I’d like to know what is considered to be the most practical (i.e. relatively cheap, available, flexible -for both metal and wood) tool marking method. This is to mark everything from hammers to shovels to nail guns to ladders.
I’ve tried paint (wears off), tape (likewise), branding (impractical). I haven’t yet looked into other types of paints but that’s the only thing that I imagine holds hope, or other ideas?
Thanks,
David
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Replies
etching, chemical or mechanical, with yur DL#....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Where the tools you just had stolen all engraved?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIdFwQwoYM&feature=related
Funny thing is after having many expensive extension cords go missing I bought a pink/purple one. After the initial jokes from the crew and a few years later I still have that cord.
As long as your not wearing a pink/purple shirt I wouldn't make fun of you. :) It does make it a lot easier when working with different guys and it's time to clean up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIdFwQwoYM&feature=related
yup...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Think it will help? One time I'd like to hear that it has.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIdFwQwoYM&feature=related
it has...thief on the job site got busted and he had a pile of stuff from a lot guys...
the marked tools in that recovery made it back to the owners..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
What's the story behind that? Sounds like he was stealing tools from the guys he was working with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChIdFwQwoYM&feature=related
Dremel with diamond engraving bit or steel letter stamps for the permanent marks
I also use paint/ tape for quick ID when throwing stuff on the truck
Edited 12/25/2007 1:26 pm ET by TomE
el cheapo engarving tool
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
to keep my stuff from getting mixed up with other trades or HO's I use either sharpie or more recently paint pens... the pens are nice because they come in colors.. I am partial to red as it shows best on the majority of the stuff I have, also come in white and yellow... which I have but use less.
Sure these markings likely will not stop theft, stuff has my company name and my DL#.. I put the writing in a place that is not subject to much wear.. if it starts to wear thin I just mark again.
james
Thanks, this is along the lines I'm thinking, not to stop theft (ha!) but to easily identify and separate from others' tools.
clean your tools with a degreaser, and maybe a quick buff with fine sandpaper before you paint them and the paint should wear fine. aguy i did scenic work with once had a problem keeping his tape measures from being permanently 'borrowed' at various sites. He pulled the tape all the way out and wrote his name up in the very end so if there was ever a dispute over who it belonged to, he could pull out the hidden proof.
engrave initials (quick) on both power and hand tools.. power tools i fill engraving with red nail polish. takes a bit of time but saves hundreds of dollars. hand tools just engraved.
On my larger tools (power), batteries etc, I went to the office supply store and made a template. I use spray paint to apply the letters.
As far as smaller tools, i've heard that if you spray paint them pink you'll never lose them.
I could loan you my tile guy. He saw my initials painted on my stuff ans as a joke used a sharpie and wrote MSA on just about everything in my tool boxes. For months i'd grab something stupid like a wirenut and find it had been monogrammed.
Funny stuff.
I started painting the stuff that kept disappearing pink.
It works!
We kept getting propertly line stakes run over on a job I was overseeing. I made the super paint all the stakes pink. 1 1/2 years later client called to ask if we could remove the stakes now.
For some reason, men just dont want to be seen around the job with a pink tool.
I seems to me that there is basically two kinds of marking. One can be small and permanent like you drivers licence# with you name.
The other has to be big and distinct so you can see it at a distance. you might just have to re-apply some tape once in a while or something similar.
I've worked on jobs where the laborer is told to pick up somebody's tools and he picks up everybody's. If you have help on the site you should mark your tools.
Edited 12/26/2007 8:46 pm ET by popawheelie
Paint everything hot pink.
No one will touch your tools.
Nothing wrong with paint. I use light blue (aqua) spray on my stuff and paint pens in six colors. I want to be able to identify my stuff on the job from a distance and in dim light. Light blue does this.
Have not had any problems with excessive wear. Some areas will wear clean, some will not. Just respray. You can engrave and I used to. I keep a data base of power tools with the S#, etc. and write the same on the manaul - along when when and where purchased, amount, receipt, etc.
Having my name in several places on tools worked when I got burgled. Police called and wondered if the tools they were holding were mine. Yes, mine and a number of other trades. Elevator repairman, etc. I got some of my van loadout back. Not the bags, the lasers, etc., but some.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
I spray paint the non-working parts red so I can see them from across the room. I etch my DL# on them so I can prove it.
Don't loan out your tools, so they never walk away.
