Labeling Cables
So I mentioned we have a ton of cables here at Space Cow HQ.
It’s hard to keep track of them all and so we try to keep them all labeled with our contact information.
When purchasing new cables we have them pre-labeled. They tend to use clear heat shrink tubing over a black and white label. This is easy to do when one end of the cable hasn’t yet been completed.
Our older cables have no labels so I set about trying to figure out the best way to do it without messing with the ends.
There are all sorts of readily available options online but most are for hidden cables - not ones designed to be strung around the feet of clients and colleagues.
Several companies offer a type of label that is meant to be spat out of their own custom label machine and adhere to your cables.
We already have two label makers and a heat gun here at HQ so I thought I would just try to source the labels.
I looked into the specs of these fancy labels and found they were mainly made of vinyl. Something that matched this was a roll of vinyl labels made for covering library books’ barcodes. I found a 1” x 3” roll with 250 labels for about $30 bucks.
Using our old Brother label maker and a cartridge of white print on black tape I print a small label out with our details on it.
Then using the library book labels, usually cut in half by length, I wrap the label
onto the cable. Using our heat gun on low heat I then heat up the label. It shrinks a little around the cable and sticks really well.
Over a year later and I might have redone about 6 labels total. Out of well over a hundred. Not too shabby eh?
As an extra identifying mark we use colored Velcro cable tie wrap straps to wrap the coiled cables and stand out form the rest of production.
Cheers,
James
