What do you use to inscribe on wood?

[Matt Lau]

I have a maple end grain cutting board that I'll be sending as a wedding present.

I'd inscribe/engrave the name of the bride and groom, as well as the wedding date.

What would you recommend to do it with?
Is there a special tool that you prefer?

[David Weaver]

I've never inscribed anything on a gift, but I'd say if you're not a letter carver (as in by hand), I'd probably look for someone who would either laser or CNC it in, and choose a font with serifs if possible.

[Don Rogers]

David,

Don't mean to hi-jack this thread but can't believe I never knew what "serif" meant.

Looked it up and learned something and, of course, also realized that "sans serif" means "without serifs" . I always knew that "sans" means "without"but never bothered to apply that to "sans serif". Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?

Now I need to know why it is preferable to laser or CNC letters with serifs?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I assume that it is because in general, serif type fonts are generally easier to read (I mean easier for your brain to recognize quickly) if you have sufficient resolution to display the font. Computer monitors, however, have low resolution compared to things that are printed. At a lower resolution, small serif fonts are actually more difficult to distinguish and read.

What do I mean by high and low resolutions? I expect a color laser printer these days has a native 600-1200 DPI (dots per inch). I believe that most (I know for certain that HP does) have some sort of technology to improve upon this in practice, which increases the effective resolution. I have seems claims of up to 2400 DPI for just a standard laser printer. I expect a professional printer (not a laser printer at an office, but a printer used for things like printing books) to be between 2400 and 5000 DPI.

My monitor at home is probably between 72 and 100 DPI. I think that Apply has some fancy monitor that can do up to 300. If you run something through a CNC machine, I have no experience with CNC, but I have seen some amazing specs that I am not sure that I believe, but, I assume that the request for a serif font means that it is sufficient resolution that it simply looks better and is easier to read. Either that, or it just looks better...

[Jim Koepke]

What would you recommend to do it with?
Is there a special tool that you prefer?

I use a small carving veiner. It is about 1/16" wide with a U shape.

It is good for dates and initials.

If you want something fancy you might want to consider the Auriou Lettering Chisels.

jtk

[David Weaver]

David,

Don't mean to hi-jack this thread but can't believe I never knew what "serif" meant.

Looked it up and learned something and, of course, also realized that "sans serif" means "without serifs" . I always knew that "sans" means "without"but never bothered to apply that to "sans serif". Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?

Now I need to know why it is preferable to laser or CNC letters with serifs?

I think they look nicer. As long as you don't use courier font or something with them.

[Shawn Pixley]

I pledge allegence to Helvetica and to the aesthetic for which it stands, one typography, sans serif, with sizes and weights for all?