Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year!
We will close at noon on 12/24 and 12/31
We will be closed all day 12/25-12/26 and 1/01-1/02
Orders placed during these times may not be processed until we reopen.
LUCITE EMBEDMENT GUIDE
There are a lot of factors that determine the cost of your embedment project, as well as the success rate of embedment. Note that a combination of factors is what determines an item’s overall risk of embedment. We cannot predict exact outcomes, but we offer this guidance to help you determine what items are more likely to successfully embed.
Low Risk: We have high confidence that the item will embed well. Small defects may occur, but are historically rare.
Medium Risk: We have had mixed results embedding these items. They may persistently have small defects, or vary in quality from one embedment to the next. If you have extra items as backup, or are willing to take the risk, we will proceed with production.
High Risk: We believe this item will almost always fail, or will produce unsatisfactory results. Depending on the item we may refuse to embed it out of safety precautions or cost of production.
FACTORS
Low Risk:
- High Heat Tolerance
- High Pressure Tolerance
- Items smaller than 3 inches
- Weighs < 1lb
- Little to no color or ink
- Smooth surfaces
- Rounded or beveled edges
Medium Risk:
- Low Heat Tolerance
- Low Pressure Tolerance
- Items between 3 and 6 inches
- Weighs < 3lbs
- Paint or enamel color
- Textured surfaces
- Square edges
High Risk:
- Flammable Items
- Flimsy or Crumbly Items
- Items larger than 6 inches
- Weighs 3lbs or more
- Printed inks or dyes
- Rough or porous surfaces
- Sharp Edges
Examples
Low Risk:
- Badges (minimal color)
- Business Cards
- Cardstock Paper
- Challenge Coins (minimal color)
- Coins
- Cork
- Golf Ball
- Medical Parts (Metal)
- Metal Shavings
- Nuts/Bolts
- Paper Currency
- Sand (in glass vial)
- Smooth Stones/Rocks
Medium Risk:
- Aluminum Cans (Full)
- Crystal
- Dried Flowers
- Dried Insects
- Glass
- Hard Plastics
- Liquids (in glass vial)
- Medical Parts (Plastic)
- Metal Pipes/Tubes
- Metal Sheets
- Printed Circuit Board
- Rough Stones/Rocks
- Wood
High Risk:
- Aluminum Cans (Empty)
- Acrylic
- Clay
- Fabric
- Food
- Knives
- Leather
- Organic Material
- Paper (printer, tissue, etc)
- Patches and Fabric Badges
- Ping-Pong Ball
- Plaster
- Plastic Pipes/Tubes
- PVC
- Sharp Objects
- Soft Plastics
- Wax
FACTORS THAT AFFECT EMBEDMENT SUCCESS:
Heat and Pressure Tolerance
During embedment, your item is submerged in a liquid form of acrylic and baked at high temperatures and pressures. The lucite will partly protect your item from the direct heat, but it will still experience some of its effects. Consider whether your item would drastically change shape or be compromised when heated.
The high pressure environment helps remove bubbles and air pockets, working the lucite into the crevices of your item. This pressure can also damage, warp or even crush delicate or fragile items. Consider whether your item could withstand being squeezed, pressed or put under pressure for an extended period.
Size
The size of your item has the biggest influence on the cost of your embedment. Larger items will require more raw materials and will increase the weight of the finished product. Larger items may also change shape more than smaller ones when under heat and pressure, which could cause pull-away or even cracks. Weight is a significant limiting factor to an embedment’ s max size: lighter items can be larger than heavier ones.
Weight
The weight of your item affects your shipping weight, as well as the quality of the embedment. Heavy items may “sink” before the lucite has time to set, changing the position within the embedment and possibly adding defects such as flow lines or pull-away. We may require extra clearance between the item and the edge of the lucite to support the item, which further increases the overall embedment weight. Very heavy items may be impossible to embed.
Color
Dyes and paints can discolor when in contact with the liquid lucite, or inks may bleed in the high pressure oven. Paints used on badges and enamel pins vary widely; some may not bleed at all, others bleed a little, and still others lift away entirely from the badge surface. Consider whether your item’s color is from a natural quality, a hardened layer of paint, or part of a printed sticker or label.
Surface and Texture
When your item is first submerged, the lucite around it is in liquid form. During the curing process, it hardens into a solid, clear layer. The portion of the plastic that is touching your item is as close to the surface as it can get. A smooth surface facilitates this bond, preventing any air pockets or bubbles from forming. An item with a textured, uneven, or porous surface will have a more uneven connection with the surrounding lucite, increasing the likelihood of pull-away. The rougher surface may appear reflective, or have multiple bubbles.
Corners and Sharpness
Near the end of the process, as your embedment cools, the lucite surrounding your item starts to contract, becoming hardened and inflexible. If your item has sharp corners, or a bladed edge, the material contracting around it may pull away or start to crack along the sharp edge. This is most common with metal items, such as raw metal sheets and knife blades.
Combination of Factors
All of the above factors work together in making your item a higher or lower risk to embed. In some cases, a medium or even high risk factor may be mitigated by multiple low risk factors. Metal shavings, for example, are very sharp, but their miniscule size and weight make them excellent candidates for embedment. Crude oil is highly flammable, but when contained in a glass vial, it embeds quite easily. A single flattened flower may embed better than a rose with a stem.