i,m new to rod building and am looking for a little advice. i am looking for something to write names and such on small diameter blanks. everything ive used has to wide of ink or paint pattern. secondly advice on rod finishes 4 lite freshwater rods. been using cabelas and flex coat reg build.

Mike, click on the Flex Coat Co. web site on the left. They have a video on how to sign rods that I think you will find helpful.

thanks ellis, exactly what i was looking for!

Jann's Netcraft carries a pen holder, pen points and colored inks that work very well.

Most hobby stores or office supply stores have what you are looking for. I have found that Testors metalic gold or silver paint works better that gold or silver ink. It holds the color better. Make sure you practice on scrap, but you can wipe it off with denatured alchohol or thinner

I am with Rusty on this one.
I use conventional pen and nibbs by scripto. These nibs are readily available at most art supply stores, many of the box stores as well as craft stores.

I have tried many many different india inks, other inks, acrylic inks etc. I have really found none of them to work as well as the use of Testors Metallic paints.

The use of these paints work very very well.

One very important thing to remember is to keep your pen very very clean. If the center line of the pen gets clogged with hardened media, it will no longer let the media flow.

Use a compatible cleaner or thinner to insure that the pen nib stays very clean. Also, after cleaning the pen, be sure that all of the thinner has been removed from the pen before using the pen again. Otherwise the media will be too thin and will run.

Take care
Roger