Understanding Enamel Pin Manufacturing
The 8 Steps Required To Make Custom Lapel Pins
Pin design is VERY different from designing for print or web. We create a 3d piece of metal stamped with your art and then electroplate it and then hand paint it. Many pin buyers don’t understand the process and therefore, leave a lot of design techniques on the table. Follow this Covid Hero Award pin through a lapel pin factory.
Step 1: Stamping Mold
Most enamel pins are made using the die-struck manufacturing process. This process requires a stamping mold so that your design is stamped into zinc metal. In most cases this process takes about 2–3 days to complete.
The mold itself is made from specialized industrial steel. We use CNC manufacturing technology that engraves your design backwards in the steel. This process is time consuming and most stamping molds require around 10 hours to make. When you pay a setup fee, this is what you are paying for. This is also the reason why 25pc orders are often not feasible. The prevailing logic is that fewer pins will cost less but that just isn’t true with enamel pin manufacturing. Factories really don’t want your 25pc order and charge accordingly. After all it takes just as much time to setup a stamping press to make 50pc as it does 5000.
Step 2: Tool and Die
A “tool and die” is required so that your pins can be trimmed after stamping the design into a metal strip. The “tool” is the outline of your pin. And the “die” is used to remove the excess metal from the pin blank. This part of the process is time consuming and slow. Remember we have not even made a pin yet!
Step 3: Stamping
Now that the mold, tool and die are made we can begin manufacturing your pin. A machine operator adds your stamping mold to a hydraulic stamping press. The operator feeds a strip of zinc metal over top of the mold and applies approximately 5 tonnes of pressure to the metal so that it assumes the shape of your design.
Step 4: Trimming
Once your pins are stamped into zinc strips, the project moves to the trim press. The excess metal that surrounds your pin is chopped off. Each pin is rough cut and then placed on the trimming die. The “tool” is used to chop off the extra metal and give the pin a nice crisp edge. The “die” is the shape of your pin cut into steel. Now we can start decorating your pin!
Step 5: Electroplating
Electroplating is a very interesting process. This is that part of the process in which the metal becomes gold, silver, bronze. The Enamel Pin Trend has pushed manufacturers to offer other colours of metal like black, blue, pink or green. Instead of electroplating, they actually spray paint the metal with the colour or your choice. This makes it easier for designers to create black lines on their artwork instead of having to convert those lines to gold metal.
Pins are loaded to metal racks, by hand and attached with copper wire to the racks. This allows an electric current to flow through the pins when being placed in a series of chemical baths. The gold/nickel/bronze particles adhere to the pin, changing its colour depending on what solution they are placed in.
Step 6: Enamel
We are finally at the fun part! Paint! Once your pin is electroplated the right colour, the pins are loaded onto racks for painting. The metal bases are heated up so that the colour flows better. A technician uses a colour filled syringe full of liquid epoxy to inject colour into your pin. Each colour is inlaid one at a time.
Your pin design requires areas no smaller than 2mm to hold the liquid epoxy. Designers, this is often the reason we have to change your art! We need enough space to hold colour within any given enclosed metal shape. (View our pin designer cheat sheet that offers you a list of specifications and best practices to follow)
Step 7: Buffing
If you ordered hard enamel, there is an extra step. We fill the pins with more paint in the hard enamel process. In order to give it that finished look, we need to buff the surface until the paint is level with the metal edges. This is one of the reasons hard enamel costs more because each pin, is buffed by hand. Read my other Medium article on “The Difference Between Hard And Soft Enamel Pins”
Step 8: Finishing
Once your pins are stamped, electroplated and painted they proceed to finishing. There are three parts to finishing:
- Weld the post on the back. We use a specialized spot welder to apply a post to the back of your pin.
- Each pin has a clutch added to the back by hand
- Each pin is packaged in a poly bag
Now we are ready to ship your pins!
I also offer a free 8 part course to teach you how to design enamel pins. Once you understand the manufacturing side and learn best practices for enamel pin design, you’ll be well on your way to expert status!