I am having all sorts of problems signing my rods. I bought a fine point pen and white ink from Jann's Netcraft. When I sign the rod I have no problems and it looks very nice - BUT when I go to put the finish over it - it always smears!
I even tried putting color preserver over it first - but that caused it to smear also. I have been waiting an hour or so - is it possible it is not dry yet?
Do most of you put color preserver over the ink first. Am I missing something?
On my last rod I finally gave up and used a silver colored Sharpie but it does not look as nice as the white ink.
Would appreciate any help.
thanks,
Greg

You have to let them dry. I heat it with a hair dryer. Once then I wate 15 min. then do it again just to make sure. Put some on a piece of scrape blank and do both. This way you don't stick your finger in the one on the rod and smear it, do it to the scrap

Greg,
If you will go to your local hobby store and get one of the little bottles of acrylic paint and apply it with your dip pen I think that you will have much better luck. You can apply it and a few minutes later put epoxy over it and will not smear.

Greg, you might want to try dabbing the c.p. onto the inscription, rather than brushing it on. Another alternative is to let it dry overnight before applying finish. Bob Vasko

Just a thought since I haven't done this yet, but you could also try a clear spray over it. Something like what others have mentioned for sealing the writing on their water slide decals with.

Mark

Get a can of Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic spray. Spray a light coat after your inscription has dried from about 10 inches away, it doesn't take much, and let it dry about an hour before applying your finish and you won't have any problem with smearing.

Bob

Thanks for all the ideas. Hopefully I'll get it right this time. I think maybe I was not allowing it to dry enough.

Greg

Bob Crook is right on; heed the word LIGHT coat in his message. Even a heavy coat of this sometimes smears the writing. A light coat will be no problem whatsoever.

Hummm What I do I use a quill pen and then I take craft acrylic art pain and thin it down to where I get a nice flow from the quill. after it has dried on the rod maybe 10 min. I give it one thine coat of C/P going in one direction only. Also I take a gray Scotch Brite pad and deglaze just the area I am going to write on
Good Wraps Bob

Greg,
I had the same problem when I tried my first signature right before Christmas. I used a Sanford Uniball Gold Gel pen. Scuffed the blank alittle where I wanted to write with a Scotch Brite pad, then went on to scribe a beautiful sig which promptly smeared like crazy as I tried to put on some CP. I wiped the whole mess off with Alcohol (had a little myself) then tried it again. This time I used a hint that I picked up on this board. After blowing it with the hair dryer for a few mins, I covered it with my wife's hair spray. Just a brief shot from about 8-10 in away and then let it dry again. It actually worked!
Sadly, my great sig is displayed from under a pretty crappy finish job, but hey... one problem at a time! Am I wrong to think that the coat of finish over a sig only needs to be thick enough to coat it and not build it up? I guess you can put it on, then wipe it off with something like a coffee filter to get the thickness you need?
See you guys in Charlotte.

Jeff

Jeff
Less is more on the inscription covers. Too much finish is real hard to get a nice, smooth surface on.

I use a gel pen which, in my experience, smears if you look at it wrong. I use Artists Spray Fixatif, Krylon and Grumbacher both make the stuff. It does the same thing the Krylon Clear does, but you can more easily remove it if you want.

Greg,

I'm sort of a rookie myself, I have a terrible hand so I have chosen to use decals from Decal Connection, one of the sponsors. I think that he can even create decals using your own signature. It's an option that I have used with great success.

Art