I am completing a rod and want to put the owner's name on it. I have uses gold and silver jel pens on tests, and the epoxy finish tends to smear the writing. Is there a way to successfully complete this task and keep the lettering from smearing?

Phil,
I just did this last night and had success. First, I used extra-fine steel wool to roughen up the blank slightly where I wanted to write. Then, after writing, I sprayed that area of the blank with clear acrylic enamel in a spray can (available at hardware, paint and craft stores). I let that dry and then applied epoxy. No runs whatsoever!

Good luck!

Anyone else have another solution?

I use Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic spray. One quick shot from about 10 inches, hair dryer on low for 3 or 4 minutes and apply the finish.

Phil,
You can get nice decals from decal connection in just a couple of days but if you want to write on the blank I think that you will have better results with a pen and acrylic paint. A number of years ago I tried the gel pens but was never very satisfied with the results. A regular dip type ink pen and the acrylic paint, available in any hobby shop in any color you want, does a much nicer job. It can be applied to the blank without any preparation of the blank and it will dry so that you can put a coat of epoxy over it in 10 or 15 minutes.

Phil.

I use Flexcoat colour preserver. I apply directly from the squeeze bottle it comes in. I never directly touch the ink with a brush and let the liquid flow over the area. After a drying for a day, epoxy can be brushed over the area without smearing. the ink.

Cheers,
Robin.

Phil:

Let the jell dry for a while. I ran into this but found that if I let the ink dry, it doesn't smear. Also used acrylic spray with success. Don't push your sealer over the letters. Let the sealer run over the letters. Have fun
Randy

Randy made two very important points here. Let me add some details from my poor experience.
1) Let the ink dry for at least 24 hours.
2) Just let the sealer run over the letters in "waves".
3) Do not touch inscription directly with brush or any "hard item".

I hope this helps You.

I use them all the time. The trick is to heat it with a hair drier. I heat it then let it sit for about 15 minutes then heat again to make sure

Clear acrylic spray works wonders on easy to smear ink.