Laser engraving letterbox sign for our July Case Study

A customer asked if we can make a laser engraving letterbox sign. They got a lot of junk mail and wanted a sign made. Read our July case study

What was the problem this customer needed solving?

Customer: Hi Trent, I was wondering if you could help. I have a piece of stainless steel left over from a project. Could you make that into a sign for my letterbox?

Self-Inking Stamps: Yes, we could do something for you. Tell us about the material you have, what size it is and what you would like to do with it.

Customer: My husband has this piece of stainless steel left over from his tinkering that is 175 x 74mm. I would love to have a sign on the letter box that says “No Junk Mail. Thank You.

Self-Inking Stamps: That sounds possible to do. There are a huge number of ways to design this and heaps of fonts to choose from. Can you help us pinpoint something by describing or even sketching your thoughts and we can get a graphic design back to you to consider?

Customer: Yes we can. Excellent and thanks Trent!

How did we help them solve the problem?

Well that sounded easy. Hang on a minute just coming up with a design off the top of your head is a totally subjective thing. Everyone has a different opinion. We like to make sure our clients are receiving what they need. This means lots of questions and sometimes a few goes at getting the design right.

For this laser engraving letterbox sign project we can work with the supplied stainless steel to make the sign.

Here we can use a ceramic paint to coat the steel. Then using our Trotec laser machine precisely target the graphic design on the painted surface to bake the paint onto the surface. This creates a black mark on the steel surface. The rest of the paint is cleaned off and hey presto design on steel. Do be careful however as this process produces a lot of heat and can bend the steel even though the steel is never touched in the process.

Our client showed us a picture she, and her consulting team, had seen on the internet which was fantastic to help us. Yeah you know what I mean when the consulting team gets in there everyone in the family has to put there two cents worth in there. We could see it not only had the text it also had a double border too. That is a big clue for how we needed to get the graphic design done for her.

A laser engraving letterbox sign design proof sheet was created for her to check.

On this occasion as the laser engraving letterbox sign was smaller than a piece of paper and the proof sheet being a pdf when printed was actual size. This is great for getting a very real perception of what the outcome of the sign will be.

It could be cut out of the paper and held up against the letter box and checked for effect. A couple of changes were requested by the team and the new proof created was accepted.

What was the outcome for this custom rubber stamp solution?

With the go ahead given we started the process to create this custom letterbox sign. The protective film on the surface of the steel was removed.

The face was spray painted with the ceramic paint. Then the metal marking with the laser process was performed to thermally bond the paint to the surface.

Lastly the surface was cleaned of the unprocessed paint and exposing the image marked. Now hubby had the new task to do. Fix the sign to the letterbox.

The new rubber stamp letterbox sign should reduce their influx of unwanted junk mail.

If you need a letterbox sign there are quite a few materials that can be used.

Stainless steel is one of those. Anodised aluminium can have a great effect too. There is also a great range of Trotec plastic laminates in a range of colours including metal effect, gloss, and matt surface finishes. These materials can be used indoors, or exterior signs can be made as well.

What sort of letterbox sign would you like?

Have you got a number that just does not look right with those off the shelf stickers? Maybe you would like a larger or smaller text height. That is possible to do. Oh, and it does not look as tacky as an obvious off the shelf stuck on number combination.

Yes, even the screw holes can be designed to the placing and size of hole in the custom made signs made of plastic laminate. Would you like a particular font for your personalised letterbox number?

Maybe for the rural people your farm name and number could be your letterbox sign? For businesses, your logo can be a great combination with your street number for your letterbox. Let us know what you need, and we can make a custom letterbox sign for you.

Contact our custom rubber stamp team for more information.

If you are needing something like this custom made contact us and ask whether it can be done. You might be pleasantly surprised. Stay up to date with our latest news and promotions on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google.