Marking my leather tools

[dprezgay]

I was wondering what the best way to mark leather stamps so they don't get mixed with others' tools.

I am taking some of my stamps for the kids to use and don't want to get them mixed up with the other tools that are provided at the event.  I have purchased tools that have been painted and taped and wanted to get some feedback from others that "loan" out their tools.  I think painting could be faster but I want them to still look nice.  I don't think it is necessary or even advisable to paint the whole handle.  Maybe just an inch or two near the head of the tool and tape the rest since I don't want them to look sloppy.  Maybe a bright orange or yellow.  Maybe painting sloppy is better.   Tape gets sticky after a while and it would quickly in my Las Vegas garage.

Same question about 3d stamps and mallets.

So:

Paint or tape or other?

Color?

Sloppy or neat?

I am getting a lot of tools to use for scouting and other youth groups so we are talking tools for up to 40 kids.   With all the 2d/3d stamps, handle stamps and alphabet stamps there will be over 1,000.

 

Thanks,

 

Dale

 

 

[fredk]

A; I never loan out or share tools,

B. to mark my arrows during a competition I used to wrap a bit of coloured band-aid [aka sticking plaster in the UK] round part of the shaft. Band-aid can be bought in a few colours, will take colour from a sharpie and if you wrap it around the stamp stem it will act as a grip as well. Whatever colour you choose use the same on 3D stamps in paint, put it into the bottom of the central hole maybe

[Sheilajeanne]

Quote

B. to mark my arrows during a competition I used to wrap a bit of coloured band-aid [aka sticking plaster in the UK] round part of the shaft

The traditional method of marking arrows is to use the painted bands just below the fletching. Each set of bands, and the colour of the fletching (feathers) would be specific to one member of a club. That's what those bands are for.

Whatever happened to THAT time-honoured method??  Gone the way of the dodo bird?

Edited April 28, 2018 by Sheilajeanne

[immiketoo]

34 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

The traditional method of marking arrows is to use the painted bands just below the fletching. Each set of bands, and the colour of the fletching (feathers) would be specific to one member of a club. That's what those bands are for.

Whatever happened to THAT time-honoured method??  Gone the way of the dodo bird?

Thanks how many people mark them, except they do colored bands around the shaft with nail polish for durability.  Chan Geer has Red and Blue on his tools in class.

 

[fredk]

7 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

The traditional method of marking arrows is to use the painted bands just below the fletching. Each set of bands, and the colour of the fletching (feathers) would be specific to one member of a club. That's what those bands are for.

Whatever happened to THAT time-honoured method??  Gone the way of the dodo bird?

Aye, but in my groups we all used traditional hand made arrows; all using grey and white goose feathers. If I marked my arrows blue and shot in comp against someone from another group who also used blue it was easy for me to take the blue sticky plaster off and replace it with red, or green or...

[Sheilajeanne]

Fred, are you one of these crazy people?

 

'Tis better to give....  than receive! :D

Edited April 29, 2018 by Sheilajeanne

[Rockoboy]

I use heat shrink tube on my tools. I have a few different sizes in the same colour that delineates my tools from some other person.

The chance of me selecting the same colour and length and applying it in the same place as another person is very small.

[Handstitched]

I'm with fredk , I never loan tools. I'm happy for people to come to my workshop , use my tools  to learn   but the tools never leave my workshop. Sorry if thats sounds a bit mean , but  its taken me so long and a lot of effort  to accumulate them I'd hate to lose any of them.

HS 

[dprezgay]

I know exactly what you mean.  What I am doing is putting together sets of tools to do workshops with scouts and other youth groups.  For example, I usually put 25 3d stamps in a box.  I would paint the box blue along with the stamps.  each box and set of stamps a different color.  Then have a piece of leather with all the impressions of the stamp that are included in that box.  That way I can quickly determine which stamps are missing and charge the group for those missing stamps.  The really valuable ones I will keep separate and sign them out individually or have them used at one station.  My own collection of handle stamps I will keep for myself but I can't justify  a whole 2nd set of 2d/3d stamps.  All 2d/3d stamps, including the stamp sets total over 900 of which I have around 400 unique stamps.  Hopefully by the end of summer I will have over 600.  I have lots of duplicates, some I have 1, others I have 17.  I also have a couple hundred handle stamps.  I am trying to put together about 24 sets of basic tools for carving classes, each painted its own color.  Each set in its own toolbox.  With the classes lasting about 6 weeks.  1 class per week.  

