how thick is a name necklace?
A castmyname pendant is a solid metal plate 1.2 mm thick, and no line of the lettering is thinner than 0.8 mm. Those are two different numbers, and a name necklace needs both: the plate keeps it from bending, the line width keeps the thin parts of a script from breaking.
two kinds of thick
- Plate thickness is front to back, how thick the metal is. This is the number shops give as "thickness". Ours is 1.2 mm, with a flat back and the front edges rounded off.
- Line width is how wide each stroke of the letters is, seen from the front. Script fonts have hairlines, and at pendant size those are a few tenths of a millimetre. Every line on a castmyname pendant is at least 0.8 mm.
A thick plate with hairline letters can still break where the letters are thinnest. A thin plate with bold letters bends. So ask about both.
the font at pendant size, and what's cast
Olivia, with lowercase letters 4.2 mm tall. Left: the font exactly as designed, with every part thinner than 0.8 mm in red. Right: the outline that becomes the 3D file, thickened so it casts, with the two rings fused on.
Drawn at the same scale. Pointed stroke ends don't count as thin: they round off in polishing.
Measured on all 414 names on this site: at pendant size, 79% of classic script is thinner than 0.8 mm. Cut out of metal as it is, most of the name would be hairline. That's why every stroke is thickened, and why a script name in metal looks a little bolder than the same font on screen.
| lettering | font under 0.8 mm | added to each line | metal vs the font |
|---|---|---|---|
| classic script | 79% | 0.6 mm | +142% |
| formal script | 85% | 0.5 mm | +158% |
| signature | 96% | 0.6 mm | +171% |
| retro | 52% | 0.3 mm | +68% |
| rounded | 4% | 0.1 mm | +27% |
| handwritten | 34% | 0.4 mm | +86% |
Averaged over 414 names. "Added" is the extra width on every stroke, half on each side. "Metal" includes the two rings. Rounded starts out bold and changes least; signature is the finest and changes most. all six letterings side by side
why 1.2 mm
A plate gets stiffer with the cube of its thickness: twice as thick is eight times harder to bend. It also gets heavier in a straight line, and gold is priced by weight. Here's the same Olivia in classic script at four plate thicknesses:
| plate | 14k gold | sterling silver | stiffness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 mm | 0.9 g | 0.7 g | 1× |
| 0.8 mm | 1.4 g | 1.1 g | 4.1× |
| 1.0 mm | 1.7 g | 1.4 g | 8× |
| 1.2 mm (castmyname) | 2.1 g | 1.7 g | 13.8× |
Weight worked out from the outline's area times the plate thickness, the same way the size and price on every design are. Stiffness relative to a 0.5 mm plate. castmyname only makes the 1.2 mm plate.
castmyname uses 1.2 mm so even a fine script is stiff, and at 2.1 g of 14k gold Olivia is still light to wear. Some shops sell a "double thickness" option. Double of what isn't standard, so look for the number in millimetres. weights and rough prices in every metal
good to know
- Solid all the way through. Sterling silver or solid gold, not plated, so a thick plate is thick metal, not a coating over brass.
- Rounded front, flat back. The front edges have a 0.4 mm radius, like polished jewelry, so the thickness doesn't feel sharp. The back lies flat on the skin.
- The rings are part of the piece. Each ring is 3.6 mm across with a 1.9 mm hole, cast in one piece with the name, and takes any chain up to 1.5 mm.
- A touch smaller after polishing. Shapeways says the metal shrinks as it cools and polishing takes off a little more, about 3% in all. how ordering works
- The size doesn't change with thickness. Lowercase letters are 4.2 mm tall in every lettering, the pendant at most 44 mm wide. how big a name necklace is
see it on your name
The 3D file is free. You order it from Shapeways* yourself, and they cast and ship it.