How do you guys mark your tools?

[mech-tech]

At my new job, it is often 3 or 4 of us working on one thing at the same time, with each of us having our own tools bag and using each others stuff. Just wondering how you guys keep your stuff separate. I painted mine, but not sure how long it will last as some of the wrenches are polished chrome. As long as some of the paint stays in the stampings, I will be happy. What works for you guys?

 

[chrisa7164]

I use an electric etcher.

 

[Outlawmws]

I don't have that issue anymore but when I did I painted mine with a translucent metallic blue paint that was pretty unique. Over thirty years later, some still have some of that paint on them...

I did put some effort into the job, as I taped off the ends of the wrenches and the handles of the screw drivers for instance...

 

[beatcad]

I don't mark mine 'cause they stay in my garage.
my dad(and plenty others) etch 'em.
I found a batch of old wrenches that were painted blue recently. I bought a couple and a little thinner made 'em good as new.
id say paint 'em pink. than the other guys wont take 'em.
some years ago(maybe 15) when snap-on ratcheting screwdrivers came out one guy in my shop bought the pink one. I asked him why. he said no one would walk off with that one

I got his way of thinking, but it took me a few years to understand that pink is the new black

 

[metaldad]

paint. mine's red.
dave's blue.
jellys striped, red, white, blue.
jim's green.
we had a female fitter, she had pink

 

[jakemac]

Back when I needed to mark my tools. I would tape them off and paint 2 green stripes as my mark. I would spend a full weekend going through all my tools to refresh the markings each year.

For one of the jobs I worked for, I painted all the company tools pink so they would stop walking off the job. It worked, our loses dropped dramatically because no-one wanted to get caught stealing pink tools.

 

[BearCuda]

I pee on mine

 

[comedyman809]

i mark my tools by buying the brands no one else uses.

haha any knipex pliers found at work are without a doubt mine…facom screwdrivers,,,def mine. everyone has craftsman, husky cobalt and harborfrieght

 

[mech-tech]

I guess I should say that, yes...I did paint them pink!!!!!! At my last job, the boss was so dang worried about slave driving us for every second of work he could get out of us that often time we left tools where ever we last worked in the shop. Needless to say, we often went looking for our stuff and I ended up losing one craftsman socket from my master set. But the last straw was finding one of MY snap-on sockets in the shop box that another guy used! So now my tools are bright pink

 

[Ruger_556]

Engraver with a symbol of your choosing.

 

[John Mc]

Federal Safety Purple paint, in a school environment where even Fluorescent Green tools grow legs, my stuff sticks around.

 

[theknurl]

I don't, nobody touches them.......

been welding/brazing with the same Purox 00 since I was 12.....my Father sent it to me when I lived in Switzerland, so he touched it,
nobody since....I'm 66

nobody but me, has touched my Father's special ordered Thuillier-LeFant tin snips since 1928, but he did stamp the family name in 1/10" letters on the handle

and he had his name beautifully engraved on his 4' Lufkin steel rule

even my Trap guns with the gold ID plaques are blank, I have a 1918 Ithaca 7E SBT.....if the original owner didn't put his name on it.....why should I?????

 

[celticbhoy]

I lick every single tool of mine at the monday morning meetings.

 

[AV tinker er]

An etcher worked great, decreases the resale value some but I don't sale a lot of tools.

 

[mech-tech]

I'm thinking if another guy in the oilfield working offshore has pink tools...then I will have to come up with plan B

 

[rshadd]

I make three "dots" with an automatic center punch in a triangle pattern.

 

[davesnothere]

Mine come pre-marked, from the snappy factory.

 

[zoomieport]

I pee on mine

Mark your territory like a wolf!
Hahahaha!

 

[tshetter]

i mark my tools by buying the brands no one else uses.

haha any knipex pliers found at work are without a doubt mine…facom screwdrivers,,,def mine. everyone has craftsman, husky cobalt and harborfrieght

This...

Screw drivers? Wera. Knipex and NWS pliers. Ridgid extension cords.

Estwing framing hammers are ubiquitous. Haven't found a good solution there, but I do have a 5lb Wilton mini-sledge thats pretty nice and rare.

I have Bosch cordless and Ridgid corded tools.

Bosch cordless is pretty rare, tons of milwaukee, dewalt, some ridgid and now ryobi. ******* ryobi!? Anyway... Everyone else seems to have batteries walk off, but I've only run into a few other contractors with Bosch.

Ridgid corded tools are a little more common, but not as popular as dewalt and milwaukee.

I keep my initials sharpied onto my tools and reapply often. Not a great solution but it works.

 

[kenburkholz]

To mark my tools I use an engraver to put my three initials into the head of wrenches and ratchets. On tools that i use with others I mark them with Dykem blue, or Dykem red which I like better than paint because it is so thin, but still wears very well. Ken

 

[mechan]

I pee on mine

+1 GOTTA MARK YOUR TERRITORY! Good show of dominance as well.

 

[Chris83]

Mine are the clean green tools in the shop. All the other guys have dirty tools.

 

[wchamberlain]

Mine are fully polished in my garage at the house, take my tools........You can meet Mr. S&W

On that note I let a neighbor who I know pretty good borrow some sunex impact sockets, been like 6 months, I see him about 2-3 times a week, never has he thought about returning them. Note to self ask for them back......I don't work that way, you borrow, you return. I shouldn't have to ask for my tools to come back to the rightful owner.

 

[Outlawmws]

Mine come pre-marked, from the snappy factory.

So is your last name Snap, or On?

 

[Outlawmws]

I'm thinking if another guy in the oilfield working offshore has pink tools...then I will have to come up with plan B

Maybe Chartreuse?

 

[nicksnothereman]

At my new job, it is often 3 or 4 of us working on one thing at the same time, with each of us having our own tools bag and using each others stuff. Just wondering how you guys keep your stuff separate. I painted mine, but not sure how long it will last as some of the wrenches are polished chrome. As long as some of the paint stays in the stampings, I will be happy. What works for you guys?

Nail polish (or tape) would be the cheapest/easiest way to go but it hasn't been an issue for me. I use it on bolt heads sometimes after brushing them.

 

[rick carpenter]

I only worry about marking tools I'll take onto a worksite with other folk, like church mission worktrips. Most blowcases and some powertools I mark:
CAR
PEN
TER

My screwdrivers get the shanks heatshrinked. Same with ratchet handles. Not a "mark" but functional and in my circle of tool user friends so far unique. My older pliers, etc get dipped in or daubed with red plastidip. Some tools don't get marked but for no good reason why not. New wrenches so far are unmarked but I'm thinking about that self-sealing lectric tape.

 

[tornadocaster]

Since I got robbed two years ago, I mark ALL my power tools with "not for resale" and my initials in two places. I mark the metal part of the body with an engraver and the plastic part with a soldering pencil.
Cheers
Gio

 

[ajchien]

Mine are fully polished in my garage at the house, take my tools........You can meet Mr. S&W

On that note I let a neighbor who I know pretty good borrow some sunex impact sockets, been like 6 months, I see him about 2-3 times a week, never has he thought about returning them. Note to self ask for them back......I don't work that way, you borrow, you return. I shouldn't have to ask for my tools to come back to the rightful owner.

Hate to say it, but if it's been 6 months - he's might be the type that has 'forgotten' he ever borrowed them. Or he "has no doubt he has already returned them to you".

Better remind him. You might get lucky and he actually finds them.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Engraved or stamped.