How To Make Metal Cards?
With customized metal cards, you can stand apart from the crowd and get noticed. By handing out a metal business card, you can take an otherwise ordinary interaction to the next level. That’s why investing in these cards is a winner for sure – both for your business and yourself. When you order your cards from Foison Metal, you’ll be getting truly unique pieces that are customized just for you. Since all our metal cards are manufactured in our state-of-the-art factory locally, we can meet all customization requests. Whatever shape, color, design, content, or surface effect you want, we can get them done. But the good news doesn’t end here. We’ve got expert designers on board, who are capable of creating bespoke metal card designs. Thus, if you don’t have a specific product in mind or lack a design file, our experts can help. We’re a competent team of professionals who handle design, proofing, printing, quality inspection, production, packaging, transportation, and customer service. Working with us means getting unique metal cards that create a great first impression on everyone, every single time.
But how are these metal cards made? The process is complex, which we have mastered over the years with our hard work and absolute commitment.
Step 1 - Art-Work
The idea of the metal card begins with you!
You have to decide what company, business, logo, or personal information you want your metal cards to display. If you already have a design, that’s good. You’ll simply need to send it to us in a vector format. We accept .pdf, .ai, .dwg, .dxf, .cdr, and.eps files. In case you don’t have a design, there’s no need to worry. Our expert designers will brainstorm with you to create a unique design that meets your specific business or other needs. They’ll work closely with you – one proof at a time. Based on your feedback, they’ll make the necessary changes and send it back to you. It usually takes a few back-and-forth sessions to finalize the design. Once you’re fully satisfied and confirm the design or the art-work, we’ll send it to production in our factory.
Step 2 - Anodizing
After sending your art-work file to production, we’ll anodize the metal card sheet. This basically refers to oxidizing the surface of the metal sheet. The anodized layer would protect the surface of the metal card sheet. Additionally, it would give it a more textured appearance.
The process involves placing the metal card sheet in the anodized equipment. Here, a special solution with a specific composition of the electrolyte is used. It’s sprayed on the surface of the metal card sheet in a precise and controlled manner. This produces an anodized layer of different colors. Depending on what background color or pattern your metal card should have, we’ll choose the electrolyte for the anodizing process.
Efficiency and precision are essential for creating the world’s highest-quality metal cards. That’s why we usually use anodized aluminum to produce most of our orders.
Step 3 - Covering and Cutting
During the different stages of our manufacturing process, the metal card sheet faces several potential hazards. These can damage or mar the metal sheet’s surface. Imagine the surface suffering scratches or scrapes, which would mean replacing it and starting afresh or fixing it. But both are costly and time-consuming propositions. A much smarter solution is to use a protective film on the surface of the metal sheet and cut it. And that’s exactly what we do.
We place a protective film on the metal surface to ensure damage, if any, impacts just the protective film. And since this film can be peeled and then disposed of easily, the metal surface remains clean and unharmed. Such a protective film also facilitates the cutting of the metal sheet and is more convenient for production as well.
Step 4 - CNC Cutting & Laser Engraving
CNC stands for ‘computer numerical control’. We use CNC cutting where computerized controls and machine tools are utilized to custom-design your metal cards. Irrespective of what custom shapes you require, we aim to shape your cards the right way. That’s why we use a technical knife head with clean and smooth edges. This ultra-high-precision knife head can even dig grooves, punch holes, and create any image on the metal surface.
Another method employed for our anodized metal business cards is laser engraving. We use laser engraving particularly on ferrous metal cards. This process involves hitting the metal card’s surface with a lower wattage laser, which causes a light silver etching. This happens because the surface oxide layer is burned to expose the underlying passive aluminum. However, no depth is produced. Our fast metal card is a good example!
If engraving with depth is needed, a higher wattage laser is used.
Sometimes, your metal cards may need to have variable data. Such data could be a different name or serial number on each card. We specialize in such customization as we’ll get these variable data laser etched. This process is quick and effective for personalized settings, which is extremely apt for membership cards or product labels.
Many people believe that all metal cards are laser cut. But the truth is – they aren’t. Some of our customers want the thickness of their metal cards to be over 1 mm. In such cases, we use lasers to cut the cards to size. We direct high-powered fiber lasers at the particular sections of the metal that needs to be cut through. By burning through the metal surface, the lasers create an extremely precise and clean 90-degree cut.
Step 5 – Final Check
Once the metal cards have passed through all the stages of production, our quality control team takes over. The team thoroughly inspects each of these cards. After they are approved, these cards are carefully packed at our factory and shipped to our customers’ addresses.
Final Words – Let’s Work Together
We specialize in creating unique metal cards customized to fit your needs. We’re driven by our commitment to deliver powerful tools in your hands that let you create an unforgettable impression. And since we do it better than many others, we have been able to keep our customers for life. But that doesn’t mean we’re complacent. We’re constantly exploring new ways and techniques to push the industry boundaries to better serve our rapidly growing client base.
When it comes to high-quality metalworking, we are the first you should contact. So, if you’ve got any creative project in mind, reach Foison Metal today! We look forward to hearing from you.