> PVC Cards:
> http://www.idwholesaler.com/id-cards/pvc.html
Right material, but too small. I'll have to compare prices of PVC and sheet metal.
I guess you could find some old vinyl house siding scraps in the roadside dump...cut to size with tin snips.
DDSM
:beer:
A #8 Tyvek tag is 3 x 6 inches. Come in several colors. Can be written on both sides. Material is weather resistant. They are cheap. You can get them pre wired.
>
> Any ideas for a design?
Kent, here is my quick and dirty idea for a design. It could be made for 1/2" or 1" pipe.
Not cheap, but these are what we use. The wide one is expensive and for only one of our clients. The flag can be seen 1/2 mile away if the sun is behind you, the thin plastic one is the one we use the most. All three can be written on and will hold writting for at least three years.
PVC is sensitive to ultra violet light and breaks down when exposed to sunlight. First it gets brittle then when it gets touched it breaks off leaving sharp chard's. On the ground it continues making smaller and smaller sharp chard's until all that remains on the surface is totally broken down, anything that gets covered can last for years. Doesn't take long, the process starts as soon as the pipe is manufactured and exposed to sunlight. Use wood, better for us all.
jud
a Duct tape flag and a permanent marker.
>Use wood, better for us all.
/Agree with Jud
Latest technology will likely make RFIDs economical and feasible. Weatherproof, and capable of indefinitely long data storage, readable by commonly manufactured devices, including cell phones. (Power comes from the reader; not the device itself.)
The technology is currently being used for homework assignments for baccalaureate students in Electrical Engineering.
That tells me that they're well on the way to being common as dirt. Betcha Schonstedt has them on the drawing board right now. (I say Schonstedt because that's just the name that comes to me at the moment.)
> Kent, here is my quick and dirty idea for a design. It could be made for 1/2" or 1" pipe.
>
>
Carl, I see we're thinking along somewhat similar lines. The idea that I came up with today was an L-shaped piece of plastic. The connection to the pipe was made with a split mandrel like the key to a sardine can, just a piece of 1/2 in. steel dowel with a saw cut down the middle and a handle. Insert downleg of "L" into split mandrel and wind it into a cylinder small enough to fit into the PVC pipe. Insert in pipe, release the mandrel and the plastic springs open to fit the inside diameter of the pipe, leaving the horizontal leg of the "L" with the writing on it in view like a flag on a pole.
> PVC is sensitive to ultra violet light and breaks down when exposed to sunlight. First it gets brittle then when it gets touched it breaks off leaving sharp shards.
Judson, some of the PVC "lath" I've set in the West Texas desert are still standing after six years. The flagging has weathered off, but the pipes are upright and visible. Wood lath aren't even in the running on that.
The PVC irrigation pipe lath are also much easier to install in rocky ground than wood lath, either by drilling a 3/4 in. pilot hole or by driving a 3/8 in. spike and slipping the lath over the spike.
If you are going to use PVC, get some 1 1/4" pipe. Use a heating device that will bring the pipe up to the soft stage and squeeze a flat spot into it. Then a light sanding where you want the writing.
jud
> Carl, I see we're thinking along somewhat similar lines. The idea that I came up with today was an L-shaped piece of plastic. The connection to the pipe was made with a split mandrel like the key to a sardine can, just a piece of 1/2 in. steel dowel with a saw cut down the middle and a handle. Insert downleg of "L" into split mandrel and wind it into a cylinder small enough to fit into the PVC pipe. Insert in pipe, release the mandrel and the plastic springs open to fit the inside diameter of the pipe, leaving the horizontal leg of the "L" with the writing on it in view like a flag on a pole.
Here's the graphic that accompanies the above description:
What it shows is the L-shaped label being wound up on the mandrel, being inserted into the inside of the top of the pipe, and the mandrel withdrawn.
> If you are going to use PVC, get some 1 1/4" pipe. Use a heating device that will bring the pipe up to the soft stage and squeeze a flat spot into it. Then a light sanding where you want the writing.
The reason to use 1/2 in. PVC irrigation pipe is that it is cheap as hell and light to carry in quantity, but still stiff enough to drive into soil. It's also quick to field cut if you want to cut some short guard stakes out of the 48 in. lengths you'll probably want to use. So, to keep those advantages, the label design ought to probably be attached to the pipe with minimal field modification of the pipe required.
ahhh... I see now. I was having quite the time envisioning what you meant. The only problem I see with your is that the sheet would have to be thin enough to roll with out breaking.
In my design, the pieces could be of varying thicknesses as along as the loop hole and plug (I also can see a "+" design tapered to go into the open end of the top of the pipe) are of uniform sizes to slip over, and then into the size pipe one is using.
I wonder what "clear coat" does on PVC after you have applied some Sharpie markers...
It looks like I will be doing some "testing" in the backyard with some PVC pipe here soon.
> ahhh... I see now. I was having quite the time envisioning what you meant. The only problem I see with your is that the sheet would have to be thin enough to roll with out breaking.
Yes, the plastic would need to be flexible enough to be rolled up on the mandrel. Very thin aluminum sheet might work, also.
An alternate design would be something like a giant paper clip that tightens on the label when it is pushed into the pipe, something made entirely of wire.
Or, better yet, a giant paper clip that slips over the label and has a lower end designed to anchor inside the pipe when inserted in it.
How about using a tag that they use to affix to cattle ears, fastened the same way and with the same tool.
> How about using a tag that they use to affix to cattle ears, fastened the same way and with the same tool.
I don't think that the plastic studs that are used to attach the tag would be long enough to pass through 1/2 in. pipe. Even if you had a longer stud, you'd probably need to pre-drill the pipe. I still think the best solution would be one that could be used on plain pipe that was field cut.
would you put one next to the fence corner...
THIS IS NOT A PROPERTY CORNER