Electrical tape labeling on sockets

[Indy125]

Hello All!

I use yellow electrical tape wrapped around my most commonly used sockets. The sizes are written on the tape with black oil based paint markers so the sizes stand out. The oil paint has been better than say a standard Sharpie, or a water based paint (Sharpie paint pen). However, inevitably the writing fades or washes away due to whatever grease or contaminates I have on my hands, in a month or so.

I was thinking about doing a clear wrap over the labeling, however not really finding much in terms of clear vinyl tape. Clear packing tape might be problematic due to the trimming and wrinkles. Maybe clear nail polish? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Either in a new way to label my sockets in hi vis, or how to "seal" the labeling I am doing?


Thank you!!

 

[bcradio]

scotch tape

 

[ItsNemo]

That sounds like it would be annoying having tape all over the sockets...?

 

[Indexmill]

The tape idea does not sound too cool to me for lost of reasons.

Another solution is to learn the sizes by sight and always put them back in the same labeled peg when finished. Many of us can id the size of a bolt head just by looking at it or by looking at the bolt. Pretty easy to remember the top five sizes that you will use 90% of the time. When I was 10, I had 1/4" - 1/2" bolts and nuts, and the wrench size for the heads and nuts all memorized by sight. Then did the same for the common metric fasteners. Give it a try; you'll be very surprised how easy it is to do. A fun test after you learn or to quiz you as you learn is to have a pile of sockets turned so you cannot read the size. Have a drinking contest with a buddy to see who is the champion.

Just a thought.

 

[Provincial]

If the tape is staying put, you might consider going to an electrical supply store and buying several more colors of tape. 3M makes a good electrical tape in a number of colors. Off the top of my head, I remember seeing yellow, orange, brown, pink, red, green, light blue, dark blue, white, and silver. With five colors, the sizes get different enough to start over with colors and still be able to quickly recognize sizes.

 

[BMack37]

Hockey clear tape would work. Some brands are a little yellowish but they are all see through...a little thicker than electrical tape and a little wider.

 

[unslow1]

I only have tape around the ones I use for lugnuts. That is to help protect the rim. The rest of mine get cleaned with brake cleaner so I don't think the tape would work for me.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Does someone make clear heatshrink of a size that would work?

 

[PelicanPines]

Nail Polish... I keep six vibrant colors in my misc drawer.

 

[kblee27]

I tried a few kind of tapes and never got it to last long.
They'd break up after a while, get in the way and then I have to strip it off.

Paint and nail polish last much longer.
It's easier for me to ID a 12 vs 13mm socket via painted colour.

 

[Bill Bowman]

I've tried the tape, but it always gets dicked up. I started putting the sockets I use most, upside down, i.e. 7, 10, 13, 15. That way, at a glance, I can see and grab the needed socket first time. I even put a cut mark on my socket rack at those marks to aid in putting them away.

 

[cvairwerks]

Solution in search of a problem?

 

[Mr_B]

number stencils and acid etc the sizes on socket as large as you see fit .

 

[E.Marquez]

If you need less than a dozen sockets marked.. Consider heat shrink tubing.. Different color for different sizes.

It will last much longer than electrical tape and paint marking them.

Hello All!

I use yellow electrical tape wrapped around my most commonly used sockets. The sizes are written on the tape with black oil based paint markers so the sizes stand out. The oil paint has been better than say a standard Sharpie, or a water based paint (Sharpie paint pen). However, inevitably the writing fades or washes away due to whatever grease or contaminates I have on my hands, in a month or so.

I was thinking about doing a clear wrap over the labeling, however not really finding much in terms of clear vinyl tape. Clear packing tape might be problematic due to the trimming and wrinkles. Maybe clear nail polish? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Either in a new way to label my sockets in hi vis, or how to "seal" the labeling I am doing?


Thank you!!

 

[theoldwizard1]

When I had a small tool box all of my metric and SAE wrenches were in one drawer. To make the easy to identify, I wrapped a piece of black electrical tape around the center section (3/4" wide). I kept it up even after I went to a box that had sufficient drawers to separate them and I added more wrenches.

 

[southalabama]

I find once you use them enough you'll recognize the sizes before long.

 

[thatguysb]

I used to use tape on some stuff just to keep a extra eye on them, Using them in greasy areas had them extreamly nasty. Plus the goop from the tape.

i recently bought a engraver from dremel. Works excellent. i Marked some sizes and they are pretty legible

 

[shanny19]

Gorilla makes a clear repair tape, clear hockey tape is tough as nails, clear acrylic spray is fun too for preserving markings.

 

[rharman]

Amazon, and others, sell decals for this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDOJZ0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

When I was younger and doing a ton of car & motorcycle work, I could pick a socket by eye. Now, not nearly as accurate. I bought these labels but have not applied them yet (9 months later ).

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Just don't buy retarded laser etch sockets.
Number punch the drive ends?

 

[stikman56]

Amazon, and others, sell decals for this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDOJZ0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

When I was younger and doing a ton of car & motorcycle work, I could pick a socket by eye. Now, not nearly as accurate. I bought these labels but have not applied them yet (9 months later ).

I've been using these for several years. They are pretty good.

 

[apollo11]

I'm kinda laughing at the thought of this.

 

[Rico.]

I've have the Facom Le Tag labels in all my socket sets. They've been in them for nearly 10 years and
Seem impervious to every chemical known in the garage. Oil, coolant, wd40, brake cleaner, you name it.

Very easy to see the size you need even at a distance. Definitely get a recommendation from me.

