anyone engraving their saws?

[imagineero]

Just curious how many are doing it, and if you are, what do you put on it, and where on the saw?

Lots of big organisations in aus engrave 'stolen from ######' (with the hashes being their name) in big writing in a prominent place on all their gear as a way to discourage theft. It sure does look ugly!

When I was into photography, a lot of people would engrave their pro cameras on the base with their license number. It was pretty discrete, but gave you a good chance of getting your gear back if it turned up at a pawn shop.

Anyone doing this on their saws? What are you putting, your license, phone, or just your business name?

Would be nice to discourage theft and increase chances of getting pinched gear back, but it does reduce resale value. I tend to destroy most of my saws anyway, so I guess resale isnt so important.

Shaun

 

[JRepairsK70e]

i have one of those buzzy tip engravers and always put my business name and the purchase date somewhere easily visible ,usually on the rear handle . then i put just my name inside the airfilt cvr . i have never sold a saw yet ,but im pretty picky as to what i buy so i never plan to get rid of one of the family lol this works for me cheers jk

 

[andrethegiant70]

I don't engrave mine, but I own some that others have engraved and most just do it somewhere on the top or filter cover. I suppose you could engrave on the metal, but it's not that hard to sand and repaint, so I honestly don't know what it buys you. I have bought these legitimately and I find it a bit annoying, really. It's hard to say whether it does much of anything for the following reasons:

I don't cut with anyone, so no one ever really sees my saws.

I'm an honest guy, everyone knows it and they assume I just bought the saw from the previous owner.

People know I have a LOAD of saws so I have no reason to steal one.

If it really bothers me, I either get a new cover for it, sand it out and paint it, or plop a sticker on it.

I suppose engraving a saw MIGHT just deter someone, but the chances of it helping you recover a stolen one are probably not that great. I suspect everyone might not agree, though. You'll probably get everything from "I engrave all mine" to "best to just lock 'em up tight."

Oh, you'll also probably reduce the resale value of the saw by carving on it.... if you care. Thinking about it, if I worked in an environment in which there was a lot of equipment laying around, maybe other saws, I would probably PAINT a stripe or something in an obvious location.. to identify the saw as mine. They make some GREAT paint removing goop these days that won't hurt the plastics. They WILL take the paint off the metal, though, so you have to be smart about where you put your mark.

Just my 2... er, maybe 7 cents.

 

[buddie]

I have purchased a couple of saws over the years from my local Stihl sales/service shop. It's a family owned business that has been in operation for about 30 years. They take the time to engrave every new saw that they sell with "Willamette Saw Service, Corvallis Oregon" on the chassis then they keep a record of the serial number - forever. They said that they have been able to return a lot of saws back to their owners with this method and they sell a lot of saws here in the Northwest. Now that's good old fashioned service. If you are going to engrave your own saw and you want to get it back if it goes astray, engrave your drivers license number on it - that's the advice from most police departments.

 

[Walt41]

All my stuff that I never plan to sell has my deceased fathers SS# engraved in a discrete location and the words "I have guns and an excavator" where a potential thief would see it.

 

[WillBrayJr]

I was toying with the idea of getting one of the smaller Pro-Grade Stihls and refinish it to resemble the Chainsaw used in the 3rd Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.

 

[slowp]

The saw shop I go to engraves your name on the bottom of the saw and the date purchased. I think the date is probably so they can tell if it is still under warranty. They don't do a very nice job but it works.

The Barbie Saw was purchased on Friday the 13th! Scwary!

 

[wvlogger]

I carve mine up. I recovered a saw one time because i carved it up.

 

[Gologit]

I engrave everything. I had some tools stolen once and the engraving, just my initials, helped me identify them when the cops called me.
I put the date of purchase on stuff, too. It's kind of interesting to look at an old wrench or screwdriver and find out that I've had it thirty years. I usually lose tools before I wear them out but there's a few oldies still hanging around.

 

[masculator]

I haven't done it but the police were using microdots which were little data chips basically for quite a while and they are virtually invisible, don't know if they still do it or not. Basically there were all these little chips in a clear lacquer that they just paint on in an inconspicuous place and it is better than engraving your name and phone number on them.

 

[Philbert]

They . . . engrave every new saw that they sell

Looks to me like the "Willamette Saw Service, Corvallis Oregon" stole that saw from 'STIHL' (engraved on the clutch drum)!!!

I bought a few used HD rental saws with their numbers engraved all over them. It is the same excuse anyone could use to explain it, 'I bought it used'.

I do mark my stuff to increase the chances I will get it back from an honest person in case it gets left behind, or to avoid confusion, if there is a lot of similar equipment being used. This includes axes, wedges, tools, etc. In fairness, if someone finds something in the woods with no ID on it, and no way to know who left it, how much are they supposed to do to find its owner?

As noted, a determined thief can hide most of that, just as they can a serial number. Bright and obvious markings might discourage some larceny. It might help you get something back if there is a phone number on it, which you can do with a label maker.

If you are thinking more of identifying it to the police, you might also want to mark it in a hidden spot, such as under the clutch drum or behind the bar mount, where a thief planning on pawning it might not look.

Philbert

 

[MCW]

Anyone doing this on their saws? What are you putting, your license, phone, or just your business name?

Shaun

I engrave big love hearts on my saws Shaun with your name in them.

 

[Philbert]

I engrave big love hearts on my saws Shaun with your name in them.

OK guys, get a room - this is a public forum. . .

Philbert

 

[buddie]

Just paint your saw totally pink overall, maybe with some lavender polka dots on it - I guarantee you will be the sole owner of that saw for the rest of it's usable life.

 

[MCW]

OK guys, get a room - this is a public forum. . .

Philbert

Just saying thats all...

 

[NORMZILLA44]

I know it may not be pretty, but try, and make it nice,and not so noticeble for look's sake. I engrave em all. In two or three spot's per saw. Our work saw's to. Imagine this somebody who worked with us walked away with a brand new 675 dollar, ms200. Right out of a public work's truck. Sad thing is it was a inside job, and we never found out for sure who did it.

 

[masculator]

Just paint your saw totally pink overall, maybe with some lavender polka dots on it - I guarantee you will be the sole owner of that saw for the rest of it's usable life.

Just a shame you will look like a HOMO every time you take it out of the ute!

Maybe I should die my hair black and grow a freddie mercury mo to go with it!

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

You would be hard pressed to steal my MS 460 Stihl! It is got a unique clutch cover paint job for starters, then it has a deeply engraved replicate of my old company logo on the belly. My saw has a lot of reflective tape on it and I have pictures of her with me I had one saw that I was drunk one evening and engraved a brand new 084 saw with 30 versions of my dl, it got stole a month later, the guy tried to hawk it at my friends pawn shop,needless to say the owner new who owned saw and the dl number plastered all over the saw :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[tdi-rick]

Just a shame you will look like a HOMO every time you take it out of the ute!

Maybe I should die my hair black and grow a freddie mercury mo to go with it!

Wow, have you seen my picture ? :msp_laugh:

 

[tdi-rick]

Just paint your saw totally pink overall, maybe with some lavender polka dots on it - I guarantee you will be the sole owner of that saw for the rest of it's usable life.

You don't know my barista and his boyfriend, do you ?

Actually you are right, the saw will be safe, he runs Huskies