What do you use to label your wood blanks

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Todd in PA

Todd in PA

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Joined
Feb 16, 2021
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Location
Port Matilda, PA
I've accumulated enough wood that I need to label what each bit it is now. I just got some ebony and I'm not sure pencil is going to show up very well. Do use some kind of paint marker to label your wood blanks? Amazon link would be cool if you have ones that work best. Thanks!
 
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I use a piece of masking tape, either wrapped around the blank or stretched the length of the blank . . 1/2" wide x ( 3" or 4" long).

Write the wood ID on the tape before applying . . . easier to write on a flat surface than after applying tape to blanks.
Quicker than using a paint marker ( paint may have to dry ? )
 
jttheclockman said:
markers. You are turning off anyways.
Click to expand...

Black marker can usually be read . . except maybe on the darkest of woods. . . But . . .

I sometimes like to keep a sheet with construction details, assign a serial number (on a tag ?) to the finished pen, & put the sheet in binder.
The tape of blank ID can be peeled off and forms a part of the record sheet . . . saves a little bit of writing and aids short term memory.
 
I just use a pencil and then spend hours searching for the mark. But a white out pen would work pretty well.
 
I have used sharpie, regular and fine tip, pencil, India ink, silver and white paint pens, ink pen, white out pen and presently a rubber stamp.
 
I used them for marking all kinds of things, including wood.


I always have a couple of these on hand too. The metallic shows up when nothing else will.


A silver (or white, probably) and black should mark anything you have.

In the pic, black and silver metallic.

IMG_3255.JPG
 
magpens said:
Black marker can usually be read . . except maybe on the darkest of woods. . . But . . .

I sometimes like to keep a sheet with construction details, assign a serial number (on a tag ?) to the finished pen, & put the sheet in binder.
The tape of blank ID can be peeled off and forms a part of the record sheet . . . saves a little bit of writing and aids short term memory.
Click to expand...
Wayyyyyyyyyyy too much work for me If I forget the wood I do not worry about it at all. I know some people are abscessed with knowing but if a customer asks and I do not know I just tell them it is a exotic woods. I run into this alot with my birdhouse ornaments. I use too many varieties to remember all of them.
 
Ok, I really don't have an obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I do like to have things grouped, organized and labeled. A Methods and Standards department was under engineering for a few years so their devotion to LEAN manufacturing, particularly 5S really rubbed off on me.

If I have a few of the same kind of blanks I put 5 blanks in a 5x8 inch plastic zipper bag and apply a small printed label (Avery 8167, 1/2 inch by 1-3/4 inches) on the bag with the name of the wood and where I got it from. For single blanks I use either a Sharpie to mark the wood or if the wood is dark I use a return address label with the name written on it.

OK, maybe I do have OCD, but it's a mild case! 🤪

Dave
 
@jttheclockman

Yes, John, of course we all forget things and just have to let them go . . . and sometimes even say "I don't know" !

But as you said :
" I know some people are obsessed with knowing " and asking questions such as "What wood is that ?" .
Nice to humor them along, don't you think ! ! !

Maybe even give them a knowingly wrong answer . . . . just to . . . shall we say . . . close the deal !

Mind you, I would prefer to give the right answer, and it's not a lot of work to add the wood name to my usual notes.
 
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Thanks for all your replies and various strategies. I like the tape idea and then pulling off the tape as a written record until I can put the finished pen in my inventory document (I usually snap a picture of the uncut blank with the wood name on it). Some weekends I have multiple going at once and lose track, especially if it's an uncommon wood I haven't used before and forget the name altogether. 🤪 I also put some metallic sharpies in my Amazon cart which will help with naming but also seeing my marks for cutting/orienting the wood.
 
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