Getting a tool "signed" - how?
 

I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear

bugbear wrote:

I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear

If you're going to retire the tool then just a sharpie will do. I like
the idea of the resist-covered tool & scribe, but you may want to
experiment with it first, and remember that you'll get all the scratches
in the resist as well as the signature, so wrap it in something soft
coming and going.

The sharpie itself may be good enough resist -- you could have him sign
it, then paint resist around the signature leaving a rectangular box,
then etch out everything in the box but not on the signature. Again,
you should experiment first.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Depending on the tool, a good sharp awl will work fine. I've got a bunch
of steel tools that my grandfather signed (to keep them from walking).
Looks as much like his signature as the ones I have on the some of his
old books. Probably wouldn't work on plate though.

bugbear wrote:

I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear


You could have him sign with a Sharpie, then scan the signature with a
flatbed scanner into a graphics file. Then a laser engraving company
could use that file to engrave the signature where it was signed. They
might do it cheap for the novelty of it.

Fred

You could have him sign with a Sharpie, then scan the signature with a
flatbed scanner into a graphics file. Then a laser engraving company
could use that file to engrave the signature where it was signed. They
might do it cheap for the novelty of it.

Fred

Fred,
Good idea. But it raises a question. Is this not forging a signature? You
are in fact duplicating a signature.

On a funny side note, you can in fact forge your own signature by using the
wrong date.

Chris wrote:

You could have him sign with a Sharpie, then scan the signature with a
flatbed scanner into a graphics file. Then a laser engraving company
could use that file to engrave the signature where it was signed. They
might do it cheap for the novelty of it.

Fred



Fred,
Good idea. But it raises a question. Is this not forging a signature? You
are in fact duplicating a signature.





It would only be forgery if the intent was to deceive or defraud. For
example, if more than one engraving were done and each presented as the
original, say for financial gain, that would be forgery.

"Chris" wrote in message ...
You could have him sign with a Sharpie, then scan the signature with a
flatbed scanner into a graphics file. Then a laser engraving company
could use that file to engrave the signature where it was signed.

Good idea. But it raises a question. Is this not forging a signature?
You are in fact duplicating a signature.

It's very difficult to have an original laser-etched signature. g

I like the sharpie resist method (if necessary, ask him to go over it twice,
or use a circuit board resist pen). Might have to use some gnarly acids to
work with chrome plating though.

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 15:53:18 -0500, "Tim Williams"
wrote:

"Chris" wrote in message ...
You could have him sign with a Sharpie, then scan the signature with a
flatbed scanner into a graphics file. Then a laser engraving company
could use that file to engrave the signature where it was signed.

Good idea. But it raises a question. Is this not forging a signature?
You are in fact duplicating a signature.

It's very difficult to have an original laser-etched signature. g

I like the sharpie resist method (if necessary, ask him to go over it twice,
or use a circuit board resist pen). Might have to use some gnarly acids to
work with chrome plating though.

Tim

You can electrostrip chrome with muriatic acid.

I'd mill down a flat, say 1/8" + deep. Have it signed there with a
Sharpie. Then get some 1/8" acrylic to cover it.

bugbear wrote:

I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear

Don Foreman wrote:
You can electrostrip chrome with muriatic acid.

That's interesting. Have you done it? If so, what are the basic
requirements (acid strength, voltage, current, polarity, any special
requirement for the other pole)? How fast is it?

Thanks,
Bob

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 15:51:58 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:
You can electrostrip chrome with muriatic acid.

That's interesting. Have you done it? If so, what are the basic
requirements (acid strength, voltage, current, polarity, any special
requirement for the other pole)? How fast is it?

I haven't done it; my reference is Caswell's Plating Manual. 2
parts acid to 1 part water. Polarity would be workpiece positive.
Cathode (other pole) might be chrome, stainless or carbon. Voltage
would be fairly low, maybe 3 volts or so. Strip rate would vary with
current. Chrome plating takes a lot of current -- an amp per sq in
or so -- stripping might be similar.

Caswell also offers an alkaline chrome stripper that requires current.
I haven't tried that either. The advantage to the alkaline stripper
is that it doesn't attack underlying nickel.

Tim Wescott wrote:
bugbear wrote:

I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear


If you're going to retire the tool then just a sharpie will do. I like
the idea of the resist-covered tool & scribe, but you may want to
experiment with it first, and remember that you'll get all the scratches
in the resist as well as the signature, so wrap it in something soft
coming and going.

The sharpie itself may be good enough resist -- you could have him sign
it, then paint resist around the signature leaving a rectangular box,
then etch out everything in the box but not on the signature. Again,
you should experiment first.


Thanks for the tips. The substantive part of the tool is non-plated
fine cast iron, with some good large areas for signing.

I'll look into resist/etch ideas.

BugBears

bugbear writes:

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?

I have no idea whether it can work on steel tools, but I've actually
used those, on aluminum. I used to work at a place where we used pens
with a special ink that contained an acid, to write serial numbers and
other data onto completed products built from aluminum parts machined
in-house.

-tih
--
Don't ascribe to stupidity what can be adequately explained by ignorance.

A 12 V lantern battery, Sam's Club 500 W inverter, and engraver/dremel?
Oh yeah, 'n' a backpack... :)
----------------------------
Mr. P.V.'d
formerly Droll Troll
"bugbear" wrote in message
...
I have a chance coming up to meet the founding CEO
of a tool company.

I own some (nice) tools made by this company.

Assuming I can sweet talk the person into
signing my tool, how should I prepare?

Do I need a fountain pen full of acid?
A resist covered tool and a scribe?

This will be at a trade show, so facilities
are limited - I can't turn up with a powered up
vibro-engraver!

Suggestions gratefully received.

BugBear