Engraving

Engraving laminate in a wide range of colour combinations is the mainstay — the two-tone plastic where cutting through the top layer reveals a contrasting core, used for control panel labels, door plates and machine markings. We also engrave acrylic, anodised aluminium, brass and stainless steel, and a variety of woods.

Different materials suit different jobs. Traffolyte-type laminate is the industrial standard because it is durable, legible and inexpensive. Brass and stainless carry more weight for a commemorative plaque or a professional nameplate. Anodised aluminium sits between the two and survives outdoors. Tell us where it is going and how long it needs to last and we will specify it.

Laser engraving holds very fine detail — small enough for control panel legends, terminal identification, valve tags, asset labels and instrument markings, where the text has to be readable at arm's length on a component the size of a matchbox.

The practical limit is usually legibility rather than the machine. Very small text in a low-contrast material combination is technically achievable and useless in a badly lit plant room at two in the morning. If the label matters operationally, we will suggest a colour combination and a size that can actually be read under the conditions it will be read in.

Yes, and it is work we take care over. Presentation plaques, memorial plates, honours boards, trophy plates and dedication panels are engraved in brass, stainless steel, acrylic or wood, with the layout set out and proofed before anything is cut.

We proof these carefully because engraving is not undoable — there is no second attempt on a name or a date. You will see exactly what is going on the plaque, at size, before we start. If it needs a coat of arms, a crest or a logo, send whatever you have and we will work from it.

Yes, and it is a steady part of the workshop's work. Control panel legends, terminal and cable markers, valve and pipe identification, switch and isolator labels, asset tags and safety markings, produced to a schedule and delivered as a complete set.

If you send a labelling schedule as a spreadsheet, we will work straight from it rather than making you order each item separately — which is much less error-prone for a panel with two hundred legends on it. Repeat work is kept on file, so replacing a damaged label two years later means quoting a reference rather than starting again.

Small quantities are often a matter of days. A single door plate or a handful of control labels can usually be turned round quickly, because the setup is short and the machine time is minimal.

Larger schedules depend on quantity and material — a full panel labelling set or a hundred-name honours board is a bigger piece of work, and anything in brass or stainless needs the material ordering in if it is not a stock size. We will give you a date when we quote and tell you if something is holding it up rather than leaving you guessing.

Usually, yes. Bring or post us one of the existing labels and we will match the material, the colour combination, the typeface and the layout as closely as the original allows, so the new ones do not stand out against the old.

Older installations sometimes use laminate colours that are no longer made, in which case we will show you the nearest current equivalent and let you judge. If you are replacing a large number anyway, it is sometimes worth doing the whole panel in a current material so everything matches each other, rather than matching a discontinued colour badly.