Looking for a good quick way to mark my connecting rods and rod caps so they cannot get mixed up on disassembly. I would prefer to number them so each piston can go back in its original hole. I have read recommendations against using number stamps due to concerns about inducing stress risers. Would a dremel with a sharp scribing point do the job?

for about 10 bucks you can buy a 110 volt electric scriber,never use a stamp on a rod,even if rods are getting rebuilt.

I have a set of numbering metal stamps, they look like a punch with numbers on them.

Thanks
Scott

that is not wat you want to use on a rod,the hammer action can distort the rod.

Machinist pen or the ones they mark parts at the local junkyard with

Always used a sharp center punch and very lightly tapped little dots on rod and cap. Also would know which way they were facing. . .. .: :: ect.

+1

they are cheap and cannot damage the rod or piston. As for the stamps and punches, I have heard stories of damaging stuff doing that, but a LOT of machinists I have worked with use them all the time. If you think about the stresses these parts are under, some dude with a ball peen and a center punch is not going to do much.

Their not into that kind of stress! A sharp blow into one small area.

even the factory punches them .so i cant see how it hurts

Apparently it is not the impact from the stamp itself that can cause the issues, but the stress risers that can develop and spread. Probably not as much of a factor on stock applications.

I am going to use a dremel attachemtn for etching just in case.

BTW, some articles recommend measuring rod bolt stretch rather than torque measurements for installing the rod bolts. How can you measure bolt stretch on the newer cap screws used on the Eagle and Scat H beam rods?