I use plastic from window blinds engraved with woodburning
tool VERY PERMANENT

Oldryder:

I see a side-business opportunity! You could use all that scrap to custom-make fruit names. If you bought some letter dies, you could "brand" the custom names into the plastic strips. I know I dread the chore of handwriting name tags for my trees I buy and my grafts that have taken (a project from last year I STILL haven't done, and my temporary tags are fading.....oops!)
I know I'd buy some nicely-done permanent tags!

Carla in Sac

actually I can use the CNC machine that cuts the parts to scribe the info on the tag. If there weren't such a massive number of cultivars I could make them for stock.

your idea of a "stamp" might be viable.

Using the CNC it would probably only be useful to someone with a large number of a given type; perhaps selling to nurseries. they could stock tags that matched their inventory and offer tags for an additional charge per tree.

unfortunately I'd have to get 50 or 75 cents a piece which means the nursery would have to charge a dollar or more. would someone pay $1 for an indestructible tag?

I'm sure they would. Look at what people pay for little signs to put around their garden.

But I have to ask whether they will stand up to ultraviolet radiation for many seasons. I know some plastics (such as the stuff transluscent plastic buckets are made from for packaging frozen eggs or cherries) will break down in a couple of summers.

Good luck,

Mark

Just for completeness sake, here is a similar link where we were talking about other tree labeling ideas. -Glenn

Here is a link that might be useful: Year-round labels/markers for fruit trees

And here:
-Glenn

Here is a link that might be useful: My new graft labels

thx for comments and links. I'm going to make some up and see what a nursery would give me for them.

re: one question the plastic I use for the templates is indestructible so tags should last forever ....