Trade Made
Signage & CNC Specialists
Channel letters
Channel letter Service
Here at Trade Made, we have been manufacturing channel letters and logos for over 20 years, Our highly trained experienced craftsmen have a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to channel letters, working with materials like Acrylic, Aluminum, and now stainless steel to name a few, So if you outsource your channel letter needs why not keep it local and give us a call we will be glad to help.
Why not give us a call
Why should I use your company?
That's easy here are some points that make us no.1 for channel letters
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20 years in channel letters and logos
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High quality work at sensible prices
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Range of materials ( stainless to acrylic and more )
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Locally-sourced materials
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Locally manufactured
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Wired and ready to fit
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Free advice if needed
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Price matched ( will beat any like for like quote)
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State of art channel letter machines
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Strictly Trade Only
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All work is fully confidential
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All our work is guaranteed
Channel letters we typically make
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Stainless steel ( mirror, brushed, descaled )
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Acrylic ( Any colour )
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Aluminum ( sprayed, powder-coated )
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Copper
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Corten steel
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Brass
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Rimmed style
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Rimless style
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Open faced
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Halo illumination
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Full face illumination
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Part illumination
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Full electrics- leds, driver etc ( ready to fit )
Click images for details
Channel Letters
PROCESS
Well its pretty simple just email us with your file, tell us what you are looking for or ask us for our advice, once we agree on the spec of your letters we will price it up and email you back with your quote couldn't be easier
FINISHES & EFFECTS
With such a wide range of materials to choose from we can cover virtually any type of finish you may need from polished stainless to powder coated aluminum, funky acrylic to rusty Corten steel no matter what finishes you need we will have the answer
OVERVIEW OF PRODUCTION
Once the job has been confirmed first thing we do is make a good cad file of the letters this is then sent to either the cnc router or to the laser depending on material choices, we then cut all the faces and returns,
Once all parts are machined we start the bending and joining process. this is where we shape and fix the channel returns to the letter faces even with state of the art automated channel bending machinery it still takes a lot of time and great hand skill to produce these types of letters especially in acrylic hence why they can cost so much
LIGHTING
Most Channel letters have some source of lighting, nowadays it's normally led modules or led style neon that is used, we can supply and fit whatever light source you may require we typically supply sloan Leds as they are simply the best on the market, whether you need a super bright halo effect a full face illumination or even funky stle fairground bulbs we have you covered
FIXING METHODS
The Fixing method all depends on the letter style and their location, Most channel letters are either using a backplate or a theaded rod , back plates are typically used for front face illumination and threaded rods are noramlly for halo illumination, no matter what you appliaction or location we will have the correct fixing method
Channel Letter Gallery
Click images for details
Stainless Steel
GENERAL
Stainless Steel is a timeless classic for channel letters nothing comes close to the beauty and durability of this material, These high-quality letters simply portray class if you are looking for eye-catching quality channel letters this is the one. We typically make all our stainless steel letters from marine grade 316 ensuring you only get the highest quality materials
Production
We make everything in house on our new state of the art equipment The letter faces are cut on our brand new fiber laser, The letter returns are cut and bent on our new channel letter bender, Then the faces and returns are then welded together on a state of the art laser welding system With all this brand new equipment and our years of experience we can make virtually any type, font style or finish in stainless steel
Finish
With Stainless steel you have 4 main finishes to choose from
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Brushed
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Mirror
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Descaled ( for painting or powder coating )
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Gold- Titanium
Brushed
Mirror
De-scaled
Gold
Pros and Cons of Stainless
Pros:
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High-Quality look and feel
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long-lasting (lifetime if looked after)
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Rustproof ( 316 )
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Beautiful finishes
Cons:
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Expensive
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Heavy
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Hard to work with
Need Stainless Steel Channel Letters
Click images for details
Acrylic Channel Letters
GENERAL
Acrylic Channel letters have been around for a long time this is due to the fact that all face and side illuminated channel letters require an acrylic face or side to allow the light to pass through , Acrylic is a great material as its very durable cost effective and pretty lightweight when compared to glass , another great thing with acrylic is the range of colours it comes in all in all it’s a perfect material for sign manufacture especially when illumination is required
Production
Acrylic channel letter production is a lot more labour intensive when compared to metal channel letters simply because any non-straight part of the channel letter needs to be heated and formed to match the curve of the letter, This heated section then needs to cool and set , once its cooled and set into its final shape it then needs to be trimmed to the final size then set in position behind the letters face and secured so it does not move this is all done before applying the glue, After the glue has cured all letters get trimmed and checked for quality, fixings, LEDs , back trays etc are all done after the letter construction, it’s a lengthy process building Acrylic channel letters and requires highly skilled hands to make these correctly
Finish
Acrylic comes in a great range of colours way too many to list here but the most common would be
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Blue
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Red
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Black
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Blue
Pros and Cons of Acrylic / Perspex
Pros:
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Brillant light tranmission
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Great range of colours
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Safe than glass , U.V resistant
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Very Durable
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All-round good sign making material
Cons:
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Can be Expensive
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Liable to scratching
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Not heat resistant
Other Channel Letter Materials
Aluminum
Aluminum is another great material that we use a lot of in our channel letters its strength to weight ratio is what gives it its edge over the other materials, Aluminum is easy to work with when compared to stainless steel for example it cuts easily it welds great and take powder coat or paint brillantly which make it ideal for channel leters
Pros and Cons of Aluminium
Pros:
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Strength to weight ratio
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Easy to work with
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Less expensive than stainless
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Very Durable
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All-round good sign making material
Cons:
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Lack of sheet finishes
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Needs finishing ( painting or powder coating)
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Easy to mark or bent if hit
Carbon Steel
Carbon steel or normally steel is a material we use for when the person is looking for that rusty look ideally you use corten steel which only rusts a little bit but that's pretty dear , steel is heavy but strong not the best material fo channel letter but does work
Pros and Cons of Steel
Pros:
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Cost effective
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strong
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Durable
Cons:
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Heavy
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Needs finishing ( painting or powder coating)
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Hard to work
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Rusts
Some other materials we have used in the past have been Brass , copper, and composites but these have been more or less ones of jobs and not generally used for channel letter construction.
If you have any questions or need some advice or quote on any Channel letters why not gives us a call we glad to help