How Are Hard Enamel Pins Made?

Enamel pins may seem like a feat of wizardry when you examine the fine details of these miniature works of art, so it's natural to be curious and ask, "What is the process of making hard enamel pins?" It's actually a fairly straightforward process, and we'd be glad to walk you through what we do to turn your design into a high-quality hard enamel pin that captures your artistic vision.

How to Make Hard Enamel Pins

1. Make a mold of the pin design. We use a machine that cuts heavy-duty steel to create a physical stamp of your digital design.
2. Stamp and cut out the pin. The mold is inserted into a machine that presses the design into a zinc or iron alloy. After that, a separate machine cuts out the shape of the pin. In the final fabrication stage, a pin backing is soldered on.
3. Add the enamel and bake it. Enamel color is added to the cut pin via machine or hand injection. The spaces in the pin design are filled all the way to the top with enamel for a hard enamel pin. Then, the pins go into an oven, where the enamel hardens.
4. Polish the pin. Because of the shiny, flat nature of hard enamel pins, they need an extra polish to make sure the paint and outlines are completely level. This gives them an extra-beautiful shine.
5. Electroplate the pin. A bit of science comes in here, as the pins are placed into a chemical solution to be electroplated. The metal plating only sticks to metal during this process, so the outlines of the design are coated while the enamel stays the same color.
6. Screen-print the details. If the pin design includes very fine details too small to be filled around with enamel, these details can be screen-printed on at the end of the process to create hard enamel print pins.

If you're interested in having us create custom hard enamel pins for you, the process is even simpler on your end. Just place your order, send us your design, approve the proof we send back, and your pins will arrive on your doorstep in no time!