Here are the answers to some of the more "often asked" questions. If you do not see the answer you need below, please feel free to get in touch via the "Contact Us" page and ask your question.
How thick is the wood?
Our standard wood for business cards, wedding invitations and tags is 1.5mm thick birch plywood.
Our wooden veneers are very thin. With business cards we back to back veneers and they are usually just over 1mm in thickness. Veneer/ply mixed business cards are around 2mm in thickness. For larger items (invitations etc.) we use birch ply in the centre. This gives stability and strength, these items are usually betweeen 2mm to 3mm in thickness. The wood for our postcards and wine box lids is 4mm thick birch plywood. Our keyfobs are made from 6mm thick, cherry, maple and oak woods. Driftwood is exactly that, washed up wood from the sea and rivers. It has been collected and then cleaned, ready for engraving.
Is your wood environmentally friendly?
The wood that is used to make plywood comes from sustainable forests. In addition many plywood manufacturers replant more trees than they actually use in the manufacture of plywood. We also actively seek from our suppliers evidence of commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance, information on the source of wood products and evidence of good forest management practice. Currently all plywood supplied is FSC certified.
Other Woods - We will only source materials from suppliers who are operating within the laws of their own country. With the growing public awareness of the environment and environmental issues, and with many customers specifically requesting certified timber, we stock woods originating from sustainable and correctly managed forests, and in particular FSC certified products. (FSC products have their forest of origin independently inspected and evaluated according to environmental, social and economic criteria agreed by the Forest Stewardship Council AC.)
Another wood we use is alderwood, This is an American hardwood and is classed as “an abundant, sustainable and legal resource under the United States rule of law.” Virtually every portion of the alder log is used during the lumber manufacturing process. While the lumber is manufactured into furniture or cabinetry, the tree bark becomes mulch and the sawdust is fuel for the mill. Furthermore, it takes less energy to manufacture lumber than it does to manufacture steel, concrete, aluminum, glass, or plastic. Alder trees grow quickly and die relatively young – at approximately 60 years. If a tree dies in the forest it begins to release the carbon it had previously sequestered. By harvesting this prolific tree and manufacturing it into furniture, cabinetry and millwork, carbon remains sequestered for the life of the finished product. It is estimated that each year more than 175 million tons of carbon are stored in wood products.
Do you supply samples of your wooden business cards?
We are happy to send a free of charge generic sample of a standard wooden business card.
Bespoke Samples - We can also offer a bespoke sampling services with your artwork from £30.00 plus VAT.
PLEASE NOTE: We cannot produce bespoke artwork samples without either an order/deposit in place or unless you are willing to pay the bespoke sampling charge above. This will cover design and production time. Please note that 50% of the sampling charges (not postage charges) can be redeemed against a future order.
Apologies for having to charge for samples but as we receive so many sample requests we have to impose a charge to cover postage and production charges. Otherwise we would spend all of our time producing samples with no guarantee of an order. As you can imagine, this simply does not pay the bills!
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Do you have artwork charges and how should artwork be supplied?
There is a one-off artwork set-up charge of £25.00 plus VAT with your first order (artwork set up is free for orders over £150.00).
When supplying artwork please note that vector artwork is preferred, saved as an Adobe Illustrator AI, EPS or Corel Draw file. If saved as a Photoshop PSD, we require the file to be saved at 300dpi at 100% print size. Please ensure that all fonts are outlined or supplied (PC format true type or post script).
Graphic Design - We can also offer a full graphic design service. Rates start at £35.00 plus VAT per hour.
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Can you print onto wood and if so can you print white?
Yes we can print onto wood and we can pantone colour match.
White Printing - No problem, we can print white onto wood. This looks fantastic with our darker coloured woods such as Cherry, Sapele and Walnut.
Foil Printing - We can also print foil metallic colours. For foil printing we would always have to charge a one off plate making charge. This will be around £30.00 for a business card sized plate and around £40.00/£50.00 plus VAT for an A6 plate.
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How do I send artwork for foil printing?
All type should be a minimum of 10 point. Anything smaller may not be legible. The clearer the typeface, the better your foil-stamped finished piece will look. All logos, designs or solid lines should be at least 0.5 point in thickness. Finely detailed artworks and hairline registration with ink or may not be available.
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How do you work out costs for engraving wood?
For engraving, price depends on time, the more detail means the longer it will take. The base price is the wood cost and then we look at the design and work out how long it will take to engrave. No costs can be confirmed until we have sight of the final artwork. For engraving, all logos, designs or solid lines should be at least 0.5 point in thickness. Finely detailed artworks and hairline registration with ink or may not be available.