Marking Tools From Thieves and Others

[Garage Josh]

What are some options for "marking" tools out there? It seems like your only option to protect from thieves is to permanently engrave it, but then you ruin re-sale value. Then again, most tools are not really worth much again resold and I can't remember the last time I sold one. The other category is just simply separating them from other people if you work in say a shop with a lot of people with tons of other tools possibly the same as yours. Your methods? Ideas?

 

[Sheriff245]

Why would you want to sell a tool?

 

[Mike Miller]

I've been engraving my tools with my Oregon drivers license number since 1964.

 

[rsanter]

Use an engraver

Use an engraving pen, it a pen that chemically acid etches what you write verses cutting into the surface

Use a die stamp to mark them

Have them laser etched

Paint them

Label maker

What level of security are you looking for? Marking them from ' friends' you work with so you guys know who owns them or marking them from the unknown thief that runs off with them

 

[fastev]

Buy an engraver and go to town. At risk of sounding like an ***, if you're worried about resale than what difference does it make. Wait until enough tools are ripped off and file an insurance claim. Otherwise, mark 'em up and use the **** out of 'em. Beat them up a bit and they won't be as attractive to a thief...

 

[Tharp]

I don't have anything small enough to walk off with that's worth stealing but there is a ~$20 'glue tube' at lowes called cop dots. There are hundreds of dots in the tube, you put a dot in an obscure area. And I believe the idea is the glue fluoresces under black light and the dots can be scanned (or read?) by cops w/ the proper equipment. I've never tried them and don't know how they hold up, but I thought it was a neat concept.

 

[Hephaestus29]

Why would you want to sell a tool?

Getting out of the trade, retiring, or maybe
just not doing certain things anymore

My dad put his S.S. Number on tools years ago
Not thinking of todays type of crime!

I recently bought tools from a tool and die guy
that retired due to cancer and right now I
have no plans to remove his name.

 

[Tronyadorable]

I've been engraving my tools with my Oregon drivers license number since 1964.

I guess your efforts may result in a 25% less payout from the pawn shops if some crackhead steals them. They'll also result in a 75% reduction of value to anyone who inherits them with no plans or desire to use them.
I certainly wouldn't give more than a couple of dollars for a ratchet with some guys name scribbled down the handle with an engraveamatic.
Snap on Flex 80 $80 ( Nicholai Malczewbak engraved on handle)
I offer $5.
Engrave all you want. The only thing the police can find is cheap steroids and desperate hookers.

 

[Garage Josh]

Use an engraver
...
What level of security are you looking for? Marking them from ' friends' you work with so you guys know who owns them or marking them from the unknown thief that runs off with them

That's what I'm saying it seems like you only have two options, either permanent (thieve deterring) and co-worker identification.

I have a large portion of tools engraved already, but the thought came up again after buying some new tools that are pretty nice. Debating if I should engrave them or just mark somehow to distinguish from co-workers/others and risk theft still.

 

[AndrewV]

A guy on here once said, paint em.
Neon green, orange, pink. What ever your fancy is.

You use them to work with though. Not for resale. Just my 2 cents.

 

[gml1998]

Check out datadotusa.com .

 

[nicksnothereman]

What are some options for "marking" tools out there? It seems like your only option to protect from thieves is to permanently engrave it, but then you ruin re-sale value. Then again, most tools are not really worth much again resold and I can't remember the last time I sold one. The other category is just simply separating them from other people if you work in say a shop with a lot of people with tons of other tools possibly the same as yours. Your methods? Ideas?

Lock up the fancy stuff. Don't bother with the cheap stuff.

If you got a lot of stuff engraving everything is a going to be a complete pita and not really a deterrent if they're a mechanic because they can still use the tool with the mark.

If it's the guys you work with don't loan out your tools or get **** loaner tools. No one steals harbor freight, hell no one wants to borrow it; replacement cost is like the cost of a big mac.

 

[Garage Josh]

Paint them how? What will take the abuse of tool use and not rub off in a heart beat?

 

[Jerryrigged]

When I was a Millwright. Guys would paint almost 70% of a tools surface with spray paint. Each guy had their own color and painted each of their tools that color. When you loaned a tool everyone knew who it belong to and if you dropped a tool in the machinery it was easier to spot. It wasn't a perfect system but it worked.

 

[Cyberbear]

My situation was a little different: I worked in a small electrical panel board shop as shop foreman over 12 years, we all had our own private tool boxes, and there was a large wall hung tool cabinet with company tools for all 15 employees to use.
My standing order was I don't loan my tools and anyone caught with any tool of mine was subject to immediate dismissal. Only had to can one guy in all that time. Most of my tools were of better quality than the others and were easy to identify by sight. I never had any compassion for a thief.

 

[2level]

When I was 15, I engraved my tools with my social security number. Don't do that!

 

[Brians VWss]

My FIL is in construction. Everything is spray painted osha purple. I know a guy that worked for the city. They have a tool allowance. It does not stop the other workers from taking his tools. One day he painted all his tools red and they no longer went missing.