Anyways, I rambling.  The idea is that the tools are marked so they can be put back in their own spot so I can quickly determine if anything is missing at the end of the session. 

 

[Retswerb]

Wow! Quite the operation you have going.

I would think heat shrink on the ends of the handles like @Rockoboy suggested could be a great option. Several colors are available, or white would let you sharpie colors or stripes onto it. Should be fairly sturdy too. Applying it to all those tools will take a minute though!

[fredk]

ramble away dprezgay; it all helps to understand your needs

But 24 sets each with its own colour? I think for that you're going to have to go stripey. Using the heat shrink , a piece of red on one set, a piece of red and a piece of yellow on another set, red & blue on another, blue & yellow and so on. Thats easiest way I can see of doing 24 sets each with their own matching colour combo. I forget my maths but I think with 6 basic colours - red, blue, green, yellow, white, black, you will have more than enough colour mixes for 24 sets

Edited May 4, 2018 by fredk

[bikermutt07]

I vote shrink wrap. Do the whole thing in batches. And, you can get more than one set with each color. Take blue for example. 1" 2" and 3" covers will give you 3 sets of one color but the length will identify which set is which.

[fredk]

As Cledus said to the Bandit; That'll work too

[immiketoo]

Pee on them.

 

[ohboy]

I keep a running assortment  of spray paint  probably no less than 24 colors at least three shades of each color. To be quick about it, I would probably  line up each set and spray paint the handles a different color and paint the tool rack/ holder the same color. Krylon dries quick and has a lot of different colors.  The bad part is that the paint will wear off the chrome handles with use and make the tools look ugly and valueless and purchasing a bunch of colors of spay paint in one go would be expensive.

Overall I doubt the groups that will use these will care much about how they look.

The heat shrink sounds like a winner although time consuming for the number of tools.

[SilverForgeStudio]

Salt-water and vinegar electro etch- permanent and hard to remove to boot!

[Rockoboy]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 2:49 PM, Rockoboy said:

I use heat shrink tube on my tools.

I have noticed some of my heat shrink is sliding up and down the handle of some tools, and sometimes falling off. The only colour I can get with adhesive, AFAIK, is black, but I have not used that option yet.

[fredk]

Perhaps your heat shrink didn't shrink down far enough? I use h/s which has an i/d close to the o/d of the tool, that way it shrinks down real tight

[Rockoboy]

58 minutes ago, fredk said:

Perhaps your heat shrink didn't shrink down far enough?

It shrank down as far as it would go on the tool shaft, but because the shaft is parallel and not textured (where I applied the heat shrink), there was nothing for it to grip onto, and no glue to hold it in place.

Maybe a couple wraps of insulation tape under the heat shrink would fix the problem. Then again, maybe the heat will destroy the adhesive. Its a learning curve.

[howie696]

6 hours ago, Rockoboy said:

It shrank down as far as it would go on the tool shaft, but because the shaft is parallel and not textured (where I applied the heat shrink), there was nothing for it to grip onto, and no glue to hold it in place.

Maybe a couple wraps of insulation tape under the heat shrink would fix the problem. Then again, maybe the heat will destroy the adhesive. Its a learning curve.

In Australia if you go to JAYCARS they sell heat shrink with a heat activated glue, they call it double skinned - {I think}, when you use it the glue melts and solves the problem of the tubing sliding off

[fredk]

Here in N.I. car electricians use a heat shrink with heat activated glue inside. Its rather the standard h/s at suppliers now.

[Rockoboy]

21 hours ago, howie696 said:

In Australia if you go to JAYCARS they sell heat shrink with a heat activated glue,

I have some of the double shrink with the glue, but its only in bigger sizes, around 1 inch, as far as I am aware.

[fredk]

3 hours ago, Rockoboy said:

I have some of the double shrink with the glue, but its only in bigger sizes, around 1 inch, as far as I am aware.

and here its most commonly available in small sizes, under 3mm i/d afair

[howie696]

5 hours ago, Rockoboy said:

I have some of the double shrink with the glue, but its only in bigger sizes, around 1 inch, as far as I am aware.

they hve it from 1/8" up I use the 6mm and the 8mm it shrinks to 33%

[Bigfoot]

On 29 April 2018 at 3:09 AM, Sheilajeanne said:

Fred, are you one of these crazy people?

 

'Tis better to give....  than receive! :D

Brilliant!