Home made aluminium plant labels.

Plastic plant labels are not particularly durable and less so are the marker pens used to write on them. Most of my more mature plants are well known to me and have long lost their labels, whilst this is not a problem for me, it's not very helpfull to visitors.   The labels produced below are an attempt to produce something more durable and less likely to be thrown away.  The source material is available in most DIY stores or you can use whatever you have in the junk box.  In the examples below I used 11.5 mm x 2mm aluminium flat bar.   You could of course go out and buy some but that would take all of the fun out of making them.

Mitre box and cutting.

To ensure consistency in length and angles,  I first made a mitre box from some scrap wood.  The angles were modelled on some plastic labels that I was currently using.  The threaded bolt and packing piece holds the bar stock in place during cutting.

The mitre box.

Make the first cut.

Turn the work piece over and make the second Cut.

Third Cut.

Some Completed Items.

Finishing.

After cutting, the cut edges can be deburred and filed smooth. If the labels are to be used as they are they can be wet sanded with some 600 and 800 grit wet'n'dry sandpaper or they can be dressed with wire wool to give a brushed finish.

Marking.

The finished items can be marked by using a permanent marker or a paint pen. Where needed the labels can easily be cleaned and re-used.

Etching.

For something more permanent, the labels can be etched using a copper sulfate/sodium chloride solution.   In the examples below I marked the label using a paint pen before etching to give raised lettering.   The backs and the spike were masked with sticky tape.  A neater alternative may be to use rub down lettering as the etch resist.

Etched Plant Labels.