I never sign the back of my work. Something about it doesn’t feel right. Many craftsmen take pride in branding their work with a wood burning iron, but I’d never be satisfied with the inconsistent image, let alone having to wait for the thing to heat up. So, we always used shop-made labels individually cut with an Xacto knife from a 20-up, 8.5"x11" color logo sheet, then spray glued to the back of our work. It looked professional enough until the label fell off a few months later.

It finally dawned on me when I found myself reading the manufacturer’s badge riveted to our 1940s-era table saw. How perfect would that be? I found a company online (Cubbison) that specializes in laser- and acid-etched metal nameplates and by the end of that week I submitted our new logo art. Three weeks later they arrived on the shop doorstep. At just 2.5"x 1", these sweet little badges make a huge statement — and now I’ll always feel a rush of pride as I position these on the back of our work and tighten down the screws.