Credit card material

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Doctor G

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
18
Location
Woodland, Wa
Can anyone tell me what material credit cards are made from. I don't have any old ones and I'd like to buy blank material for my accents.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
92
Location
Alabama
Cards are made of several layers of plastic laminated together. The core is commonly made from a plastic resin known as polyvinyl chloride acetate (PVCA).
 

Kenny Durrant

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
2,480
Location
Sachse Tx. 75048
Guitar Pickguard material is great. I get mine at Stewmac.com. You can get plain or laminated sheets and cut them to size. I used to go to all the guitar shops and ask but that got old quick.
 

studioseven

Member
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
793
Location
Wisconsin
The site listed above seems a little pricy. I usually order blank cards from Amazon for around $15 with the shipping (100 count). Of course these are standard thickness credit cards. The site above has thicker ones.

Seven
 

jttheclockman

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
19,083
Location
NJ, USA.
My goodness there are a ton of sites you can order inlay materials from. I use sites that deal with billiard cues as well as toys and models. Plastistrut is huge for black or white plastics in all thicknesses. Then there are acrylic dealers that sell sheets that I use also. Can get all different colors.
 

Doctor G

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
18
Location
Woodland, Wa
You have stirred my brain with your answers. I see where I could use different colors of pvc bars or rods and cut off and combine thicknesses. I couldn't see the trees for the forest.
 

Todd in PA

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2021
Messages
645
Location
Port Matilda, PA
I bought the blank ID cards on Amazon and have had terrible results with them. The cards are made up of 6 ply of thin plastic, which want to separate from one another when drilling or turning. They're not well attached and I can peel them apart with my fingers easily before even cutting to size.

Anyone else have this problem? Or better yet...a solution? I have a stack of cards and white segmenting would be nice. Maybe I'll try pulling off 1 ply but that is a VERY thin segment.
 

jttheclockman

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
19,083
Location
NJ, USA.
I bought the blank ID cards on Amazon and have had terrible results with them. The cards are made up of 6 ply of thin plastic, which want to separate from one another when drilling or turning. They're not well attached and I can peel them apart with my fingers easily before even cutting to size.

Anyone else have this problem? Or better yet...a solution? I have a stack of cards and white segmenting would be nice. Maybe I'll try pulling off 1 ply but that is a VERY thin segment.
Todd here is a thread that lists vendors for all sorts of segmenting materials. I wish this would get cleaned up and inserted in the library. Would be easier to find when this question comes up.

https://www.penturners.org/threads/segmenting-material-resources-draft-library-article.167867/
 
Last edited:

Bats

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Messages
364
Location
W. Nowhere, CT
I bought the blank ID cards on Amazon and have had terrible results with them. The cards are made up of 6 ply of thin plastic, which want to separate from one another when drilling or turning. They're not well attached and I can peel them apart with my fingers easily before even cutting to size.
The quality may vary from one mfg/seller/batch to another. The ones I ordered seem nice and uniform throughout. I've only used them on a couple pens so far, but had no trouble - and even with an xacto I can't separate them into layers.

I got mine from here:
 

Todd in PA

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2021
Messages
645
Location
Port Matilda, PA
Update: I looked at the cards more carefully. They seem to have a veneer on each side and are solid in the middle. I ended up using the veneer which was very very thin to make some chevrons.
F81B68E9-1A5B-44DF-99B3-03BBB1DBBA77.jpeg
 

Bats

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Messages
364
Location
W. Nowhere, CT
How about posting pictures of finished blanks with cards used in them. Thanks. Frank
(I'm a few days late - I've been tied up trying to shop for a new apartment & haven't had much time for pennish pursuits)

I don't have any shots of the blanks in progress, but these are a couple I made recentlyish - nothing nearly so nice as Todd's, though. The first is out of ebony (and cards), the second out of walnut and ebony, with something I think is dyed-black poplar veneer... and cards. Unlike Todd's, my cards seem to be solid straight through (I believe we're both using blank ID cards off Amazon, but probably from different sellers).

PXL_20210716_004557375.jpg
PXL_20210716_010236938.jpg
 

WriteON

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
3,269
Location
S. Florida
(I'm a few days late - I've been tied up trying to shop for a new apartment & haven't had much time for pennish pursuits)

I don't have any shots of the blanks in progress, but these are a couple I made recentlyish - nothing nearly so nice as Todd's, though. The first is out of ebony (and cards), the second out of walnut and ebony, with something I think is dyed-black poplar veneer... and cards. Unlike Todd's, my cards seem to be solid straight through (I believe we're both using blank ID cards off Amazon, but probably from different sellers).

View attachment 318688View attachment 318689
Nice.... the top is quite interesting. I'm going to try ringwork like the bottom. Smart looking pen.
 
Top Bottom