History of Metal Magic

Metal Magic was founded in 1988 by Charlie and Donna Brown with the simple mission of creating premium quality dies, offered at affordable prices, and manufactured in a dependable and rapid turn around time. Many years have passed, and over a million dies have been successfully crafted, yet the friendly customer service and down home customer care which defines Metal Magic is still alive and thriving.

In 1988, Metal Magic proudly opened its doors with Charlie etching the dies and Donna taking orders and managing the books. The small operation was moved from its temporary location to a leased shop space in 1989. With the help of a fork lift and a midnight moving crew, Metal Magic established its first solely occupied plant and officially became a corporation in the state of Arizona.

Metal Magic continued to successfully produce quality dies for Arizona, and quickly became known throughout the country as a leader in copper die manufacturing. The nationwide reputation rapidly increased our demand for quality copper dies, and just five years after setting up shop in our first location Metal Magic purchased a 9,000 sf manufacturing plant to enable future growth.

Copper die orders continued to grow at a staggering rate, and Metal Magic believed technology was the key to continued success in the future. Therefore, in 2001 the company created a CNC department and introduced one of the industries first computer driven milling machines for engraving dies. The investment in technology was so successful, a year later Metal Magic created an entire brass engraving department with multiple CNC machines and hand engravers. The rapid expansion included Metal Magic's purchase of Perspectives Engraving.

In 2003, history repeated itself and Metal Magic had already outgrown its recently acquired manufacturing space. So, the company purchased property next door and built a new facility to operate in conjunction with the existing space. One year later, Metal Magic proudly opened its doors in the East through the acquisition of Redeen Engraving in Chicago. The nationwide success Metal Magic created by servicing customers through two locations has been tremendous. In 2005, Metal Magic proudly acquired Cordell Engraving, upon Bob Cordell's retirement from the industry.

Although our company has grown rapidly to become a global leader in copper and brass die manufacturing, the same mission applies to every die today as it did when Charlie and Donna first opened the doors for business. Metal Magic's very first employee, Shawn Laidler, is our production manager and still oversees every die shipped to our customers each day. The culture created at Metal Magic through employees like Shawn has allowed our company to grow rapidly while maintaining exceptional quality at affordable prices. In fact, did you know Metal Magic has never raised its prices in all the years of making quality dies? As you can see, our history is scribed with rapid growth and a solid reputation…we are excited to see what magic will be created in the future!