I find it very important to also use a permanent way of marking the names of my perennials. I like to know that when I go to the plant that the name will be there always. With the sheer number of perennials in my yard I could never verify the cost of buying the premade copper or aluminum markers that I have seen in Lee Valley or other mail order catalogues, and I also do not run a nursery where you need those markers for all the visitors that come through each summer. What I do is buy rolls of copper tooling (copper metal foil 40 guage weight). The rolls are 1' wide and 3' long and I used to get them at Lewiscraft here in Canada before they closed, but now I get the rolls from Stockade... Here is the US web site... https://stockade.ca/category.asp?cat=CDL&funds=US Here is the Canadian site in Ontario... https://stockade.ca/category.asp?cat=CDL&no=US&funds=CDN I cut, with regular scissors, the copper into 1/2" by 3" pieces, use a hole punch to punch a hole on the center of one side and hang them on a coat hanger that has been cut and bent into a little hook for the copper to hang on. I then tuck this label behind the plant and sink the label into the ground and rest the copper at ground level. Over time the hanger wire will rust and the copper will patina (change to a brown color) but the name is still 100% readable. Copper tooling is soft enough to write on/engrave with a pen and I have all my perennials labelled with them. They will never fade, break or have to be redone. I have never had any bird fly off with them and no dogs or cats have ever moved or bothered to touch any of them. They cost about 10 cents to make and I make lots each summer for the local farmer's market and sell them 5 for $2.00. Brenda

Thanks again for all the wonderful positive comments! The copper roll I used was not heavy duty like you might use in roofing. It was about 36 gauge. Considered copper tooling foil. Was able to cut with Fiskars kitchen shears without difficulty. The roll I found had paper on the back to peel off. Not sure what it was originally to be used for, but was evident the roll was old because the tack was gone on the adhesive. You could probably use the roofing copper, but think the gauge is heavier, might need to use tin snips to cut it and I don't know how well it would emboss. I used Clear Liquid Nails for hobbies to adhere the leaves to the ball. The link provided has the best prices on the web for this stuff. Also use it in my stained glass art. Pam Here is a link that might be useful: Copper tooling foil

Image by: eva1429 Copper leaf ball Copper Leaf Bowling Ball eva1429's directions for her copper leaf covered bowling ball, with red marbles and bb's: It really was easy to do but a little more time consuming than I anticipated. Materials needed: * Bowling ball, of course * 36-gauge or similar copper tooling foil (bought mine over the Internet at ) * Red half marbles or gems (if you have some red beads, they'd be cool, too.) * Copper bbs (the ones I used are called copperheads, so they are only copper-coated. Not sure what is under the copper or whether or not these will verdigris. Bought them at K-mart in the sporting goods department. Some copper beads would be neat, too.) * GE Silicone II Adhesive * A chopstick or wooden skewer to spread the Silicone. * A container to hold the bowling ball (I used an empty coffee can.) * Craft scissors (work fine for cutting the copper foil) * Empty ballpoint pen (cuticle stick would also work) Make templates for the leaves by finding three or more simply shaped real leaves of different sizes. Trace the leaves on lightweight card stock (I used an old file folder) and cut them out. Place a leaf template on top of the copper foil and trace around the outline with the empty ballpoint. I outlined a large batch of leaves of different sizes on the copper foil before cutting them out. I can't really tell you how many leaves to make, because I did a lot more overlapping of leaves than you'd really need to, plus it'll depend on the size of the leaves you use. Cut out the copper leaves with the scissors. Make veins on the leaves by drawing them on with the empty ballpoint pen. Place your bowling ball in the container and start decorating. I started at the top of my ball (thumbhole down), but it wouldn't really matter. Use the chopstick or skewer to take Silicone from the caulk tube and spread on the back of the copper leaf (be generous with the Silicone). Position the leaf where you want it on the bowling ball and carefully press it down. Continue adding leaves, overlapping larger leaves with smaller ones, to make a pleasing design. Fill in the gaps by gluing on red marbles with Silicone. To add some dimension and fill in smaller gaps, put Silicone directly on the ball and sprinkle bbs on the Silicone. Press the bbs down into the Silicone.

It is a soldering iron. It could have been used with a blow torch. In the link below, look in the second row to find a torch by Huffman. That one is set up for soldering. It has rests on top for holding the iron in the flame. The forward rest appears half gone. Farther down on this page are more examples. As a young guy, I have used a blow torch and soldering iron. The blow torch was handy for other jobs as well. The flame was adjustable and powerful. The blow torch had an element of danger and was phased out in favor of electric irons and propane torches. However, the heat output far exceeded that of today's propane/mapp torches. The blow torch was very handy in locations without electricity. However, if the blow torch sprang a leak, the user could be badly burned or the garage burned down. One potential leak source was the pressure pump. https://www.etsy.com/market/blow_torch