Tagging tubing for storage

[LSA-14]

How do people mark the tubing for storage? I have a bunch of sizes now and am looking for a way to pick the right size off of the rack without having to sort through all of the tubing.

[Enewton57]

My way is primitive but word for me. I wrap a piece of masking tape around one end and mark it with a fineline marker pen Eric Newton - Long Beach, MS http://mybearhawk.com

[jaredyates]

I've marked the pieces with sharpie markers. A silver colored pencil from the art store also shows up pretty well.

[LSA-14]

I ended up at the aviation dept of Radio Shack. They had a pack of 5 colors of PVC electrical tape. I used that and a roll of black to put two colored rings on one end of each tube. The outer ring gives wall thickness and the inner ring gives diameter. I got a chuckle when I did the 3/4 x .028 as it came up as Red Green - Canadian comedy show character that uses a lot of duct tape. It should be easy to pick the right piece.

They goofed on one item when picking my order. I ended up short a 3/4 x .035 and have an extra 3/4 x .028. The markings on the 4 pieces that were not clearly .035 were hard to make out. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which of the remaining pieces was the .035 but they all kept measuring the same ID.

[bestbearhawk1231]

I have been writing on it with a sharpie or paint marker. Silver for steel and black or blue for aluminum. Diameter X wall thickness...3/4 x .028. Wipe off the metal where you are writing with a solvent of some sort to get the oil off so you don't gum up the end of your marker. It is quick and easy. I also label any scrap tubing or sheet that way and put the scrap in the associated scrap bin for later use.

[fabricman]

Best marking tool I have found for steel materials is the Silver or Gold Sharpie. I keep a couple of boxes on hand for marking stuff. Shows up well on steel - use black or red on aluminum. Wipes right off with lacquer thinner.

[alaskabearhawk]

Same thing here...silver sharpie. Even the small cutoffs get marked before they go into the scrap bin. It saves a bunch of time.