10-10-2016 11:02

Mark McLeod

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

Sweet!
I wished I'd checked it out this past weekend at GirlPower...

10-10-2016 11:45

Karibou

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

Oh man.

My team in HS used electrical tape to denote our most frequently-used sizes and it was a great system, but we had issues with the tape coming off and/or leaving an uncomfortable sticky resudie from the tape sliding around on the handle. Have you had any issues with heatshrink being pulled off or getting in the way?

10-10-2016 11:47

Bpk9p4

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

great i am going to do that to all are tools this weekend

10-10-2016 12:20

orangelight

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

We use paint pens to mark our wrenches and it works quite well

10-10-2016 14:05

MattRain

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

We just spray-paint ours. While the paint comes off a little bit with use, we just repaint every other year.

10-10-2016 15:26

nathannfm

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

Nope, the way it shrinks around the elbow prevents the sleeve from moving in either direction. It also sits high up enough that you can still put them back in the holder if you want a full set. (Right now each size has it's own little box in the drawer)

I think MOE used to paint (or use nail polish or something) on a few sizes, I still see bits of it here and there, but this seemed much less messy and longer lasting. I did match the heat shrink color pattern to the remnants of paint I found.

10-10-2016 17:26

chapman1

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

When I first saw this post, I thought, "Is this really post-worthy"? Then I realized it certainly was. Thanks for sharing.

10-10-2016 17:32

AdamHeard

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

There are few things I hate more in life than electrical tape residue.

10-10-2016 19:40

AllenGregoryIV

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

We've been using heat shrink for a bit as well, it's a great trick. We've had some of it slip off, I'm looking for adhesive heat shrink in enough colors but haven't found it yet.

Our blog post with our color chart is here.
http://blog.spectrum3847.org/2015/11...ion-color.html

10-10-2016 20:26

kaliken

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

We have been doing color coding for years. Mainly electrical tape as the colors are pretty good. however we may have to try the shrink tubing.

One additional thing we did was color code the wrenches for the nuts to match those of the Allan drivers (e.g. button heads). That way when you have students screwing in a #10 button head screw with a nut on the other end, they just ask for a "red driver and a red wrench". It gets to the point that our students don't even know what size the wrench is so they just ask for colors.. great for working on your team.. bad if you need to borrow a tool from another team!

Also, We have been trying to standardize on mainly button heads but for small screws we have found they strip a bit easier so we have been using socket heads for anything less than #8

10-10-2016 21:28

ratdude747

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

Same here, although after today's work (fixing water cooling on spot welding robots) old sticky pipe dope is up there. It's like bubble gum only worse...

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Back on topic: I've seen this done before. Works great as long as the tools don't get too beat up (otherwise it gets a bit tattered). If you are lucky enough to have access to a brady heat shrink printer, for bonus points, add team number and/or key size to the tubing.

11-10-2016 06:48

Roger

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

Didn't color code them by week number, er, resistor code?

13-10-2016 21:38

ctt956

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

The only thing maybe worse than electrical tape residue is duct tape residue. Though I've heard that WD-40 works for removing both, I've only used it on masking tape residue on plastic.

As for the heat shrink color code, I think it's a great idea! As others have said, maybe put the size on the heat shrink too.

13-10-2016 23:42

Donut

Re: pic: Hex Wrenches + Heat Shrink

We started doing the matching colors for wrenches and hex wrenches last year, it works great. Makes it easy to find what you are looking for since most of our students don't know which wrench size goes with which bolt size (or me sometimes... I'm a sparky not a mechanic). We're trying to standardize on only #10 and #8 bolts more so we can just overstock on wrenches in those sizes and avoid having to search for them in the pit.