Metal Business Cards

[Panerai]

I want to start making metal business cards. There is NOONE locally that makes them and I have ALOT of ppl with interest in them, even after I tell them the cost.

Looking to make something like this...

Offsite pic replaced. Please observe our rules on photo posting.

I assume I would need some kind of CNC machine... Just looking for some ideas to and where to buy, used @ first, Dont want to break the bank getting into something that only takes off for a few dozen people.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

The sentences above and below your pic contradict each other a little. You seem very confident that there are ALOT of people interested in them despite the cost... (Either you aren't giving them the right price, or you are meeting some extremely wealthy people).

The amount of money/time you will need to make these, WILL break your bank. Also, if there are so many people interested, why do you have doubts that there will only be a few dozen people it might take off for?

My suggestion to you, is that you firstly see if you can get some decent orders, then outsource it to a company who makes them. Hint: these are not CNC machinists - if you use a CNC it will cost you even more to make.

The cutting and etching is performed by the one process, known as chemical etching. It's the most cost viable process for this product, and even at that, is still quite expensive (unless you're making maybe more than a few thousand or 10,000 of these cards).

Best of luck and if I'm wrong with any of the above, give it to me.

 

[Panerai]

You're right... but you don't know my budget, only that I want to buy used..
you also don't know the people I am dealing with, or their budgets.

I am asking for information on how to make the product, ideas, places to buy, not how to run my business. I know I can outsource this. Id like to do it in house.
I bought a 5 bay garage a few months ago so I can "Learn to make signs" "and get into tinting and car wrapping"
Heck my first vinyl work I did was the registration numbers on my Cessna 172RG.

I was asking for guidance not criticism, neither constructive or other.

Thanks for your Chemical etching ideas. Im looking for other ideas.
My "Budget" is $10k on something that I can make metal business cards. Sure I might only have a few dozen friends who are interested. But those are all bankers, lawyers and business men, who go through 40 cards a day, and even if 1 of those cards brings in 1 client... it paid for 1000 of those cards.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

I said you must know some very rich people. It's not a cheap product. And looks like I'm right. Great, you are off on a good start.

As far as I know chemical etching is the way to go with this. CNC isn't the way to go, unless you are happy to only make a few a day. If you need to make hundreds... then chemical etching is the way to do it.

If you have alot of money, and it sounds like you do, then get yourself a chemical etching setup happening and forget about CNC.

My 2c.

All the best and sorry that you took my post as criticism.

 

[visual800]

Panerai, I dont wanna flame you or start off on bad foot but I can tell you this about people...they are full of crap.

NEVER believe what they say. EVERYBODY wants this and that and "Man I would soooo buy all you had if you offered that"...I gurantee you this. You get set up in making these you won't sell a 1 to any of these "interested" clients.

Mark my words. People talk the BS but dont stand behind anything when it comes to parting with their money. What would I do if I were you and I had faith in this? I would sub it out make a little money off of it and dont invest in doing your own. I doubt you will get your money back out of that system

 

[iSign]

NEVER believe what they say. EVERYBODY wants this and that and "Man I would soooo buy all you had if you offered that"...I gurantee you this. You get set up in making these you won't sell a 1 to any of these "interested" clients.

to me, he sounds cocky enough to either know it all already, or to need the lesson.. but nice of you to not flame him

 

[ova]

Might want to try sublimation. We played around one day and made some for our own use. We used a bunch of leftover peices we had lying around that would probably have been pitched in the scrap box. We used gold and silver aluminum to sub on. Left them sitting on a desk where we fill out customer orders. Every customer that saw them was very interested until we told them the price.

The cards looked good, but I always wondered how a person would carry them. Even if they had one of those fancy card holders, it would still be bulky and the cards would eventually bend.

Dave

 

[CanuckSigns]

there are a few wholesalers in Toronto that can do this type of work, unfortunately, they would have a minimum of 250 pcs of each design.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I would think you'd need a laser cutter/engraver to make those. I don't think a cnc is going to give you the miniscule precision you'd need.