 

[john11139]

I use to engrave all my tools. I see tools all the time at flea markets with the markings ground off. About 15 years ago my shop was broken into and about $20k in tools were stolen. Only a few were marked. I found some being sold at a flea market. I called the cops. They treated me like the bad guy. One ratchet I had I had engraved the 5-29-61 (the day I graduated) . It was given to me by the man who gave me my first real job in a garage, for a graduation present from high school. (It had sentimental value) I had to argue with the cops to get it back.

 

[T-Mac]

I take a center punch and put a dot above the A-works with snAp on,mAc,craftsmAn,mAtco
Havent bothered to mark any hArbor freight-no one steals them!

 

[CarsonConcepts]

Depending on the type of tools and how hard they are used, Plastidip may be an option. Would make them easy to identify but easily reversible if needed. Granted the thief could peal it off, but I'd think it would discourage "borrowing" in a shop environment.

Edit: And what ever you end up doing, TAKE PICTURES. Much easier to prove they are yours when you have pictures of the marking before something goes missing. Especially if it's a very discrete mark.

~ Carson

 

[Crusher Creature]

I painted many of my of tools, it makes it easier to identify them when they're mix with others tools during big projects.

 

[rshadd]

Three dots with an automatic center punch

 

[ken w.]

I buy tools all the time and see engraved marks all the time. I don't think it makes a difference in getting your tools back if there stolen. I used to put my own marks on my tools and stopped quite awhile ago. I go to estate sales and see SS numbers or full names on everything they owned. I wonder what the success rate in getting all of your tools back if their stolen. I bet it's not very high.

 

[mopar ken]

Three dots with an automatic center punch

this is what I do

 

[Stuart in MN]

It seems to have fallen out of popularity but there's a national program called Operation Identification. They used to issue ID numbers you could use to mark property with, but it appears that today they recommend using your driver's license number since it's easily traced by law enforcement. http://www.opid.org/

 

[RossABQ]

I used to work on large powerplant projects where there was a huge small-tools thievery problem (by the workers). So the contractors started painting them day-glo green, orange, yellow. Pretty soon the pawn shop two miles down the road had bins full of tools painted those colors. The contractors called the cops, tried to recover the tools, but were told it was not a positive ID. They wouldn't even pull the pawn tickets on the tools. They all stopped painting and just added a "small tools loss cost" to all bids at the plant. Kind of disgusting, these were all journeyman machinists and boilermakers.

 

[Garage Josh]

I guess I will go with marking them with either a paint marker with a color(s) line/band, and with nicer items maybe actually tape off and paint them with automotive paint. That way to separate between those I consider honest, but just easy to identify MY tools.

As far as theft, I think I will just hand engrave. Just not sure if I should continue with my full initials (first, middle, and last) or do driver's license.

Are there mini punches for letters/numbers that I could use? That way it's clean and clear instead of free handing it with an engraver.

 

[brass89]

either center punch dots (pick your own pattern) or make a slight groove with a grinder in a spot you'll know to check. avoid the middle of grips on wrenches and stuff so you don't mar up the surface that'll be in your hand. by grooves, i mean like shallow 'tick' marks similar to the dots. some guys use 1, some use 2, some use 3.. not really for thieves as much as sorting out with coworkers. if your coworkers are swiping your stuff, you either need to drag them out back or better yet - work elsewhere.

it wasn't a huge shop i worked at (which makes a difference), there were 4 techs. none of us locked our boxes and freely loaned stuff to one another. our marks were just in case someone scooped up something by accident or an orphaned wrench was laying around you knew who's it was.

as far as picking up tools from garage sales and whatnot, i could care less about other names engraved. sort of expect it. doesn't affect how the tool performs. one of the last things i picked up was a stanley bailey #4c (type 13, late 1920's) for about $30 with shipping off ebay. has someone's initials punched with dots on the side. nice and flat, original wood, 90% japanning. doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Some of my tools are stamped BDT or engraved Doc T ..... Some will claim that pocession is 9/10'S of the law, but those marks worked in my favor in disputes with co-workers more than once.

Ya, the stamping is neater than my engraving,,, but stamping is not that dang easy to keep four letters (Doc T) neatly in a row... So I used three letters; (BDT) instead... Some of the stuff like torque wrenches have my full name engraved...... AND,,, one
A-Hole still tried to keep one in his box after """"""""borrowing it"""""""" for a solid week.... Last time he borrowed that torque wrench...

