Best way to label your tools

Matted · Oct 6, 2010

I have just started my first job in a restoration garage and I am in the process of buying a new set of tools.

My worry is that my tools will get mixed up with the other mechanics tools.

Does anyone have any good ways of marking tools, discretely and permanently.

Cheers
Matt

sasquach · Oct 6, 2010

I engrave my payroll in the tools I have to take to work ( Company supplies most hand tools ) . When I worked in bodyshops and garages I would always keep an eye on my stuff and never mix it in with the others . I wouldnt worry to much about it cuase your coworkers are gonna be keeping track of there stuff also .

dmeadow · Oct 6, 2010

Your initials, your name, or a distinctive mark, depending on your preferences.

I also know guys that spray paint all their stuff a certain color. Not discrete, and not really permanent, but makes it easy to keep track when there are a lot of guys throwing tools around a big shop.

ImportTuner · Oct 6, 2010

I wouldn't engrave .. if you were to ever sell your tools, resale is really bad on tools with makrs .. spray a part of the tool with paint (like yellow or orange so that it is highly visible) ..

archirelic · Oct 6, 2010

Colored electrical tape.

pgreen · Oct 6, 2010

I marked some of mine at one time with letter stamps. Holy **** it takes a hard hit with a BFH to mark a Snappy wrench! They came out nice. I wont ever sell any tools anyway, that was almost 20 years ago. Still havent ever sold any tools!

Cuda · Oct 6, 2010

Sell a tool? HA HA HA HA! Good one!

dankicksass · Oct 6, 2010

When I first started out, I wrapped a 1/2in piece of yellow duct tape around the handle of all my tools. That got to be a pain and was largely useless, doesn't help you not lose tools.

AmickRacing · Oct 6, 2010

I usually mark them with some color (paint, paint marker, nail polish works good too!). If I do I usually mark it some place easily seen, then also mark them in a more obscure place also (like inside of a battery door or something like that).

I can't speak for everyone, but it seems like when someone ended up with my tool it was usually a mistake and they thought it was theirs.

A few times I've had people take my stuff and wipe the paint off, but the semi hidden area was a neat trick to prove them wrong.

Busted_Knuckles · Oct 6, 2010

Ive stamped all my pneumatic tools with my D/L number, as well all the sections of my tool box too. I have also melted and stamped my D/L number in my carpentry power tools (which I have more of than the average builder, and I'm a mechanic!)

In the event my box or some of my tools wind up in the back of someones car/truck and the police stop them, the officer can do something with a drivers license number, but cant do very little with my initials...

TONE · Oct 6, 2010

Chain them to an extra rim like they did with the bathroom key in "The Jerk"

marty s · Oct 6, 2010

I've used 2 different methods on mine.

Tool Chests,rollaways, power tools,etc. have my SSN engraved somewhere that isn't obvious.
Most of my wrenches,sockets, etc. were chemical etched at a Machine Shop I worked for. This is the method I prefer. Much neater looks,doesn't hurt plating, and is a Biatch to remove.

I'd say it really doesn't matter what method you use......I "lost" a Kennedy rollaway and 2 top chests along with all the contents for about 2 weeks in 1995. They surfaced at a local pawn shop and the 2 days spent marking and engraving really did pay off!

hguerrero · Oct 6, 2010

invest in a tool belt.

srmofo · Oct 6, 2010

to be honest with you, marking them isnt going to help you. If you work with a thief then you will never see it again. If you leave something lay around and you work with honest guys, they will say "anyone lose a ***?".

jwillis · Oct 7, 2010

When I worked at my job before I retired, everyone had ID numbers that lasted as long as you worked there. I just stamped my ID number on all of my tools.

nate379 · Oct 7, 2010

Most of us buy tools to use, not to sell.

ImportTuner said:
I wouldn't engrave .. if you were to ever sell your tools, resale is really bad on tools with makrs .. spray a part of the tool with paint (like yellow or orange so that it is highly visible) ..

copterdoctor · Oct 7, 2010

I am required to have my tools marked at my job... we have to engrave or metal etch our first and last initial, and last four of our social security numbers somewhere on each tool. and that includes small tools like ignition wrenches... they are pretty relaxed about enforcing it at my current employer... but I've worked for places that required the same thing, and also required us to "shadow" our tool boxes...
it's a big NO NO when you leave a wrench or something in an aircraft that just lifted off the tarmac.

one time at a previous job, our boss came in, and very seriously said "everyone in the board room NOW''.... we went in, and saw a 3/8 stubby wrench on the table... it had fell in between to cylinders on a Lycoming O-360... it had been there long enough to vibrate all the way down through the cooling fins!!!! a pilot had found it on preflight...
one guy lost his job that day.... if he had reported a missing tool he would have gotten a slap on the wrist, a pretty hard slap, but not fired...

Dennis Cavallino · Oct 7, 2010

nate379 said:
Most of us buy tools to use, not to sell.

I don't mind buying labelled tools.

nate379 · Oct 8, 2010

That too. A marking isn't a concern to us guys that use the tools.

