Which metal materials are available for producing lapel pins?
There are kinds of material that can be applied to custom lapel pins. Such as brass, copper, iron, stainless Steel, aluminum, pewter and zinc alloy. If you have no idea which material is better for your design, just drop an inquiry to us and we will offer our suggestion after evaluating your design, quantity, budget and delivery time, finally turning your ideas into affordable and eye-catching custom lapel pins!
Brass
It’s the major material for pins and medals. The price would be higher than iron or zinc alloy but the texture is the best among all materials. Brass can be stamped (die struck)/ photo etched or lost wax casting.
Iron
Iron usually can be stamped (die stuck) with soft enamel colors, unit price of iron pins are cheaper than brass because iron is less fine in raw material. Iron is a very hard material, if size over 80mm (single side with motifs) or 42mm (double sides with motifs), we will suggest brass or zinc alloy material instead because molds will break easily while stamping on big sized iron plate. Iron has magnetism which may have magnet as the attachment.
Stainless steel
Normally we would adopt stainless steel as the material for offset printing or silkscreen printing with epoxy on the surface but without electroplating. Since stainless steel is also characterized as a magnetic material, you could select magnet as the attachment as well.
Aluminum
Normally we would adopt aluminum as the material for offset printing or silkscreen printing with epoxy on the surface but without electroplating. It also can be made in a very thin plate (0.4mm thickness) and inserted in the recessed areas of key chains or coins. Aluminum is a light weight material can be printed as well as stamped.
Pewter
Pewter is composed of tin and lead, the more percentage of tin the more expensive and softer. It is an excellent material for designing 3D items that are cubic shaped or miniature-sized or with empty space within. It is made by spin casting, all the designs can be made easily, such as lapel pins, brooches, miniatures, belt buckles, costume jewelry or paper weight.
Zinc Alloy
Zinc alloy is an excellent material for 2D or 3D cubic designs that have empty spaces within or for miniature-sized designs with mechanical functions such as moving and spinning pieces.
We also can produce items with inlaid gem stones, various colors, and different finishing. Zinc alloy is a prevailing material in souvenir market because the smooth metal surface and extra thickness appeal to more customers Besides, all the inner cutouts or open areas can be done without any cut die charge required neither no increase for unit price. Minimum quantity is 100pcs per design and we accept custom designs only.