DIY Label Maker Using Standard Printer and Sticky Tape

I made this project out of my desire to have a way to make neat and functional labels, without investing a significant sum in the labeling machine or relying on expensive sticker rolls, which can significantly increase the per sticker cost of a single label.

This apparatus is noting but a jig to align a precisely cut label, printed out on a standard a4 sheet with a standard printer to a standard sticky tape. The jig also has a provision to cut the label like a standard tape dispenser and the now ready piece of sticker can be stuck on any box, any switch or any container that might need some clarification about the contents.

To ensure that the labels are printed as the required size, an excel sheet is also developed which not only takes care of proper size of the labels that are to be printed, but also takes care of the quantity of the labels required and sizes the text into a single label.

Essential Items:

1. 3D printer (for printing parts)
2. Inkjet or laser printer
3. Sticky tape (standard size)
4. Small wooden plank (for the base)
5. M3 bolts (12mm and 20mm length)
6. M3 nuts
7. Male header pins (used for making the cutting blade)

3D Printed Parts:

1. Label Maker - Base
2. Blade Holder
3. Header Holder
4. Socket
5. Spool
6. Spool Holder (Left & Right Hand)
7. Tapped Shaft
8. Thru Shaft
9. Sticky Tape Holder

A detailed Bill of Materials (BOM) is included as PN0045-Label Maker Full BOM in the attachments. STL files for all 3D printed parts are also provided.

All the above-mentioned 3D parts can be printed in a single setup. Please have a look at the attached setup file to ensure that you print the part in the right orientation, ensuring the required strength is met in the part.

The base can also be 3d Printed, but in my case I used a small piece of wood which can give better strength and toughness.

Once printed, the base can be assembled as in the attached picture.

Because I designing this tool for a stationary setup, I did not want to use a sharp blade like a razor blade or a knife. The actual tape dispensers also have a serrated blade which are relatively safer than sharp blade because they cannot cut through the skin as easily.

To make such a blade, I cut headers of appropriate length and sharpened the longer end of the header with a file.

Once filed, the header can be put in the blade holder. And the holder and headers can be super glued together

To make the labels, a dedicated excel sheet is programmed. The sheet two of the excel sheet is the input with the title of the sticker and the quantity of the individual labels. The labels will be arranged in the first sheet in the order attached in this step.

The excel sheet can be downloaded from my drive link: click here

Instructables does not allow excel files to be attached in the steps.

Please note the print tile is set for the sheet 1 of the excel sheet between cells A1:D19. This limits the number of labels that can be printed to 76 labels in one sheet of the paper. The labels are populated in the first sheet, in the down and then over format.

Once printed, the labels can be printed on to a standard a4 sheet with a normal laser or an inkjet printer. The labels then have to be cut and bundled up in the proper order so that the sequence in which we get the labels are entered on sheet 2 (Lists)

Once the labels are printed and aligned into the order in which they will be pasted, the entire bundle of the labels have to be loaded into the label dispensing mechanism, which I call it the die and the die cover.

For this step, the die, die cover are completely separate, so that one need not disturb the sticky tape when trying to load new labels into the apparatus.

To load the labels to the machine, follow the below steps:

1. Place the precisely cut labels onto the die.
2. Put the cover on top of the die and the cut labels. Ensure, that the labels do not get trapped between the clearance between the die and the cover. The cover must be able to freely slide onto the labels. At the same time, the labels should also not freely come out of the top of the cover.
3. Once the the cover is firmly set over the die, insert the bolt and nut to ensure that the cover does not come out with the sticky tape on top of it.
4. The entire assembly can then be slid on to the die holder which is rigidly glued on to the base

With step 4 complete, our apparatus is now ready to dispense beautifully aligned labels which are dirt cheap to produce. And with the added convenience of making these labels on computer, recreating, and editing then is easier than ever.

To create the label, follow the below steps:

1. Ensure that the labels are aligned to the center of the tape
2. Press onto the tape above the label so that the tape sticks to the tape.
3. Pull the tape up. This will remove the upper most label out of the die cover.
4. Pull the tape out, similar to a common tape dispenser. Once sufficient length of the tape is pulled out, press the tape onto the sharpened header. And the tape should be stuck on the header platform to that it is easier for the next label to be dispensed.

Your labels are now ready to make your items more organized.