How to choose plates

Some of our best selling engraving plates are Brass and Aluminum (Brushed are a bit more popular than and Bright) that are used on trophies, plaques, awards, memorials, desk nameplates, and other engraving work. If you choose brushed brass or brushed aluminum, you will be using the most popular engraving plates for scratch or rotary engraving. For coated engraving plates, our black brass and laser black aluminum (if you're using a laser engraver) are the top choices for customers.

The various aluminum colors can be used to match a background or picture and the anodized aluminum is designed for accessories or outdoor use. Both the colored aluminum and anodized aluminum are designed for scratch or rotary engraving. There are some colors that can be special ordered so contact us with any questions.

Choose by type of engraving machine
Laser engraving plates were designed to work on CO2 lasers and should be engraved at a depth of 0.025mm / .001". If you are using a rotary or scratch type engraving machine, the brass and aluminum plates are a good choice and you can do either normal or deep engraving depth for relief effect. All the engraving plates can be hand engraved and the non-coated metals can even be slightly bent to a curved surface.

Choose by exposure
Solid metal brass and aluminum will maintain their color but painted plates can wear off from physical wear and abrasion or when the plates are significantly bent, heated, or exposed to chemicals. The anodized metals are designed to withstand weather and wear and will maintain their surface even with outdoor exposure, sunlight, and moisture.

Looking to use them for another purpose? The solid metal engraving plates can be heated, bent, or soldered (painted plates should NOT). Brass and aluminum without colors can be bent and modified (there can be some surface discoloration applying a torch and you may need to protect the metal when heating or possibly polish it after) because of surface treatments, you may need to chemically strip the lacquer (Acetone bath) before heating.

If you need help choosing plates, just contact us and we will try to provide some help in choosing the best plates for your needs.

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