As the Republic of Ireland has no standard font, our team at Dash Dynamics looked at the options available for acrylic digits and decided none were good enough for the job.
We considered using our existing UK motorcycle font as a starting point, simply stretching the height and squeezing the width to create something workable. A few companies have taken this route, but the result leaves the digits far from correct, with horizontal strokes too wide and vertical strokes too narrow. Digits produced this way do not meet the Irish statute.
Instead, Dash Dynamics began designing a completely new font that could meet both the required size of 70 x 36mm and the required stroke width of 10mm. This was a long and involved process. The height and width were straightforward to draw, but achieving the correct 10mm stroke width took several months, working to the 0.01mm accuracy we apply across all our designs. The result is a set of Irish 4D acrylic digits that we believe are the most accurate available, with excellent results.
Having designed the font, we then moved on to creating jigs for our Irish acrylic digits, covering both the standard 520 x 110 size and the 340 x 220 square plate. Both jig sizes were designed specifically for the Republic of Ireland.
Our jig systems are designed to work with an IRL Euro end, for both printed and surface mounted acrylic at a width of 40mm. If you are working with an alternative size Euro end, we can provide an easy method to ensure the digits are placed centrally within the available area.
For more information about our number plate jigs, click here, or check out the video below.
After spending months perfecting our Irish acrylic digits, we protect the designs worldwide against copying without our permission. Dash Dynamics operates a licence that allows users to manufacture the digits but not to redistribute the design files.
Like all other Dash Dynamics products, our Irish acrylic digits are manufactured using the same materials as our UK BS AU145e products, including 3mm thick Genuine Perspex®. This helps ensure our products are well placed to comply with Irish regulations, should these be updated to follow similar rules to the UK number plate regulations.
We are happy to send out samples of our acrylic digits free of charge so you can check the quality before placing a larger order. This helps ensure you are confident in the product ahead of a bigger purchase.
Our starter packs contain only the acrylic digits used within the Republic of Ireland. The spread of digits is loosely based on how often each one appears by county, and comes together with the 520 x 110mm number plate jig. If you need the rest of the alphabet, we manufacture these too and can supply them on request.
If you also want the 340 x 220 jig, this can be ordered at the same time or added later. Please note that we do not advise using Irish acrylic digits in the manufacture of UK number plates.
For more information about our Irish acrylic digits, or to talk about any of our other products and services, get in touch with the Dash Dynamics team. We are happy to help and to answer any questions you may have.
