Plaques:
Plaques come in a variety of styles:
Materials (8x10"): Aluminum ($220), Bronze ($360), Brass, Stainless Steel, Zinc, Copper, Magnesium ($60), Alder Wood
Lettering:
Raised letters - Cast, Magnesium etched (5x3 $50)
Engraved/Etched: Laser Etched, Acid etched, Engraved, Painted

They can include pictures or logos. An computer generated EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) version is preferred but PDF vector format will work.
A bronze stake is $70. Casting can take 4-5 weeks

 
Painted

Cast

engraved

Raised etched magnesium



Other examples:
Custom Metal Plaques & Engraved Metal Plaques (AuraBronzePlaques.com)
Metal Wall Plaque | Metal Plaque | Cast Metal Plaque | Personalized Metalm (allplaques.com)
Outdoor Plaques at 123-Awards.com
Outdoor Plaques at PlaqueMaker.com

Crown Trophy in NJ said they can make a 5x3 all weather magnesium etched plate with raised logo and letters to attach to a bench for about $30.

They recommended bronze casting for rock mounting, because magnesium and aluminum do not hold up well.
Alu

An 8 x 10" bronze casted plaque with a brown leatherette oxide finish with antique gold lettering will be about $??.

Cast bronze plaques are better for mounting on stone or cement. Aluminum will tarnish and pit after

Dimensions:
 Plaques  2x3" - 16x24"
 Memorial & Cremation Plaques  4.75 x 6 - 12 x 22
 House Signs  4x12 - 6x24
 
Fonts:
 Face/Family
 
Font Size:
 Minimum for a cast plaque 16 points (0.22")
 
 
Ballpark guide
4x12" plaque
Visible from 3 ft  44 letters/line x 5 lines = 220 letters
Visible from 5 ft  33 letters/line x 4 lines = 123 letters
A header and/or border will reduce this
3 x 12 plaque 
   

 Typeface:
 Cast plaques:
 Cheltenham, Helvetica, Century Schoolbook and Times New Roman.
 
 Helvetica/Arial      How vexing able  " : 1234
 Times New Roman      How vexing able  " : 1234
 Times New Roman Bold How vexing able  " : 1234
Century Schoolbook   How vexing able " : 1234

Some places can use any Microsoft Word fonts for casted plaques.
 
 Engraved Plaques
 
 
 Other fonts:
 Images of Fonts For Bronze Casting Plaques (TheBronzePlaque.com)
Times New Roman     How vexing able  " : 1234
Goudy Old Style     How vexing able " : 1234
Palatino            How vexing able  " : 1234
Garamond            How vexing able  " : 1234
Arial Narrow        How vexing able  " : 1234
Blue Ribbon Awards San Serif and Serif Fonts
Top 10 Standard Sans-Serif and Serif Fonts for signs | Capitol Marking Products, Inc.
Fabricated Letters Stainless Fonts - Pricing (PlaquesAndLetters.com)
Letter Styles | The Southwell Co. | Cast Metal Plaques, Cut Out Letters & Signs
Font page here

Signs:
Visibility Chart
Letter
Height
Best
Distance
Max
Distance
3" 30' 100'
4" 40' 150'
6" 60' 200'
10" 100' 450'
See:
Vendors:
Plaques:
The Southwell Co. | Cast Metal Plaques, Historical Markers, Cut Out Letters & Signs Since 1866
Precision Engraving (973) 887-3350 13 Ridgedale Rd. East Hanover, NJ

Bronze Plaques (plaquemaker.com)
TheBronzePlaque.com 24 inch by 12 inch memorial plaques, Memorial plaques for garden settings and near trees.
Raised Metal | Crown Trophy

Terms:
Bas Relief - 3-dimensional
Flat Relief- 2 dimensional


A realistic cast stone monument made from construction-grade Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) with a bronze plaque can cost from $600-800.
See Memorial Rock or Boulder | Like Valley Monuments.

A real stone will cost from 15 - 45¢ per pound. A 2x2x1 ft stone will weigh around 600 lbs, so that is $90-250.

Granite has a density of about 160 lbs/cu ft
Boulder weight

Diameter  cu ft  lbs.
    1.5    1.8   282   $ 40 - $  120
    2      4.2   670   $100 - $  300
    3     14.1  2,260  $340 - $1,020
    

Dealers:
Crown Trophy "America's Largest Awards Supplier" Monday Through Friday 9:00AM - 4:30PM 205C Route 22 East, Green Brook NJ 08812 732-968-3455 trophymax@aol.com www.crowntrophy.com/store-52 Hours: Rios' Engraving - 1 Maple Avenue @ 202, Morristown, NJ rolando6@optonline.net http://www.riosengraving.com/ Big Hug Remembrance Gifts, 1945 Tiverton Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 248.594.1560 Katie@bighugllc.com bighugllc.com/monument-rocks-boulders
Links:
Typography
Donor Signage Guidelines UCSF
Fonts
Viewing Distances
Size & Shape Phoenix Foundry
Letter Styles | The Southwell Co. | Cast Metal Plaques, Historical Markers, Cut Out Letters & Signs Since 1866
Wood Memorial Plaques (Alder Wood)
Cast Bronze for Memorial Plaques and Signs (uk-sign-maker.net)
Advanced Architectural Cast Stone - Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC)
Atlas Signs and Plaques - How to Install Signs and Plaques

last updated 20 Aug 2014
How Long Will My Exterior Sign Last?


Metal Plaques
www.woodlandmanufacturing.com/plaques/metal-plaques

milled aluminum   lifetime warranty  4x6  $75

Non-metal plaques (wood, urethane, plastic, ...) materials
Engraved, V-groove
Carved - 

V-groove routed signs  www.sandblasted.com/Vgroove_Compare.html

CNC (Computer Numeric Control) Tool Is Used In Prototyping And Full Production For Cutting, Carving, Machining And Milling In Wood, Mdf, Plastics, Foams, And Aluminum.

www.shopbottools.com/mProducts/3-d_work_v2.htm

Solid Cherry plaques  $33 for 5x7
www.plaquemaker.com/solid-cherry-plaque