Some days you should just stay in bed

[Deerhunter21]

 

one of my first board bows. didnt know anything and the tiller was off on a limb. they were both good tillers just one was bending more. grabbed a spokeshave and took the stiff side down to A 5# bow. 20# to a # pound in 5 pulls.

[DC]

I've never understood why someone would want to basically do localized damage to a working area of the bow.  We take all kinds of steps to preserve the integrity of the belly and then burn or stamp the fibers right where a chrysal would form?  No thanks.

 Used to be quite common in the past too.

I have to agree with you. I think it started with wanting to mark it in a primitive manner. Then in a moment of vanity I thought that a burned in mark would be impossible to remove without ruining the bow thereby marking it forever as mine. As it turned out most of them are hanging on the wall so it was really an exercise in futility. That said I have never had an issue with the mark damaging the bow. As I venture further into the search for speed it may bite me. How do you mark your bows Pat?

[bradsmith2010]

I write my name with ink,, one the fade area side,, then finish over it,, you could sand it off,,
I have a bow from Marc,, it has MSL  burned in the handle,,, and it is signed on the belly,,,

[DC]

The thick part of the fade would make more sense. Next time. Thanks

[The Zen Master]

The last thing I do before applying tung oil is burn in my initials. I'm afraid that if I scrape it off I'll screw up the tiller on what is probably my best bow ever. Maybe I'll have to leave it and it will be my "Inverted Jenny". I guess worse things could happen but I can't think of a stupider thing

I have no clue if this is a viable suggestion - could you connect the C (make it a D) then "erase" the straight line in the D? Maybe scrape the line then raise the grain with a wet Q-tip and blend it in?

[Deerhunter21]

yeah just scrape the inside of the indent to get rid of the black stuff.

[DC]

The burn goes quite deep and I would hate to do even more damage than the burning already did. I could probably get away with it but I'll leave it for now.

[Hawkdancer]

Different material but the same story. I have a flintlock rifle with a barrel from one of the best rifle barrel builders that has ever been. He signed his name, W. M. Large, with stamps in a semicircle on the side flat of the barrel. On my barrel the G in Large is backwards, this has never been seen on any of his barrels.

When I showed picture of his stamp on M/L sites some claimed my barrel was a fake. Fortunately there was a guy on the site who worked with Mr Large in the 50s making barrels. I had an endoscope picture inside the barrel, Bob Roller took on look at the rifling configuration and said "that is one of Bill's barrels".

Don't want to hijack the thread. But several years ago, Ken Wee told me that "Bill" Large took to marking his barrels with four Js, the initials of his daughters, apparently because the ATF was getting too involved in barrel making.  This would have been in the 60s or 70s.  My flintlock is one of those barrels, but I don't know who actually built it.  It is more accurate than I am!
Hawkdancer
 

[PEARL DRUMS]

The burn goes quite deep and I would hate to do even more damage than the burning already did. I could probably get away with it but I'll leave it for now.

Don, I fully believe that what you did will in no way affect that bow. To think it will cause frets is really reaching to find something "wrong". 

[PatM]

DC, I don't mark my bows in any way.

[DC]

Thanks PD and PatM, I really appreciate your input. I think the only diff in your opinions is "could it cause a problem" and "will it cause a problem". If you are on the borderline of fretting this could make it happen but if you're not on the borderline you're OK. I'm getting to that border so I think I'll move the mark to the thickest part of the fade. It should be safe there and keep my vanity intact