| Given the steady increase in commercial dog tag | | | | from parties, fairs, festivals and reunions to business |
| websites it's clear that the popularity of personalized | | | | tradeshows and special events. Most portable |
| dog tags for people is on the rise. From individuals to | | | | manual-feed mechanical machines can produce up to |
| businesses, custom dog tags are being used to | | | | a few dozen dog tags per hour compared to approx. |
| promote various events from birthdays and weddings | | | | 180 for a manual-feed electronic machine. If you're a |
| to new business products and special events. Unlike | | | | small business owner needing to make a set of |
| finding dog tags online, dog tag making machines can | | | | military dog tags here and there a portable |
| be a little more difficult for two reasons: fewer | | | | mechanical machine may be the way to go. If your |
| vendors and the many models available from manual | | | | production needs are higher then you should be |
| to automatic can seem confusing for the uninitiated. | | | | looking at the electronic manual and automatic-feed |
| Here we hope to sort out some of the difficulties in | | | | machines. The advantage of automatic machines is |
| selecting the right dog tag machine for your home or | | | | that they are capable of producing a few hundred |
| web based dog tag business. | | | | dog tags an hour making them ideal for high volume |
| The dog tag making machines this article is | | | | web based businesses. The down side is that they |
| concerned with are those that stamp letters, | | | | can cost five to ten times more than a manual-feed |
| numbers and some special characters producing either | | | | mechanical machine. |
| a raised (embossed) or lowered (de-bossed) effect | | | | The most basic machine for making military dog tags |
| from the metal surface. These dog tags are known | | | | will be manual-feed in which the tags are loaded into |
| as military dog tags and have been used by the U.S. | | | | the machine one at a time. The machine will have a |
| military since WWI. With the use of a standard size | | | | 55 to 60 character capacity drum (A-Z, 0-9, basic |
| font (same as that seen on a credit card) they can | | | | punctuation), one or two available fonts, will fit only |
| emboss up to15 characters per line and up to 5 lines | | | | military size dog tags (1.25" x 2.0"; 0.030" to 0.032" |
| per dog tag. The speed at which this is done will | | | | thick), and will weigh-in at around 60 lbs. Current |
| depend on the machine itself. Military dog tags are | | | | manual-feed mechanical machines have a dial on the |
| made from stainless steel and feature a top rolled | | | | top for selecting the desired character. Once the |
| edge. They are 1.25" x 2.0" and 0.03" thick. They are | | | | character to be stamped is lined up, a handle on the |
| available in both shiny and matte (dull) finish as well as | | | | side of the machine is pulled down to emboss the |
| brass. More recently color coated dog tags have | | | | tag. When released it shifts the tag to the left |
| become available. Be careful with these colored tags | | | | creating a blank space to accommodate the next |
| as sometimes the color will flake off during the | | | | character. |
| stamping process. Some progress is being made to | | | | For higher volume dog tag production you should be |
| produce more durable color coatings to withstand the | | | | considering either an electronic manual or |
| stamping process. Custom military dog tags can be | | | | automatic-feed machine. For manual electronic |
| sold in sets or a single tag on a long (24"-30") ball | | | | machines the plates are still loaded one by one, but |
| chain. A set consists of two tags, one long chain and | | | | the information to be embossed is either entered |
| one short 4" chain. You can include rubber dog tag | | | | directly into the machine via an attached keyboard or |
| silencers with the set or they can be offered as an | | | | through a computers serial port. The obvious |
| option. Ball chain can be purchased on spools or to | | | | advantage here is that the information needs to be |
| precut lengths. If getting spools, then the connectors | | | | entered only once for a multi tag order where the |
| must be purchased separately. The most commonly | | | | information is the same for each tag. In addition, |
| used ball chain for personalized military dog tags | | | | electronic machines are capable of number |
| consists of 3mm diameter size beads and is either | | | | serialization as well as text file input of names, |
| nickel coated brass or stainless steel. Additional dog | | | | addresses and other information creating each tag |
| tag accessories and options include split rings for | | | | with unique information. Manual-feed electronic |
| keys and rubber dog tag silencers. The split rings | | | | machines are capable of producing approx. 180 |
| most commonly used are ¾" and 1" wide. | | | | military dog tags per hour compared to a few dozen |
| Initially rubber silencers were available only in black. | | | | for manual-feed mechanical machines. Other |
| Now there is a wide range of colors available from | | | | advantages of the electronic dog tag machines are |
| traditional to vibrant tones. Custom military dog tags | | | | that plates of various sizes and shapes can be loaded |
| and dog tag supplies are widely available online. As | | | | into the machine, availability of higher capacity |
| with anything else online choose your vendors wisely | | | | character drums, a larger selection of font types, and |
| as prices do vary among different websites. | | | | portability (a typical electronic manual-feed embosser |
| The two main types of dog tag machines are manual | | | | weighs approx. 100 lbs). The next step toward |
| and automatic. They range in price from about | | | | producing higher volumes of dog tags can be |
| $2,000 for an introductory manual machine to around | | | | achieved by going with a fully automatic electronic |
| $20,000 for a high volume production automatic-feed | | | | machine capable of producing approx. 300 tags per |
| unit. In addition to military dog tags, many of these | | | | hour. The dog tags are stacked in a hopper with a |
| machines can also accommodate metal plates of | | | | typical capacity of around 200 tags and are |
| various sizes, shapes and thickness. Here we'll explain | | | | automatically fed into the machines character |
| the pros and cons of both types of dog tag | | | | stamping drum unit via a grabbing mechanism. When |
| machines as well as provide information regarding | | | | the embossing is complete the tag is automatically |
| where to find the best deals online. | | | | ejected from the side of the machine via a conveyer. |
| The first consideration in selecting a suitable dog tag | | | | Automatic-feed electronic embossing machines are |
| machine for your business is a portable or permanent | | | | built tough and will withstand harsh industrial |
| machine. Within both categories, manual (mechanical | | | | environments. In addition to be used to by military |
| and electronic) and automatic-feed electronic | | | | bases, these machines can be found in the factories |
| machines are available. The advantage of portables is | | | | of various major industries from auto makers and |
| that they can be easily transported to various events | | | | shipyards to cable manufacturers and steel producers. |