Wooden transaction cards and methods of making the cards

Method of making card bodies for wooden transaction cards comprising:

• providing multiple wooden (veneer) layers (SWL, PWL), with a moisture content of 6-9% (ideally 8%, after drying at the mill) for creating a stack-up assembly of a card body assembly;
• providing interlayers (AL) of adhesive for bonding and a substrate layer (SL) for reinforcement;
• laminating the stack-up assembly of wooden layers and interlayers without a pre-conditioning cycle to remove moisture content;
• selecting lamination parameters (pressure, temperature, dwell time) in a continuous press lamination cycle (hot and cold) to compress the layers in the stack-up assembly to an ISO conforming thickness of 760-800 μm;
• before laminating the layers, modifying or varying the thicknesses of the wooden layers, adjusting the lamination pressure to achieve a certain degree of shrinkage to achieve an ISO conforming thickness, with the ultimate objective being to achieve a weight for the resulting card body of 4-4.5 grams (including an implanted chip module);
• and
• performing press lamination on the stack-up assembly of wood veneer layers and interlayers.

Method of making a laminated sheet assembly for a wooden transaction card, comprising:

• stacking up multiple wooden layers (SWL, PWL, PWL), a core substrate layer (SL), and adhesive layers (AL) disposed between adjacent ones of the wooden layers and the core substrate layer, wherein the wooden veneer layers have a moisture content of 6% to 9%,
• wherein the outer wooden veneer layers have a thickness of 450 μm and the inner wooden veneer layers have a thickness of 150 μm, and the resulting stack-up has an initial thickness of approximately 1400 μm prior to lamination;
• and
• laminating the stack-up at a defined pressure, temperature, and dwell time to form a laminated assembly having an ISO-conforming post-lamination thickness of 760 to 800 μm;
• wherein the laminated assembly achieves the post-lamination thickness without a preconditioning cycle to remove moisture;
• wherein the moisture content of the wooden layers changes during the lamination process;
• and
• wherein the post-lamination thickness is determined by a combination of lamination parameters, the number of wooden layers and type of cut, the thickness, density and species of the wooden layers, and the lamination method.