Here....build yourself one...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-cutter-start-slicing-stuff-for-under-50-dol/

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Might want to try sublimation. We played around one day and made some for our own use. We used a bunch of leftover peices we had lying around that would probably have been pitched in the scrap box. We used gold and silver aluminum to sub on. Left them sitting on a desk where we fill out customer orders. Every customer that saw them was very interested until we told them the price.

The cards looked good, but I always wondered how a person would carry them. Even if they had one of those fancy card holders, it would still be bulky and the cards would eventually bend.

Dave

There was one guy that had been interested in dye sub'ing those for membership cards for a high end place. It didn't go much beyond the pricing stage either. They look good, but really have a limited place.

 

[parrott]

I could not imagine buying a $10,000 router to make business cards. I am all for keeping business in house, but in this case: sub it out. And like Custom Grafix said, routing is not the method to making these.

 

[John Butto]

"But those are all bankers, lawyers"

These people do not spend their money, they take your money and spend it.
I hope someone gives me their metal business card it would make a great scraper to take off glue.

 

[CES020]

We've done those before. I have photos but don't plan to post them in the public forum. A "laser engraver" won't work. The wavelength on the laser for a CO2 laser will not cut metal. Not with 1 pass or with 1000 passes. You need an industrial laser that you'd find in a sheet metal shop. Last time I was in the market for one, they started at $200,000. They aren't small, they are large.

We subbed our project to a shop with that type of equipment. Brought it back in house, finished the cards and moved on.

Our cost was $1 each, so you're looking in the $2-3 each range for the finished product. There is a small market for is, but it's not cheap by any means.

 

[Pat Whatley]

You need an industrial laser that you'd find in a sheet metal shop. Last time I was in the market for one, they started at $200,000. They aren't small, they are large.

Well that shouldn't be a problem. He can sell off the Cesna and get a couple of those high end clients to chip in, move that sucker into Bay 5 and start cranking out cards. Hey, if you're getting $2 per card and your 25 customers are burning through 40 cards a day you'll have that thing paid off in about 4 months!

 

[Salmoneye]

If the metal was thin enough and a soft metal, could you die cut these on a letter press? You could but a letterpress for a few thousand dollars. The die would cost a chunk but once you had it you could make all you wanted. How thin can you buy metal and can you get it by the thousands cut to size like that? Very cool looking card by the way.

 

[HulkSmash]

You're right... but you don't know my budget, only that I want to buy used..
you also don't know the people I am dealing with, or their budgets.

I am asking for information on how to make the product, ideas, places to buy, not how to run my business. I know I can outsource this. Id like to do it in house.
I bought a 5 bay garage a few months ago so I can "Learn to make signs" "and get into tinting and car wrapping"
Heck my first vinyl work I did was the registration numbers on my Cessna 172RG.

I was asking for guidance not criticism, neither constructive or other.

Thanks for your Chemical etching ideas. Im looking for other ideas.
My "Budget" is $10k on something that I can make metal business cards. Sure I might only have a few dozen friends who are interested. But those are all bankers, lawyers and business men, who go through 40 cards a day, and even if 1 of those cards brings in 1 client... it paid for 1000 of those cards.

We have a feisty one.

 

[HulkSmash]

in all seriousness. those are prob. done with a small laser engraving machine.
Which means you have to place them in there 1 by 1. and wait about 5 minutes per business card. just sayin.

 

[Salmoneye]

We have a feisty one.

He was being a di#% but only a little one.

 

[CanuckSigns]

in all seriousness. those are prob. done with a small laser engraving machine.
Which means you have to place them in there 1 by 1. and wait about 5 minutes per business card. just sayin.

Laser engravers don't have the correct wavelength to cut through metal, even very thin metal, believe me, we've tried!

to do this you would have to either cut them on a BIG laser, stamp them out with a die, or chemically etch them, all of which are expensive for small runs.

I'm going to have to agree with Visual800 on this, untill you have someone commit to ordering these, with money in hand, they are all talk.

 

[Salmoneye]

Seriously, just kidding on my last post. I am curious if anyone knows if a letterpress would work and if you can buy the stock pre-cut...

Also, someone mentioned wholesalers for this product, anyone know who?