Where can I purchase asset type engravable labels?

[Tracey Bakewell]

Customer wants to put tiny labels on metal baseball bats, rec district type thing. They want their logo and the word "approved". I'm picturing those hard plyable metal type labels businesses use for serial or asset tags? Anyone know where I can purchase those? OR!!! Would any of those spectra lights do the trick? They don't want anyone to be able to peel off so that's why I wasn't thinking spectra lights... anyone have any ideas what would be the best use?

[Martin Boekers]

Here's some new stuff on the market.
Don't know to much about it.

www.horizonsisg.com/durablack.html (http://www.horizonsisg.com/durablack.html)

[Dee Gallo]

It seems to me that any label can be peeled off, especially by kid fingers... why not consider Cermark for metal or screenprinting? I don't know anything about pad printing, but that has been used for golf balls and they get a lot of rubbing action, so it must be durable.

[Tracey Bakewell]

I definitely did convey to them any label can be peeled off if someone really wants to, we just need to be sure we're using as durable a product as possible. I know those asset tags I've seen on office equipment are pretty sturdy.

[Dan Hintz]

See if the metal bats have an anodized portion.. no need for a tag, it's permanent, and quick to engrave.

[Mike Null]

I agree with Dan. If they are not anodized then diamond drag engraving would work.

[Dee Gallo]

Good call, Dan, definitely the best option unless they want it on the bottom of the bat...

[Dan Hintz]

Good call, Dan, definitely the best option unless they want it on the bottom of the bat...
You mean your lowly Epilog doesn't have a 36" Z height on the table? For shame! ;)

Think of how many bats you could stuff in the machine if they were all pointing down :p

[Scott Challoner]

I don't think engraving is the way to go. I play softball and our rec department also requires bats to be approved. Most rec leagues follow ASA or some other organization's guidelines. There's big business in softball bats and people will happily pay $300 and up for them. The problem is these bats can be too hot and the ball comes off them so fast that it's a huge safety concern. That's why most organizations publish a list every year of legal and illegal bats. The reason that they don't want the labels to come off is so that you can't transfer the label to an illegal bat. Nobody would just take them off because then they couldn't use them in a league (the umps should be checking for the sticker). Also with the high prices of bats, people are going to be leery about the possibility of weakening the bat wall and the rec department doesn't want to send people to you to have their bat engraved. They just want a sheet of labels that they can stick on themselves. This eliminates the potential for someone engraving "approved" on a non-approved bat. Here is a picture of my bat with the sticker. It appears to be vinyl. This particular bat is composite, not aluminum, so it would be difficult to engrave with a contrasting mark. I think Laserlights would work, but might be a bit pricey for what they want. It has to be something that will stand up to being tossed around in the sand after the ball is hit.

194206

[Mike Null]

Scott

Good info. Thanks.

[Dan Hintz]

Then I have to ask... if they're really concerned about using a sticker that can't be transferred between bats, why use a sticker that can be so easily copied? Just seems like reasons for limiting bats is fine, but the "security" method is severely lacking.

[Scott Challoner]

Then I have to ask... if they're really concerned about using a sticker that can't be transferred between bats, why use a sticker that can be so easily copied? Just seems like reasons for limiting bats is fine, but the "security" method is severely lacking.

Remember we're talking about softball players here. I doubt most would figure out that they can make their own stickers.:D

I imagine it's purely a liability thing. If someone gets hurt, the city can say they did their part by labeling the bat. Most players know the list too so if they see someone using a Miken Ultra II with a label, they'll know something is fishy. It would be pretty foolish for someone to copy the label because if they hurt someone, it would very likely be easy enough to prove it was a bugus labeland then they'd be liable.
Although, you have no idea what lengths people will go through to hit a home run. People freeze the softballs or buy juiced ones with a regulation label on them. The latest thing is having the inside wall of the bat shaved to create a greater trampoline effect. This makes them illegal, but it's difficult to prove. Lats year, our pitcher broke his kneecap after being hit with a line drive. I'm getting too old for this stuff.

[Dan Hintz]

Although, you have no idea what lengths people will go through to hit a home run.
That's my point... if they're really interested in cheating to the point they'll spend time shaving a bat, copying a sticker will be child's play. Definitely sounds like a cover-your-rear issue rather than a real attempt at cutting back on cheating...