Stolen stuff is usually gone for good, but I did locate some tools that a co-student had stolen from tech school.... I called the local Police Department and had a chat... I explained that I would like the guy to get a break this time... My plan was to "retrieve" the stolen tools, and hand them over to the Police,,,, Then have a Uniformed Police Officer return the tools to the classroom the tools were stolen from, during our class period..... You should have seen the look of terror on that co-students face when that officer walked into that classroom with the tools.....That co-student glanced at me and seen me glaring at him..... He couldn't have sunk lower into that desk,, I think he realized he had just gotten one hell of a break.... Not that he thanked me So Ya,,,, there are times that it pays to mark your stuff

 

[bwringer]

My Dad used an engraver to mark quite a bit of his stuff with a distinctive stylized "RW" -- sort of his personal hallmark or logo. He got pretty good at it, and could make the mark very small.

 

[Holzarbeiter]

Cut a caught thieves hand off, if caught twice he/she wont steal anymore

On a serious note
One can't thieve prove a 100%, locks will only keep honest people honest, marking tools will just keep them from using them in front of you.
Most pawn shops in these parts turn a blind eye and even with serial # written down an E becomes a 8 or B.
The courts are not penalizing to the fullest extend of the law. An example:

Friend of mine is a contractor. In broad daylight 3 guys steal his enclosed construction trailer from his driveway while he is home. He files a police report and had pretty decent records of his tools with most serial # written down.
Do to his daily search of craigslist for over 6 weeks he ran across an add for a local Pawn Shop selling one of his compressors. He goes to the shop to investigate and lord and behold it is his. Detective gets called, video gets observed, people get identified, eventually arrests are made. A year later things get ready for court and the Solicitor wants to only give them a slap on the wrist (community service). All 3 had priors.

 

[kaffine]

At work we use phase tape to id tools. It is an electronics shop so no grease or solvents to worry about so the tape stays on. Not going to stop theft but works great to id the tools at the end of a job. We work out of each others tool bags all the time which ever bag is closest normally. End of the day or job tools are rounded up and put back. Tools are company provided and are just basic hand tools only a few pieces of test equipment are carried in the tool bag most are in the shop or truck and labeled for where they belong.

I had thought about engraving my tools when I was a mechanic but when I saw all of the tools when I bought a large tool kit to get started I said no way am I going to go through and mark all of them. It wouldn't be bad a few tools at a time but a 1000 piece tool kit at once not going to happen.

 

[ddawg16]

What ever you do....do something.

Your chances of getting something back without some number or marking on it....is well, ZERO.

On tool boxes, put your name and address on the bottom of the drawer.

If you put your drivers lic number on it, it the dirt bag tries to pawn it, most pawn shops will not take it if the number does not match the sellers drivers lic #.

While paint is easy to remove, most dirt bag POS's are lazy. If they see the tools painted, they're too lazy to strip if off and in most cases will pass on taking it.

 

[TOOL FANATIK]

personally, i would never ever mark my tools nowadays...especially my wrenches and pliers. dont leave your tools out. the question you should ask yourself at the end of each day is what did i leave out, before locking your box.

although i will say, probably most guys DO mark their tools, usually via dremel tool, some laser engrave

 

[Lassen Forge]

Plastikote on handles - +10. Get 2 pots of different colors - if one handle is lime green, the other is orange, ugly as it sounds, it WILL stand out.

I engrave my initials in a triangle somewhere on it. And take its picture. If I buy something from an estate sale, I engrave a single line thru former marks, and remark it as above.

Bad news - if it gets lifted, it will end up fenced to some scumball at a flea market a county over, and the local cops don't want to "make waves". Take pictures of your tools, marked, and you might have a chance. Maybe.

Bottom line - lock your tools up at night, install an epoxied-into-concrete anchor point under where your toolbox rests and chain/padlock your toolbox to the ground.

True story - Had a thief hit our shop twice, about 4 months apart, when I worked in Oakland - first time they got away with a drill press, a band saw, and 2 tool boxes in the main shop (thank god mine was on the work truck for a call the next AM!) - we think they came in with a van truck and lift gate, as they weren't there more than an hour (security patrols...) Second time, everything was chained down as above - you could see where they had moved them, but they didn't go far.

 

[kelpaso1]

either center punch dots (pick your own pattern) or make a slight groove with a grinder in a spot you'll know to check. avoid the middle of grips on wrenches and stuff so you don't mar up the surface that'll be in your hand. by grooves, i mean like shallow 'tick' marks similar to the dots. some guys use 1, some use 2, some use 3.. not really for thieves as much as sorting out with coworkers. if your coworkers are swiping your stuff, you either need to drag them out back or better yet - work elsewhere.

That's what I do.

 

[slo_nlo]

Engrave the last 3 or 4 digits of your social.
Proves ownership very clearly, and still no risk of identity theft.

 

[cparcell]

I like to paint mine about a inch on thw handleand socket base

 

[G McKay]

Stamp them with a number showing your DOB?

 

[Tripn88]

Paint them how? What will take the abuse of tool use and not rub off in a heart beat?

I paint all my tools green on my work truck. Yeah it wears off but every other month I repaint them. Is it going to stop a thief? No. Is it going to make it easy for me to see if a coworker has it? Yes. Unless they paint it before I see them.

If someone is going to steal it, it doesn't matter how it's marked.