Woods favorite carpenter
Just remember never to engrave on the housing of the nailgun.
It takes studs to build a house
Dave, I was a locksmith for fifty years and 'though I'm retired,(NO! not Retard,)I still have a few of my key stamps.
I have one with my full name and locksmith licence number.
Though they are made for brass keys, I've stamped plenty of iron and steel tools and they are still sharp and legible.
The trick when marking any tools using a stamp, is to lay the tool upon a heavy block of metal or a brick which will insure all the force
will transfer to the object.
Here are some options:
http://www.tedpella.com/embed_html/22303.htm
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=MART6020&source=froogle&kw=MART6020
Thanks, I'll give the paint markers a try.
A few of my older tools have my first name melted into the plastic. I don't remember what I used 25yrs ago, but its certainly permanent.
I now use a logo, for lack of a better word, on my tools, something I doodled.
I put it on all of my power tools with permanent marker, along with the serial number of the tool. Alot of guys go "whats that?" but everybody knows who's tool it is. I suppose the serial number looks like some kind of security marking.
I can spot the logo a mile away.
I imagine making a brand out of something like this would be practical for marking the handles of wooden tools, plastic,etc. I'm an interior carpenter so permanent markers work for me.
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Gord
My old-timey carpenter partner's initials are FAG. Guess how he marks his tools? He never has a problem with anyone taking his tools. He says when working commercial jobs, if someone wanted to borrow his gloves or something (with FAG imprinted across the knuckles) he'd hand them to him, "If you got the guts to wear 'em you can have 'em." He's never had a taker yet.
As for company tools, I started marking everything, including ladders and generators, etc., with a paint marker and/or a Sharpie marker. I don't think marking tools keeps people from stealing them (aside from the "FAG" mark) anyway. I also have bought the pink cords. Hey I think they're pretty, my guy calls them the "girl cords".
Having bought many tools at used junk shops and pawn shops (that I know keep legal records of sellers) I can tell you that the best marking I've seen is with an etching tool. I've also seen numbers melted (branded) in. We have an old B & D Sawcat with a brand right next to the blade shroud, that thing is there forever.
Instead of a driver's license number, I'd think a phone number would be better to inscribe. I know a couple of times we've actually found hand tools on the street or in a parking lot, with only initials on them. ??? To do the right thing, I'd call the poor schmoe and tell him I found his wrench, but I can't start calling all people with the initials "RD".
The only marking you need is the serial numbers on this, done by the factory, thank you, and you carry it always, and make sure that your employees, your friends, their friends, your subs, their employees, their friends, etc., all know you are carrying. Cuts off most all petty theiving.
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Tool marking is an art in itself. A lot depends on just what you wish to accomplish .... and to decide that, you need to be really, really honest with yourself.
In my own life, the vast majority of lost tools were just that - tools that I misplaced. The second cause of loss has been tools getting accidently mixed up with others', followed by lent tools not being returned. Far down the list were losses due to deliberate theft.
You can greatly reduce the loss of tools from your own carelessness by making it easy to tell what has not been put away. Dedicated tool kits for a particular job, tool cut-outs in the tool cabinet drawer, ALWAYS packing everything up at the end of the day are all procedures that help protect you from yourself.
Another approach is to ensure that the tools have a simple, highly visible marking. This keeps them from disappearing into job site clutter. Paint is one good way to do this; bands of colored tape, and lengths of colored shrink tubing can also be used. For example, most of my stuff is marked blue in some manner.
I'll go over the other causes / solutions in separate posts, so that no one post is too long.
The second greatest cause of tool loss, it seems to me, happens when several guys are working together. Tools get mixed up. If everyone has, say, Craftsman sockets, one guy ends up with everyone's 7/16. Not good. In a like manner, tools that are lent can too easily vanish into another guy's box, purely by accident.
I've mentioned distinct markings. Some makers offer their tools in different colors, or different styles. Different makers all have differing styles. If everyone else has a Stanley hammer, and yours is a Plumb ... it's a lot less likely to get mixed up. This method - using a different brand - also prevents someone from 'accidentaly' swapping their bad tool for your good one (a real concern with cordless tool batteries).
Moreover, if someone does borrow a tool, the different appearance will remind them, every time they see it, to return it.
Likewise, 'custom' tools ALWAYS manage to make it back to me. I have one huge screwdriver, that I welded a side handle on. This made the tool a real blessing for a particular job ... everyone borrows it, all the time. I always get it back.
