Custom Industrial Tags: Material Options
Custom industrial tags are generally made by CNCROi.com using three different materials, the first is anodized aluminium, the second is stainless steel (304 & 316 generally) and the third are lamacoids.
Each material has a positive and negative aspect to it, it all comes down to units, applications, budgets and timelines as to which is the best given your specific industrial tags requirements.
When it comes to custom industrial tags, you are not limited to any one material, shape, size or thickness, you tell us what you want and we’ll make it happen but be sure to outline the budget and volume requirements as each has a different durability, visibility and production profile.
Since the very beginning, CNCROi.com has excelled in custom industrial tags, we make them quick and to the spec required but keep in mind the more stringent your specs, such as it having to be 316SS over say 304SS, it will take a bit longer if we don’t have that size in stock.
When it comes to anodized aluminium, you aren’t stuck to just rectangles and squares, like lamacoids, the profile and shape can be anything but unlike lamacoids, anodized aluminium custom industrial tags do require volume if you are going custom.
If you have something very low volume or that requires extensive profile machining, such as these lamacoid samples with the words going around the outside perimeter, going plastic is hard to beat but they aren’t the most durable in the world but let’s say you put these in an electrical panel that’s stored in a cold warehouse – these are totally fine.
If say you needed custom industrial tags that will be exposed to the elements in a scotching hot and cold (at night) desert, lamacoid would be the worst choice, anodized aluminium or stainless steel would be best.
Let’s say you wanted your custom industrial tags to be colorful, the options on your plate are only between a lamacoid and anodized aluminium and the location of the tag and budget or volume would dictate which was the best way forward.
The major advantage of anodized aluminium is the light weight relative to stainless steel, they weight about the same as the lamacoid, they can be easily riveted or welded and are available in a bunch of different colors (like lamacoids) but the etching is always off-white, unlike lamacoids.
Lamacoid custom industrial tags do come into their own though, where non-off-white etching is required or there is a lot of dimensional or shape work, they are superior when it comes to double sided taping them to items as well because we can cut the tape on the back at the same time as the lamacoid for full coverage.
Generally what I tell customers is if you want something quick and relatively durable and we don’t have the steel or aluminium plate to your spec, a lamacoid tag is fine but if you need a specific spec, it’s an option you should at least consider.
As you can see from this lamacoid sheet, made to look like stainless steel, it’s dramatically more cost-effective than steel and the production process way faster, the nesting achieved here would also be challenging using metal but with lamacoids and a non-contact production method, this poses no problem for CNCROi.com.
Here’s a project that would have cost exponentially more to do in metal vs using a metal looking lamacoid, a donor wall with airplane shapes.
The more of the custom industrial tag that can be produced in one machine, the most cost effective production is.
There are a few considerations when it comes to custom lamacoid vs anodized aluminium vs steel tagging options, if it’s a high heat environment or there are chemical wash downs, right away ignore considering lamacoids and possibly anodized aluminium depending on how corrosive the environment is.
With anodized aluminium custom industrial tags, you also have to consider wear – will this tag be subject to bumps, scratches, hit by sharp objects like rocks and so forth like you’d see in a mine? Then your only option is really stainless steel for ultimate durability.
When it comes to testing, we’ve tried it for our own piece of mind at CNCROi.com
We stand by our products and production methods, if you ever want to test our solutions in an environmental chamber, no problem at all!
The shine you get from this specific lamacoid is very similar to stainless steel, but unlike stainless steel, these cannot be buffed to a polished finish as they would melt from the friction, unlike a real metal custom industrial tag.
Now for stainless steel, the options are tremendous, many different grades, gauges (thicknesses) and branding options beyond just cutting them to size at CNCROi.com.
You’ll notice that unlike the anodized aluminium or lamacoid custom industrial tags, the light for this is green, that’s the reaction due to our fiber laser source hitting and vaporizing the stainless steel, the etching is permanent, it will not fade, crack or peel over time.
When it comes to stainless steel, we etch into it or anneal, we do not use bonding paste as it WILL crack, peel and fade over time.
Here I’m doing samples for a client mail out, this is 3074 stainless steel and a typical business card sized which some of our clients actually use for their machine tags but in this case, it’s just being branded with my logo and a few details about what’s possible.
If you are wondering what the difference is between etching and annealing, watch this video.
I’d say about 90% of what CNCROi.com does on stainless steel is etching, it has a wider angle of viewing and you an feel it on your fingers when you run your hand over it.
Just to show you the different shine characteristics of the lamacoid vs stainless steel vs anodized aluminium, here’s two pictures, again, the stainless steel custom industrial tag we fiber etched, not annealed, annealing would have a lower angle of visibility as the shine works it’s way through.
If you are looking for custom industrial tags, any size, material, shape or profile, contact CNCROi.com right now!