I think the harbor freight engraver was $13 when I bought it last year.
Also we’ve been through this topic before 
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I buy mine from this guy…
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I like using aluminum for tags. My choice for several years has been aluminum window blinds. They are a little thicker and I use a battery powered etcher to put the name on it.
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I still have some of this left over 10in X 10ft roll of aluminum flashing is about $14 now… at Home Depot etc. not sure how it etches havent tried it yet. Good idea on the blinds. I use the plastic blinds for my potted stuff and seeds i start.
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Krismoriah, I will try the tags you mentioned, it does seem to be similar to the ones I use now with the fiber board inside (pacific forest supply). Maybe the one you use has a little more resistance to birds/rats/squirrels that seem to like to eat up my tags after a few years. I switched to the solid aluminum tags since I know they can’t chew these up.
You can make tags from the aluminum rolls, but when you calculate the time to cut, punch wire hole, buy and cut aluminum wire, it might not be worth your time. To me it’s much cheaper to buy 100 already made tags with wire for $13. I’m a retired mechnical/electrical engineer(manger) and can tell you from experience sometimes its not as economical. In engineering we say, “Not invented here (NIH)”, and my engineers would try to design their own mouse trap and I would say just go buy it, stop wasting money!
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The brand is Amerkron Impress O-tags… they were cheapest on Ebay last time i bought them but looks like they are cheaper now on Amazon.
I was told that these were the best brand for long term…
I love free. Only problem here is the pop cans are worth 10 cents each.
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I have been using those tags for about 10 years and they tend to wear out. I’m planning to do something different.
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Yes, I have been using the ones from Pacific Forest Supply which has the aluminum wrapped cardboard, not that strong and doesn’t last more than 5-6 yrs. This one which is solid aluminum should last much longer, but as I mentioned you need to use an engraver tool or it is difficult to mark it with a pen or sharp tool.
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Stephen Edholm uses aluminum Venetian blinds
Last year I cut up an old license plate. It’s a bit on the heavy side though and I used a jig saw.
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I have a probably 4’ x 8’ aluminum plate/sheet from a printing press. I’ve been cutting pieces out of it for various projects for years. Not sure the thickness but considerably more than a soda can. Hmm, just how thick are those? Ten minutes later after going down that rabbit hole it looks like they’re typically around .004" thick.
A quick search on Lowes website turns up a roll of flashing that’s 10" wide by 10’ long for just a bit over $10. The flashing is .087" thick. Probably enough so to require an engraver or a stamp/impression set. Definitely more time/effort but the results are IMO worth it.
I’ve mentioned on another thread here in the past, I use a stamp set and then paint the entire thing bright yellow. Then draw inside the impression with a black acrylic paint pen. The paint may only last a few years but the “tag” itself should last for the life of the tree…
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If you want to get really fancy you can rub some gilders paste into the impression. I’m not sure how well it holds up long term though. I would think it would be as good or better than paint.
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I made a bunch of tags from aluminum pop cans. Hung them from branches at about eye level. Deer chewed every one into an unintelligible crumpled mass, if they didn’t make off with them altogether. Should have made an orchard map at the same time.
Got 'hold of some discarded 4 ft aluminum venetian blinds with baked on enamel finish - brown on top/white on bottom. I cut 3" sections, write name in pencil on the white side, scribe it into the brown upper side, then affix one to the tree with a small aluminum nail, and bury one at the base of the tree on the North side.
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Last fall i dug up a blackberry plant for a friend that was moving. It was a triple crown and was planted around 2010 or so they said. So in the ground for 10 years. On the crown way below soil level there was a tag still on it. It looked like this label… professionally done and in a band. It looked as good as new.
So i know that these can be buried for over 10 years.
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Yes, but if it is above ground, exposed to UV rays, the plastic will fade, print fades, and sometime the tag gets brittle.
I use the aluminum tops from tins of sardines. They are free, big enough for plenty of info, and come with a healthy dose of omega 3’s.
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These are certainly not free, but I took a cue from a suggestion @Naeem had made:
I purchased a used Dymo 1011 stamping label maker from eBay and used it today for the first time, and I am thrilled with the resulting labels.