Eventually (hopefully), as a woodworker, you will get to a point where you are confident enough that you will want to sign your work or at least mark your project in some way. Most of us will never get to the point of being famous enough that our 'mark' will make the piece more valuable but if there is a saying that goes something like: 'if you are not proud enough of your work to sign it, then it is not worth showing to anyone'. Realistically, many of the pieces we make go to friends or family members. Marking the piece with your name and/or date will provide some history for them in the future.

So here are some ideas on how woodworkers 'sign' their projects.

The simplest way to sign your work is with a Sharpie permanent marker. Nothing fancy, but it does the job. To add to this, many woodworkers add a coin of the current year to the project. Use a forstener bit the size of penny, quarter, etc, and drill a shallow recess so that you can flush the coin to the surface. Glue it in with crazy glue or polyurethane glue.

A little fancier than writing your name by hand with a marker is to use a rubber ink stamp. They can be ordered from an office supply store. You still might want to use a coin to date your piece, or in the same vein, just use an office date stamper. This will run you less than ten dollars.

Similar to signing with a pen, is to sign with a dremel. If you have a steady hand, go ahead and engrave your initials somewhere on the piece. This is best done before the finish.

Next on the ladder of marking your 'piece of art' is to engrave, or wood burn sign your project. You can go simple, by buying an inexpensive woodburning tool at a crafts store. There is uauaslly a woodburning set that allows you to choose letters, so you can burn your initials onto your piece. A more expensive option, yet more personalized, is to have a branding iron made.

Rockler woodworking offers this service:

All Lines Optional Branding Iron

Another higher end idea is to attach a small brass plate to your work. You can have them made a local trophy shop for under 15 dollars. They will engave a few lines on a small metal plate.Then, similar to the coin technique, just flush it to the surface of your piece.

Some woodworkers, if the piece allows for it, like to hide little items or papers (drafting papers or building notes for example) in inaccessible parts of the work. Although this does not allow for recogintion from the outside of the piece, I guess one day if the work ever falls apart, someone will be able to read information about the origin of the piece.

I'm sure with some imagination you could come up with lots of other ways to sign your woodwork, but these are the most common. Most of these 'signatures' are done in out of the way places on the project. Either on the back, bottom, under a drawer (or in a drawer if you use a fancier method).