 

[Indy125]

Hi guys,

Resurrecting this old post, this forum provides me so much help and information it’s time I paid it forward. Took the advice from this thread, used Scotch Tape, over electrical tape to preserve the markings on my bits and sockets. I use a lot of different hex keys, and I can easily find them in my drawer, and don’t have to worry about the markings disappearing from cleaning or solvents. They all live together in the same magnetic parts bowl, they are easily identified thanks to the markings. I can get at least four numbers around the tool so no matter which way they lay I can find them.

Hope this might help someone out there. [emoji16]

 

[Bige441]

I use some of the mechanic time saver magnetic socket holders and put them upside down. (8,10,12mm)

 

[bonneyman]

I find once you use them enough you'll recognize the sizes before long.

I can do that with SAE but the metric sizes are tough for my old eyes to distinguish.

 

[sberry]

I do this. I mark 10mm and 13 , the rest are not so much a problem. I keep.a roll of body tape for 10 and yellow electric for 13. I wrap a new piece on once in a while.

 

[sberry]

I file by fit size and not by drive.

 

[ChrisLS8]

I've have the Facom Le Tag labels in all my socket sets. They've been in them for nearly 10 years and
Seem impervious to every chemical known in the garage. Oil, coolant, wd40, brake cleaner, you name it.

Very easy to see the size you need even at a distance. Definitely get a recommendation from me.

Wait I don't get these? They go inside the socket?

 

[DFB]

Oh man just buy those purty different colored sockets HF sells and you all be good

 

[usdemt]

Try heat shrink. Durable removable and available in clear black red and multiple other colors

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Tangentially related, what would be a good paint to mark sockets with? Don't want to use spray paint cause it's messy, just want to put a red or blue line down the side to make it easily tell what's what.
I use tape on my wrenches, white masking on SAE and blue for Metric.

 

[6PTsocket]

Amazon, and others, sell decals for this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDOJZ0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20



When I was younger and doing a ton of car & motorcycle work, I could pick a socket by eye. Now, not nearly as accurate. I bought these labels but have not applied them yet (9 months later ).

I looked ino the description of those and they started to look a lot like P-touch tape to me. I decided to try it and I took a strip of 1/2" P-touch which instead of a single size indicator, can have size on the tape several times. When the 21mm became illegible on a laser etched impact socket I got 21 several times on black on white tape. I just use them at home and make no claim it would work commercially but they have stood up great. They are oil resistant, too thin to be a problem and suoer easy to read. If you have a P-touch labeler give it a shot. By banding all the way around they hold better that a little square label.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[RedneckWelder]

Tangentially related, what would be a good paint to mark sockets with? Don't want to use spray paint cause it's messy, just want to put a red or blue line down the side to make it easily tell what's what.
I use tape on my wrenches, white masking on SAE and blue for Metric.

Paint pen. Or you could line them all up in a row, mask them off and throw a stripe down them with spray paint.

 

[crewchief888]

Tangentially related, what would be a good paint to mark sockets with? Don't want to use spray paint cause it's messy, just want to put a red or blue line down the side to make it easily tell what's what.
I use tape on my wrenches, white masking on SAE and blue for Metric.

i had a co-worker that marked certain sockets (for specific uses, ie: torque turn bolts) with nail polish.
he preferred sally hansen hard as nails.

some of mine have been marked for over 20 years...

 

[Strouty]

As others have said, nail polish works very well and there are lots of colors to choose from, pretty sure you can buy clear as well. Looks like the OP used scotch tape and it works for what they need.

 

[PelicanPines]

Amazon, and others, sell decals for this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDOJZ0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

When I was younger and doing a ton of car & motorcycle work, I could pick a socket by eye. Now, not nearly as accurate. I bought these labels but have not applied them yet (9 months later ).

I looked ino the description of those and they started to look a lot like P-touch tape to me. I decided to try it and I took a strip of 1/2" P-touch which instead of a single size indicator, can have size on the tape several times. When the 21mm became illegible on a laser etched impact socket I got 21 several times on black on white tape. I just use them at home and make no claim it would work commercially but they have stood up great. They are oil resistant, too thin to be a problem and suoer easy to read. If you have a P-touch labeler give it a shot. By banding all the way around they hold better that a little square label.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Those labels from Amazon are FAR sticky'er than P-Touch labels. I have a Brady BMP21 label maker with Nylon Cloth black on white labels... that stick to everything. I have the Amazon ones as well. I would rate the three:

1. Brady Nylon Cloth labels (best)
2. Amazon Labels (sticky and durable) (Tie with Brady Labels)
3. P-Touch... poor durability after a month or so.

 

[sberry]

I marked the 10 and the 13, a guy could certainly go a step or 2 farther. A 15 could get one too. Clean off the impact sockets and give some a set of color spray wouldn't hurt. I have over sprayed some and the color is on forever. I got a 7/8 deep got overspray on a building 25 years ago and its still recognizable.

 

[Jazz1]

I bought some labels. They sent me enough for 4 sets 1/4”,3/8”and 1/2” drive for about $10. They are decent,obviously some get destroyed. I bought them when working on vehicles that had mix of SAE and Metric hardware,,,was getting fed up having a tray under car full of sae and metric sockets and they all look the same

 

[PelicanPines]

I marked the 10 and the 13, a guy could certainly go a step or 2 farther. A 15 could get one too. Clean off the impact sockets and give some a set of color spray wouldn't hurt. I have over sprayed some and the color is on forever. I got a 7/8 deep got overspray on a building 25 years ago and its still recognizable.

I oversprayed my good tools in the 70's to stop my uncle from swapping his **** for mine... he thought it was such a great idea... he oversprayed all of his **** the same color.

Sorry I had to share.