How do you keep track of parts?

Hope you can help with something that's driving me crazy (yes, I know its a short drive;) ). I'm making a table with lots of parts that look alike (aprons, stretchers, slats, etc.). Everything is joined with mortise and tenon, so there are lots of m&ts.

Now, I know about the cabinetmaker's triangle, and I use it, but whatever marks I make are going to come off when I sand. I'm taping off the tenons, and those marks will stay, but there must be some reasonable way to mark the mortises?

How do you do it?:dunno:

TIA!
Jess
 
Once I have the M&T's cut I usually take a super fine point marker and make matching marks on the places where they wont be visible after assembly - tenon cheeks, tenon ends, mortise wall or bottom, etc. Prior to that I'm usually using blue tape with marks but need to remove it for the sanding. The bottom or tops of legs usually works well for pencil marks too as you'd typically sand them a bit after assembly.
 
Like Tod, I usually just write on a face, letters, numbers or what have you. If in a place which won't be seen, they remain.

Often, where say on a stand I did last year a bottom shelf is comprised of slats, I write on the top a letter in the center. Letters are oriented so the closest is A, next back B and so forth. As long as I can read those letters in their proper orientation, the left side, right side, top all are in their proper orientation.

For something I did a long time ago which also had slats running vertically on each side, I did the same with a L or R appended, so 1L, 1R were both front slats on their appropriate sides.

I do the same with rails, stiles, etc. For the below the corners are marked LF and so forth with an arrow designating the front. Bad picture and you might be able to barely make out the LF and arrow in the picture...

credenza_0048.jpg


Take care, Mike
 
I saw one guy use those "stamps" made out of metal where it makes an indention of the letter. Then even after some sanding the letter was still there a little bit. He would place them on parts that were not going to show or could not be seen once assembled. I forget what those "stamps" are made for in the first place, I can picture them just don't know what they are called. Not sure if that would work in all woods or not.


Edit: Here is a link to some I found, this was what I was talking about.
Stamps I was talking about
 
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