Don't get me wrong having display with 1920s era wrenches or something is cool too, but having 85 3/8" ratchets "just because" is stupid, plain and simple (IMO of course)

Heavy Metal Doctor · Oct 8, 2010

The only thing I can add is that you should get to know / look around at what the other guys have and try to buy a different brand / type / color whenver it's reasonable. That makes it obvious - if you buy all green handle screwdrivers and noone else does, yours will never get mixxed up.
If theft is a concern, check with the shop owners about the company insurnace - that may just want you to keep a record of what you have, incase someone breaks into the place and hauls off you whole box. All I do is a photo inventory a couple times a year and the pictures go to the office and a copy home with me.

rickycobra · Oct 8, 2010

Take a grinder to your tools because you can't rub that off.

cello · Apr 28, 2012

If you want a lite mark use a scribe to put your initials in or on a tool. Not the same as an engraver but works all the same. I have seen coworkers notch the hell out of there tools and NO THANKS! It does help if you have good coworkers and not ones with sticky fingers. It does help with mix-ups and doesn't damage the tool as you go as deep as you want or a light touch as most all mine are done with a scribe. (Can be sanded out)

Displaced Hokie · Apr 28, 2012

dmeadow said:
I also know guys that spray paint all their stuff a certain color. Not discrete, and not really permanent, but makes it easy to keep track when there are a lot of guys throwing tools around a big shop.

I did this when I worked in a shop. I set everything out on some cardboard, hit them with brake cleaner so it sticks, and gave it a shot. You can make it look good if you do some taping so there is a clean edge (think painting just the box end of a wrench).

Not long ago I set up a box of "loaner" tools in a shared shop area. This was to keep folks from asking to get in my department's good tool boxes. I painted EVERYTHING bright green. Stuff didn't walk off...

But GJ is so full of folks that sleep with their tools and polish them regularly that I'm sure this method won't go over.

Dustball · Apr 28, 2012

I put a dot of the color of my choice using a Testors enamel paint marker from the hobby shop. Preferably the dot is painted over the recessed manufacturer's logo/writing on the tool so it doesn't rub off easily.

Ign · Apr 28, 2012

I had a 1/2" Milwaukee drill where the wife painted the chuck like a candy cane with pink nail polish. Guys could make fun if they wanted, but it was so outrageous it was easily identified, and that's the whole point.

ihredo4 · Apr 29, 2012

I cleaned my tools with solvent and after drying I filled in the stampings (ie CRAFTSMAN) with a colored paint stick. I would then polish off the residue and seal the lettering with clear finger nail polish. I will have to get pictures and post them.

RBein · Dec 9, 2014

Zapp Branigan · Dec 9, 2014

A band of colored heat shrink works better than tape, stays on better, and will come off if needed. I agree that if you work with a thief, nothing will work 100%.

maxwage · Dec 9, 2014

Oil paint markers all the way. Sharpie makes a great paint marker, in several tip sizes and an array of colors. Very durable. Tough to take off with Goo Gone or equivalent. Acetone works best.

IOWNJUNK · Dec 9, 2014

I have a set of craftsman wrenches from an auction that look like they were fogged with blaze orange spray paint. Cant miss em.

wrench409 · Dec 10, 2014

rickycobra said:
Take a grinder to your tools because you can't rub that off.

That's what the guy that stole my tools did. :willy_nil

He ground (grinded) my DL off and was selling them at a flea market. He missed a few. But the cops did NADA, even when I showed them the police report and my DL.

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James_B · Dec 10, 2014

When I started work in the early 70s, I was handed a Scope Engraver to mark the metal parts of all my issued tools.

LS6 Tommy · Oct 11, 2021

I engraved my initials on the first set of Craftsman tools I used at a "professional" level. They were the set Grandpa gave me as a gradeschool kid, complete with a nice litte brown Kennedy box. worked on many a bicycle, gocart, motorcycle and car before I becamme an "adult". The box went on to live inside the side door of my HVAC service van. 36 years later and you can't read my initials anymore. They will be pressed back into service soon at my current job. They just got us service carts and I'll be lugging that old box in to work and sitting it on top of the cart. In a way, it will be nice to use them again.

Tommy

LeeG · Oct 11, 2021

When I was working as an electrician, I put a band of orange spray paint on each of my hand tools. It worked well - often I would find an orange wrench or socket that someone had borrowed without asking d failed to return. When I left that job after 6 months, I still had (and have 35 years later) all my tools.

NUTTSGT · Oct 11, 2021

Back from the dead warning by a now banned spammer

Sumboodie · Oct 11, 2021

ImportTuner said:
I wouldn't engrave .. if you were to ever sell your tools, resale is really bad on tools with makrs .. spray a part of the tool with paint (like yellow or orange so that it is highly visible) ..

I've never bought a used tool and changed my mind of the price because it was engraved.

tros · Oct 12, 2021

I still have my tools from 45 years ago all snap on .I have never sold any of them .

no704 · Oct 12, 2021

I got tired of the engineers using my tools at a previous employer. Company bought a box and tools for them. I sprayed them all with red dykum before putting them in the box. 15 years later l still have have a ratchet and some red so kits.

metalmagpie · Oct 18, 2021

Paint them some really obnoxious color no self respecting guy would want in their box. When you leave there you can easily remove the paint. Don't permanently deface them by engraving.

metalmagpie

oldwino · Oct 18, 2021

Marking tools only discourages the honest thief.
a simple shot from a rattle can (in an oddball color) identifies what’s yours. Did this for years and never a problem.

Best way to label your tools

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