Has this ever happened to you? You loan a tool to a neighbor or a friend only to find that it becomes assimilated into their collection. Labels are great to define what is yours, but they can peel and fall off over time. What if you could etch your name or logo into your metal tools? All you need is a 12v power source, salt and vinegar.
According to Popular Mechanics: "YouTuber, Chris Fix, shares the DIY process of metal etching, as he etches into a set of deep sockets and shows a technique for etching a logo with the help of nail polish.
To start etching you need a 12 volt DC source, two-lengths of wire with alligator clips, table salt, white vinegar, cotton swabs, and sticky stencils. The process is quite simple, but be careful not to touch the positive and negative ends of the clips together as the resulting arc could cause a fire."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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