The next - and last - post will address protecting tools from deliberate mischief.
At the end of the day and the guys are throwing tools in my truck I have ended up with alot of stuff that wasn't mine.
Cords, drill bits, knives, lots of different hand tools.
Next day I empty the truck to started for the day and I have no clue how they keep doing it. I spend twnety minutes giving everyone their tools back then proceed to work.
Woods favorite carpenter
OK, we're not all angels, all the time. I submit that there are human factors we can use to reduce the temptation to steal.
I was in Sears' today. Now, I have absolutely NO need for another screwdriver - yet I felt the urge to get one. Why? Because everything looked so shiny and pretty, in its' packaging, up on the wall .... it seemed a sin to leave without buying SOMETHING.
Now ... apply the reverse logic. A dirty, ugly, used tool is far less tempting .... especially if the marking identifies the owner. A scuffed-up blue painted Sawzall with "JTS 6699" engraved on it is far less attempting than one that just came from the store. Tools that are kept in ammo boxes are less tempting than tools kept in the pretty factory cases. "Off" brands are less attractive than the most popular brands.
Look at cars to illustrate these points. Lots of Camaros are stolen; very few Kia Sepphias are stolen. Camaros are popular among young men ... who also comprise the majority of car theives. Sepphias a popular with the ladies. Is it any surprise that thieves are more inclined to steal cars that they like?
There are other practices that will reduce theft as well. Out of sight, out of mind. (I can't think of any gun store that leaves its' wares in the windows at night). Making them work, and introducing an element of uncertainty into the thieves' efforts, is another tactic. Does that Jobox contain a wealth of tools? Or, maybe, just parts? Can you tell, from afar, if the doors are locked - or just closed? Is that a $500 tool, or just a $50 tool?
To illustrate the point .... it wasn't long ago that aluminum pipe wrenches were rare and expensive. A silver wrench had a very good chance of disappearing- and everyone wanted to borrow it. I painted mine 'cast iron orange' and guess what ... I couldn't give them away! A simple coat of paint greatly reduced the 'value' of the tool.
Thanks, Reno. Yes, you have elucidated my quandary: I want to easily be able to sort/ identify my tools on any jobsite at any time. It's not theft I'm as concerned about, that will happen and marking will not prevent it. When I loan someone a tool, or someone picks it up b/c it's closest, or it's time to roll up or I'm looking for one of my tools I like to be able to be able to relatively quickly id what I need. As many have pointed out, when someone else is told to clean up they often put everyones' tools together.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments.
Edited 12/30/2007 10:56 am ET by peedee
I use colored tape and sharpies (black or silver). Two adjacent strips of yellow electrical tape with one strip of orange in the middle. Easy to identify - I've had tools returned to me months later that I hadn't realized were borrowed on an earlier job. Having two colors makes it less likely someone else will have the same color. Granted, tape doesn't hold up as well as other methods but it's quick and a marker or engraver can serve as a backup in a lower wear area.
Once watched a guy spray paint a ladder pink/orange to identify it, then immediately pick it up into his shirt. It was quite funny, but I got some of it on my shirt a little while later before it was fully dried. I'm not a fan of paint - takes too long to dry when it's not in clothing. I want to be able to mark quickly without any prep.
I inadavertantly marked a whole gatemouth riggers bag of tools with "Peach" latex paint.
DW was wanting some linen closet louvered doors painted "peach" and I had one of them sprayers that you could use a mason jar as a spray cup. So, I filled the jar with paint and set her up spraying.
Much later, like a week or two, I remembered that the jar should be removed when done spraying...as SOON as yer done. It had welded to the spray head. Wouldn't budge.
So being as I am a jeenius I clamped the jar in my bench vise..and gave the spray head a healthy twist. Yup, the jar exploded and my riggers bag was parked on the floor just under the vise..fraekin broken glass and pinkish paint all over everything.
Jeenius I tell ya, jeenius.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
wow. what's a riggers bag?
It takes studs to build a house
Its a canvas bag about 18" long, 10" wide and 10" tall. Open inside like a gate mouth with a slew of pockets all over the outside like a bucket boss.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Neatest thing since sliced bread.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
I just spray a wild pink all over my tools, that way no one else wants to be caught with them!!!!! Me, I don't care what they think about it!
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)