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One way to reduce the waste is to print several labels with only one or
two spaces between them, then cut them apart. That way there is less
waste with the leader and trailer material the printer spits out.
Still expensive though. There is a reason they give the printer away
if you will buy 10 of the cartridges. :)
Bob W.
On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:53:38 -0700
"Bill Monroe" <aviator@stinsonvoyager.com> wrote:
> I’ve tried that printer. Makes very nice labels.. but… there’s a lot of waste. My experience was it took 1- 1.25 inches to make even a brief label. Further the cartridges only hold 5 feet of label stock for heat shrink. And cost from 25 to 31 bux each (depending on size of wire) It ended up costing about 55 cents for each label. Probably not too bad if you’re doing a VFR panel but a dual navcom IFR setup with remote channeling DME – well, could get pretty pricey at over a buck a wire just to label them. Of course, after blowing a wad on all that radio gear, penny-pinching on labels doesn’t make much sense.
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> I’ve been using the Brady TLS2200 labeler for close to 10 years (I make medical robots for a living). Labels run about 30 cents each and My experience been that they are much better print and durability. Of course, the printer isn’t free (they run around 400 bux on ebay)… printing on heat-shrink wire labels just isn’t cheap. Sure looks nice though.
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> The kids at the high school engineering program that I mentor used an inexpensive drug store labeler to do the label/clear heat shrink method. The labels were not thermal so I guess they were some sort of transfer type. The result was *very* nice and much less expensive. Took a little more time but, I guess the ultimate savings really depends on how much you charge yourself for labor J
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> You should see the 3-axis Cartesian robot they made, and used for (among other things) engraving data plates… sweet J
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> From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Bill Schertz
> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 6:58 AM
> To: Rotary motors in aircraft
> Subject: [FlyRotary] Wire Marking
>
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> Here is a message that I sent to my local EAA chapter with information about a wire labeler that prints on shrink tubing. Also, in my opinion, (although I did it) stuffing the small labels under the clear tubing is very time consuming. Whereas printing directly on the shrink tubing is much more time efficient.
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> FWIW
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> Bill Schertz
> KIS Cruiser #4045
> N343BS
> Phase I testing
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> When I built my plane, I very carefully labeled all my wires, printing out a label for each end, cutting it out, and heat shrinking it with clear heat shrink tubing. Unfortunately, I used a label printer that used thermal printer on the tape, and with time, and the heat under the cowl, most of the labels are turning black and unreadable.
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> It is too late for my plane, but I know there are many others in the chapter that still have the wiring to do. There is a better alternative, a printer that uses THERMAL TRANSFER printing, and will print directly on heat shrink tubing. The tubing is then slipped over the wire, and heat shrunk into place. The printing shrinks with the tubing, and you get a very professional label, that won't go away. My proposal is this:
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> 1. The Chapter buys 10 heat shrink cartridges, and gets a FREE Dymo Rhinopro 5000 labeler at this web address
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> http://www.buyheatshrink.com/dymo-label-writer/dymo-replacement-labels.htm#heatshrink
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> 2. A Chapter member wants to use the machine -- he/she buys from the chapter the appropriate cartridge, and borrows the labeler. When done, he removes his cartridge from the machine and returns it to the chapter or the next member that wants to use it.
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> Net result: Members get professional quality labeling, the chapter ends up with no net expense ( about $300 upfront cost)
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> Bill Schertz
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> Plane currently grounded because BlueMountain unit out for repair.
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--
N93BD - Rotary Powered BD-4 - http://www.bob-white.com
3.8 Hours Total Time and holding
Cables for your rotary installation - http://roblinstores.com/
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