshstykr,

The style of pin that a drafter uses works well but they are not cheap and they are a pain to keep the tip clean. If you have an engineering friend he may have one you can try. They come in different line widths. The smaller ones are the ones that you have to keep after to keep clean.

MudHole has an inexpensive pen called the "India Ink Pen". This is what they sell to write on the rod. They also sell a very thin, clear membrain that you can write on and then attach to the rod.

Frank

Rapidograph Pen


Tip for Pen

[fyshstykr]

Thank you Frank, I will look into this.

[GreatBay]

Hi fyshstykr,

My company uses a dry transfer process to "sign" and label our rods-

Custom DRY TRANSFERS and no-carrier DECALS in 5 minutes with "DecalPRO"

Although the kit is expensive to begin with it only costs pennies and you can label a ton of stuff.

Dave Gibson

[fyshstykr]

Thanks G.B.,
That is a neat sounding set-up, will check out some more when the up date is done on the sight.
J.

[markwaldin]

Here is another very inexpensive way to create nice graphics and text. Buy some clear adhesive label stock for a laser printer. I use return address labels. Print the graphics you want using a laser printer on the label stock.

Get some gold foil or gold dust (or silver) from a craft store like Michaels. Cover the graphic completely. Don't worry if you are using bits and pieces of foil or if the foil overlaps...doesn't matter. Cover the whole thing with a second piece of plain paper.

Use a hot iron set on cotton and iron the two sheets of paper pretty thoroughly. Separate the sheets and dust off the gold dust with a mildly stiff brush. The gold will adhere to the black laser ink but not the clear label.

Stick the label on your rod and you are done!

This is not perfect as the label stock does have a slight opaque background similar to scotch tape but it still looks pretty good.

mark waldin
Flycatcher Incorporated
Custom Fly Rod

[GreatBay]

Mark,
Thanks for that- it seems similar to the DecalPro method, except they use a special transfer paper and a fabric spray adhesive and just the lettering or logo will stick to the blank.
In addition you can get a waterslide decal made as a one-off by a company called Decal Connection- they are well known in the custom rodbuilding circles