| Guide to Costs |
| Stock metals |
| Sheet Size |
| Selection of material thickness |
| Drawing Guidelines |
| Delivery Times & Costs |
If you are unfamiliar with producing artwork for photoetching please contact us and we can send you specific details for the software that you plan to use.
The following costs are based on an A4 sheet can be used as guideline for custom etching:-
|
Print of e-mailed artwork (no editing) |
£5 per drawing |
|
Phototool |
£10 - £30 (1 off cost) |
|
Stainless steel (0.125mm to 0.375mm) |
£15 - £25 |
|
Brass (0.15mm to 1mm) |
£12 - £25 |
|
Phosphor bronze (0.15mm & 0.25mm) |
£15 & £18 |
|
Nickel Silver (0.2mm, 0.375mm & 0.75mm) |
£15, £20 & £25 |
The above costs exclude VAT and delivery.
Volume discounts apply.
| Brass | 0.05mm up to 1mm |
| Stainless steel | 0.05, 0.125, 0.25,& 0.375, 0.5mm |
| Phosphor bronze | 0.15mm & 0.25mm |
| Nickel silver | 0.20, 0.25, 0.375 & 0.75mm |
We do not have a minimum sheet size.
The table below lists the maximum sheet size for each type and thickness of material.
|
Material |
Thickness | Maximum sheet size |
| Brass |
0.05, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25 &0.3mm |
300mm x 1500mm |
| Brass |
0.4mm up to 1mm |
600mm x 1500mm |
| Stainless steel |
0.05, 0.125,0.2 0.25,0.375 & 0.5mm |
300mm x 1500mm |
| Phosphor bronze |
0.15mm & 0.25mm |
300mm x 1500mm |
| Nickel Silver |
0.2,0.25, 0.375 & 0.75mm |
300mm x 1500mm |
The table below lists the minimum line thickness that should be used for each thickness of material.
| Minimum Line Thickness | Minimum Gap | |
| Stainless steel | 1.5 x material thickness | 1.2 x material thickness |
| Brass, Phosphor bronze & Nickel silver | 1.2 x material thickness | 1.2 x material thickness |
Please refer to the table above when choosing the minimum line thickness on the drawing.
We can receive the following file formats :
| AutoCAD LT 2004 |
| CorelDraw version 12 |
| Adobe Illustrator version 8 |
| Turbocad version 10 |
If possible avoid using bitmap based formats e.g. TIFF/BMP/JPG, these formats do not allow easy editing and generally poor in edge definition.
Where text is used in a drawing please convert the fonts to curves or include copies of the font with the drawing.
To receive specific guidelines for any of the above formats please contact us
Tags
The list below gives a recommendation on when to use either half etch or full thickness tags and the minimum line thickness of the tag.
When using AutoCAD it is recommended that tags are drawn as polylines on a separate layer.
|
Full thickness tags |
|
| 0.125mm stainless steel | 0.2mm width |
| 0.15mm brass / phosphor bronze | 0.2mm width |
| 0.2mm stainless steel | 0.25mm width |
| 0.2mm brass, 0.2 mm nickel silver | 0.25mm width |
| Half etch tags | |
| 0.25mm stainless steel | 0.9mm width |
| 0.25mm & 0.3mm brass | 0.9mm width |
| 0.375mm Nickel silver / stainless steel | 0.9mm width |
| 0.4 & 0.45mm brass | 0.9mm width |
| >0.45mm brass | 1mm width |
In general we would request a week to ten days delivery time, however we will try to meet our customers requirements where possible.
UK Mainland
For Parcels under 2 Kg we normally use Royal Mail Special Delivery which guarantees delivery next day before 12 noon.
For parcels over 2 Kg we would use either Securicor or TNT. (next day service)
Delivery costs:
Under 2 Kg (£5 - £7)
Over 2 Kg (£10 - £15)
Europe
Please allow an extra one week for delivery
We normally use either TNT, UPS or Securicor.
Delivery costs vary depending on service required.
Please CONTACT US if you would like further information on any of the items mentioned above or if you would like us to provide a quote.