Metal Tags

Uses and advantages of Metal Tags

Worldwide, metal tags are used across all industries and business sectors to mark and identify products, components, machines, parts and items. Metal tags are durable, resilient and when engraved properly, will retain their marking functions for the lifetime of the item being marked - and probably way beyond that lifetime.

A wide variety of metal tags is available on the market. Tagmakers carries a broad range of metal tags in both popular metals such as brass, aluminium and steel, as well as special alloys containing zinc, chrome and (in some cases) precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium and platinum.

Metal tags intended for use as pet tags, or tags that people may wear as fashion or jewellery items should not contain "free" or "loose" metallic substances that may be harmful. Many alloys are compounds of various metals. Brass, for example, may have small quantities of lead added in order to make it suitable for engraving or stamping. When a metal such as lead is a part of an alloy compound, its toxicity is rendered negligible, because the base metals bond together atomically, binding them together. There is no "free" or "loose" lead in brass.

All our tags are free of highly toxic metals such as Cadmium and Mercury. These classes of metals are not contained in any alloys that we use for our tags.

Often, different metal tags have unique properties that make them suitable (or not) for different applications. Tagmakers knows how to determine what types of metal tags may be suitable for a specific application or environment. If you need advice on what type of metal tag to use for your specific purposes, we advise you to CONTACT US to discuss which metals are most suitable.

BRASS TAGS
Brass is one of the most popular and commonly used metals in the manufacture of tags, discs and other identification plaques. While there are many different alloys of brass, only a handful render well to router engraving and machining. We generally use Engravers' Brass, of "half hard" brass. Most of the tags and siscs we provide are made from these alloys. Brass is also aesthetically attractive, and has a golden brilliance when highly polished. But brass likes to oxidise, and will tarnish over time. Some people like this patina and it can be very attractive. Tarnishing can be minimised by coating the brass with hard lacquers. This is often done for exterior applications where exposure to weather can quickly oxidise brass.

ALUMINIUM TAGS (raw and not anodised)
Aluminium is very popular because it is lightweight and very tolerant of harsh weather conditions. It is also quite cheap, and aluminium tags are usually cheaper than brass or steel. However, being a relatively soft material and with a low melting point (compared to brass and steel), aluminium tags are not used in enviroments where they are subject to bumping and bashing. However, in places where they are unlikely to be disturbed (lofts, attics, cellars and other quiet places) they can last for many decades.

ALUMINIUM TAGS (anodised)
Anodising is a process where the raw metal is encouraged to oxidise and form a hard layer of aluminium oxide on the metal surface. In the case of aluminium, this layer is not only extremely hard and tough, it bonds solidly to the base metal. The oxide layer is porous and can absorb coloured dyes. This enables an anodised tag to be coloured with a wide range of hues and shades. Additionally, graphics and text can be "printed" into the anodised layer, resulting in a tag that has indelible and permanent markings in full colour. There is a huge range of industrial and commercial applications for anodised tags and plates and Tagmakers can advise customers on the most suitable options for any given application.

STEEL
Steel is very hard and is quite challenging to engrave. We use only stainless steels in the manufacture of our tags. Stainless steel is very resistant to corrosion and in most cases, tolerates volatile substances.