How to Make Custom Keychains: Your Ultimate Guide

Keychains are undeniably one of the most popular promotional products or gifts. They are perfect for branding, personal style, and marketing. But how do these small but creative items are made? How can businesses actually create custom keychains that speak for their brands?

So, here, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive overview of the concepts and possibilities of making keychains— from designing to production. 

Keychain Types and Components

Before we jump into the process of creating and manufacturing keychains or “keyrings,” let’s identify  different types and their components.

Component of a Keychain

A typical keychain consists of three common elements: a ring, a chain, and a decorative or trinket. Each component plays a different role in its use and performance.

• Ring- The ring serves as the anchor of the keychain. It is intended to attach or loop the chain to a bag, belt, or anywhere. It is commonly made of durable steel or metal and comes in different sizes and shapes. A split ring is the most popular type of ring. Carabiners, snap hooks, and lobster clasps are other ring types used.

• Chain– The chain serves as the backbone of the keychain. It connects the ring and the trinket and is responsible for the overall flexibility and drape of the item.

• Trinket—The trinket is the main part of the keychain. It serves as a decorative item. It can be made of different materials and customized based on different needs.

Types of Keychains

The best thing about keychains is that they can be customized in size, shape, or materials. But what are the different types of keychains that businesses can choose from?

Here are the different types of keychain available today: 

Exuding timeless elegance, keychains that are made of metal are sturdy, lasting companions.

For those who are seeking a more affordable choice, acrylic keychains are versatile, lightweight, and can incorporate full-color designs.

All of the highlights are listed, making them the perfect option for creative customization on a budget.

Being known for the durability and glossy finish, those are crafted through the “cloisonné” process. They are ideal for promotional items or collectables due to their high quality.

PVC Keychains bring a playful touch to everyday carry items.

Their significant PVC components, like charms or fobs, offer endless creative potential, making these keychains a delightful personal or promotional choice.

These keychains offer a distinct look due to their metal design.

Although this type typically costs a lot due to the die creation fees, die-struck keychains are a superb choice for premium promotional items.

Silicone Keychains offer a unique blend of soft texture and bold color.

Key parts made from silicone, like fobs or charms, bring durability and a playful touch, making keys unforgettable.

Elegant and delicate, glass keychains add a touch of sophistication to your marketing.

They can be made from tempered glass or crystal, offering clarity and brilliance.

Likewise, they can be added with images, patterns, and inscriptions.

Multitool Keychains compactly combine daily necessities like screwdrivers, bottle openers, or knives, proving indispensable for those who appreciate practicality, efficiency, and the unexpected handy rescue in pocket-sized convenience.

How to Make Custom Keychains: Your Guide

After familiarizing yourself with the different parts and types of keychains, let’s start understanding the process of creating custom keychains.

The most important steps in creating your promotional keychains are brainstorming, sketching, and picking a suitable design. At this stage, you have two options: either create your own design or hire a designer. 

When you have a clear vision of what you want your keychain to look like, it will be easy to create the design yourself. However, you may hire professional designers if you’re not confident about your design skills.

During this stage, it is also important to identify your item’s purpose and audience. Understanding them can help you decide the style, colors, and materials to use.

In advance, the 0.5-3-inch circles are ideal for a versatile keychain canvas. However, the size can depend on the custom size that you have chosen. At the ODM Group, we offer you a wide range of styles and types of keychain. Those styles or types can be perfect for personalized gifts, bag tags, luggage, or identifiers. 

Once you have finalized your design and chosen the ideal size, the next step is selecting your materials. There are different materials to choose from: metal. wood, acrylic, leather, etc. Again, choosing the materials may depend on the purpose of your keychain. 

The manufacturing process also varies based on the materials. Here are the process for different materials:

Acrylic Keychains

a. Design Preparation: In this stage, the design must be formatted and sized according to the specifications. It involves converting the design into a file vector for better quality.

b. Laser-cutting: Acrylic keychains are usually produced using laser-cutting. The laser beam precisely cuts the material, following the outline of the design.

c. Hole Punching: You must create a hole to attach different accessories to the ring. Specialized hole-punching tools are available for acrylic to ensure clear and precise holes.

d. Adding Finishing Touches: Once all the components are added, you can now add other personalized details like applying decals, prints, or vinyl.

Metal Keychains

a. Design Preparation: Similar to acrylic, preparing the keychain’s design in proper format and size is critical before manufacturing.

b. Metal Fabrication: Metal keychains can be created using various techniques, such as die-casting and stamping. Die-casting involves pouring molten metal into the mold while stamping presses the design into the metal surface. 

c. Finishing Techniques: Different finishing methods can be applied once the metal is fabricated. These may include polishing, plating, painting, or engraving. This step also helps create durable keychains.

Manufacturing Options

This custom die with a cutting edge presses down on the materials to hollow out the trinket form. After that the excess material needs to be cut, and the chain and clasp are attached.

Hydraulic presses the key ring shapes out of strong metals like steel. In order to get the desired form, the metal is pressed between many dies before punching. The shape is then freed, and the chain and clasp are affixed.

Small plastic pellets are melted and injected into metal moulds of the desired keychain shape. A robot arm removes the trinkets and places them on an assembly line to be fitted with the chain and clasp.

Custom Keychains wouldn’t be complete without applying the different creative decoration methods. Here are some techniques to consider to personalized your keyrings for optimal branding.

This method is an imprint technique that involves pressing a metal plate in the shape of a design that you create onto the front of the keychain material. The imprint is often a design, pattern, or lettering that is sunken or recessed into the material rather than elevated, as in embossing.

The embossing method is to raise the surface of the material by pushing it up through a metal plate from below and the other plate on top of it.

It is referred to as the process of cutting a hard surface, such as metal, using a specifically designed etching (etchant) acid to produce a design on it.

This technique uses an acid solution to generate a pattern or texture on a material’s surface.

Engraving is the process of carving a design onto a hard, often flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin.

The end product might be a decorated item, such as silver, gold, steel, glass, or a printing plate.

Why Should You Pick Custom Keychains as Your Advertising Merchs?

Businesses are always looking for techniques that can leave their brand name in consumers’ memories. Meanwhile, branded keychains are the ideal approach with powerful marketing abilities. These key tags become the must-have items for most people, and they keep them with them at all times. Thus, placing your brand and message on these bespoke freebies will be an excellent method of marketing your brand.

Four key essential elements of custom keychains benefit:

• Daily usage
• Cost savings
• High perceived value
• Easy to distribute as mailer items or custom giveaways

In addition to sharing your message, custom keychains make wonderful conversation starters that people will bring up when they meet again. Furthermore, bespoke keychains encourage word-of-mouth publicity.

ODM offers creative and unique keychain designs for different types of marketing. Make sure to check them out: 

Wrapping It Up

In the world of crafting personalised keychains, creativity has no limits and the process is simplified. With this comprehensive reference, you’re ready to initiate and delve into your journey of handcrafting custom keychains. Moreover, for a distinctive keychain, paying attention to details is essential—starting with design, selecting the variant, size, and finishing touches.

Likewise, the blog shares details from preparing ideas and selecting keychain types to the process of cutting and utilising vinyl. Thus, not only a fun project but also an opportunity to express yourself with unique gifts for beloved ones. Don’t hesitate to start your inventive exploration in the vast world of tailored key fobs.

All you need to know about how to make custom keychains!