This forum has a lot of people who have done, or are doing something unique- building their own place. To me, it is a labor of love, and by far the biggest single thing I've ever done. For that reason, I'd like to somehow 'sign' my work of art, and incorporate the date, without being too tacky. The date is easy; I've seen it carved into a mantel piece, or an overhead beam, or stamped into a concrete floor. I'd like future residents to know when it was built, without having to search high and low. Signing it (tastefully) is going to be trickier. I was thinking of making a wood-burning iron with my name, date and 'Built By' or something. I figured I could brand the inside of the cabinets or something. With the equipment at my disposal, I could even scan my signature and make it part of the iron. I know I'm nowhere near needing this now, but once I quit my job to build the house, I won't be able to make a branding iron. Anyone signed their work, or got any ideas?
Branding the inside of the closets is a fantastic idea. There must be somewhere on the internet where you can order custom brands or something similar (or even stencils - a good mask and spray paint might work well too).
Yes when the Logs go up I will brand them with date and names for sure. That being said this home and land are ment to be my legacy for my Kids and Great grankids and Great Great grand kids etc etc etc and the place I die!
My wife bought me a sign for our cabin
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/BuiltByScott.jpg)
You can get a branding iron here...
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32191&cat=1,43456,43462 (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32191&cat=1,43456,43462)
(http://www.leevalley.com/US/images/item/woodworking/assorted/05n4001s3.jpg)
I also always manage to leave some DNA (blood) somewhere on any major project. No extra effort, it just seems to happen d*
If I bought a house and saw branding on the inside of the cabinets I'd assume the name I saw was the person who built the cabinets, not the house.
Not that I have a better idea or anything.
Alan
I worked on a log home built in the 1700's one time. In a wall upstairs we hit fire damage and a note in charcoal from the 1860's. I wish he had written more, we strongly suspected it was not the only fire in the area at the time as there was a fellow marching around who had trouble with matches.
I found a boy's name scribbled on a plank over a joist in a cabin. It had to have been put there during construction. A sword was found buried in a chink joint of that cabin as well. I've looked but cannot find any remaining kin nor record of him. How I wish he had written more.
Ever since I've tried to write little notes on the backside of siding and other hidden places when I have a minute. Nothing great or epic, just a line or two from the past for those in the future. OK on one I did mention the body was buried in the backfill, just neglected to mention it was the body of a copperhead ;D.
We have the homeowner sign the backside of the last piece of siding if they are there, built by and the date. Try to stick a current quarter in the masonry somewhere and of course a penny under the sole for good luck.
I've been asked to but have always dodged putting my name out in the open on one, I guess a fear of desecrating it in the next owners eyes.
We had a job fall thru last spring, the carver was lined up, the beams are still in my shop. She wanted "How Great Thou Art" carved on the tie beam in the living room truss. I tried to talk her into doing it on a mantle just in case they had to sell it and the only buyer was an atheist. Just something to consider, sort of like the monogrammed chimney, think it through, it might fall out of favor later.
Pinecone, our motto is "A good carpenter bleeds every day"
A bad carpenter bleeds many times every day :D
I love finding little signs from long ago. I have a 200 y/o grandfather clock (wooden gears) and a number of clock repairers wrote notes inside as to what they repaired. Not ONE of them included the date, though!
I think I'll go with a brand. I could make one, but they are pretty reasonable. I found one place that makes custom ones- all you do is e-mail the art work. I'd rather have a custom one- I don't want people to think I was a professional, but just a craftsman. A particularly interesting site is brandnew.net. They make meat brands so you can sign the steaks you grill, as well as a wide variety of wood brands.
I'm going to make a form to stamp the year into the concrete floor of the barn, and maybe the basement of the house. I may have to wait until the house is nearly done before deciding whether to somehow mark some place prominent. Not my name, though- maybe a saying, or just the year. I will write little sayings or notes on things like rafters so that someone other than the demolition team might see them.
I think its a good thing to do,
Most properties in the UK are very old and when renovating you almost always find something interesting.
an 1890 newspaper used as stuffing behind lath and plaster walls
build date chiseled into bricks or beams
odd bits of paper and scribbles behind kitchen cupboards.
I for one will be putting odd things in places not normally seen- probably just the date in plain view
Quote from: Pine Cone on May 16, 2011, 09:35:33 PM
My wife bought me a sign for our cabin
(https://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx172/Pine_Cone/BuiltByScott.jpg)
You can get a branding iron here...
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32191&cat=1,43456,43462 (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32191&cat=1,43456,43462)
(http://www.leevalley.com/US/images/item/woodworking/assorted/05n4001s3.jpg)
I also always manage to leave some DNA (blood) somewhere on any major project. No extra effort, it just seems to happen d*
I need to steal that sign. ;)
driveway chalk on felt paper behind the siding. I was semi-vandalized with this when I had friends come help and I was away for a few minutes.
(http://www.loopy.org/pictures/galleries/Siding/_thumbs/640x480-IMG_1274.JPG)
I was talking to our HVAC guy yesterday, he had brought his 9 year old son out to the job with him Saturday and took him down into the garage where I've set up my TF tools to work on the timbers we made from the oaks off the site. He was showing his son the old mortiser, chisels, etc. since it is out of the ordinary. That got us talking about old work. He had worked on some revolutionary era buildings in Alexandria and said that when he went up into the roof of a church the carpenters had carved their names on one of the timbers under the date, pretty neat.
My dad was tearing down an old porch in his house from the 20's and found an old leather baby shoe and Stanley wood level stuck away in the wall. We're assuming the baby shoe was intentional and the level maybe not so much.
Alan