Silver Art Coin/Token/DooDad/Thingy for 2007 Theme

[Toolmaker]

Before anyone flips out about currency and flames me about gifting please read the full post.

I have seen some coins and paper floating around from past burns. While struggling to find out what I can gift that WILL be cherished and NOT turn into more moop I had a vision. Silver art pieces with a hole for putting on a necklace or earing etc. I happen to have a heap of "useless" silver coins from the "Barber" era. These coins are far too worn out to be of any worth but I figure lets "recycle" and make something new. I am a machinist so I have some experience working metals and a good feel for materials, what I lack is the knowhow to make coins/tokens cheaply with good quality results. I also lack the artistic creativity many others out here are gifted with. Ideally what I want to make will have an opening through the center like some of the old foreign coins with reference to Black Rock City and the year and theme. I would like to have some input on design, manufacture, and some to participate in this with me. Unfortunately I only have a few hundred coins so I cannot give one to everyone who attends BM. I figure participants in this project (if any) can assist me equally with gifting them to people we feel as though are deserving participants.

PS If ANYONE knows who struck any of the previous coins please try and get me in touch with em if they are still around.

-Dave

[unjonharley]

Dave, robotland smiths aluminum. You might get some pointer there. The fancy stuff in done with a lazer. MOst likely using a companys lazer and time fuck with BM stuff.

[Toolmaker]

Thats pretty much what I am doing, working on it at work. I havent come across anything about the laser method. I don't have acess to a laser so that probably won't be in the mix. I can do the 3D programming while my machine is running. I tend to have long cycles times since I do 5 axis milling of complex parts. I can handle the CNC machining end of it on a small 3 axis I have in my cell that sits now and then. After brushing up on coin minting I have the process down to this:

1) Design/Draw 2D/3D Image for each side using MasterCAM or equivalent
2) Manufacture Die sets for striking using CNC mill
3) Melt stock, roll into sheet, stamp out blanks (can the old coins be recast as blanks instead?)
4) Strike Coins (need fast powerful 1000lb equipment I dont have access to)
5) Manually roll edges of coin (maybe using diamond knurls instead of straight?)

If an artist comes up with ideas all I would need is a 2D graphic image to import into my CAM program to write the CNC program to make the die.

I am hung up on the numbers for coin diameter and thinkness. The blanks have to be just right. The dies can be made to be adjustable, I have a spare micrometer head so I can adjust it in height by .0005 inch. I could possibly make the die with the ability to adjust the height or just use shims and cheat.

Another hang up is the press. I do not have acess to anything that can strike the coins.

After working a lil on it today during my machines cycle (1 hour+, got to sit on my ass a bit today) I figure the striking might be out of my abilities. Some kind of casting method might be the way to go, but detail and quality would be significantly reduced.

Another idea I am going to think about tomorrow is making rings. Maybe a roll form die to put the text and image on the outside diameter of the ring. I can use a casting method for the ring which is cheap and easy. After rolling the form die around it I can buff and polish it up. Only problem there is making a die for it. The only machines I have access to that sit are lathes and 3 axis mills (1 CNC).

Work case scenario something can just be cast and than tumbled to polish. Maybe a representation of the man stamped on the back. That just involves casting which I have to read up on since I never worked in a foundry I have forgotten most of what i learned in school.

[Atar]

I don't think you need to make something out of silver to make people love it, but since you have it already....
I've worked in the licenses office at my camp DeMaTerial, and at times, when people finially got their license they would gift us with something. But not just one person, they'd dig around in their pocket, pull out 4 to 5 identical trinkets and hand them to the people doing the yellling.
This way of gifting is nice, but it feels kind of cheesey. Your idea sounds good, but mass production isn't the way to go in my opinion.

If you will ultimately get around 100 items why not use them for something that will make all of them unique?
This might be more timeconsuming, but I would say: Melt them somehow, drop that molten silver in small bead molds or something and then engrave them by hand.
What I would suggest for a mold is a small Big O with a small pin in the middle. You make sure the O can be split in half, but obviously not the pin which will hold your thread or whatever. You could cut this mold pretty easy with a CNC machine.
Engraving is even more fun. Just invite all your burner friends to your house, sit around and talk about the event, maybe open up some sleepingbag thats filled with playa dust to get in the mood. Then all of you get out the dremel or one of its clones and engrave them by hand. Its not the beauty of an object that makes it beautiful, its the personal attention that went into it. After that you make it shine with some silvershine wax or something and you have a perfectly good little trinket.

One guy who stayed in our camp (he rode in on his art car and never left) had a PERFECT way of gifting. His neck was sortof littered with very nice necklaces. All kinds of different types as well. At times, people would compliment him on one of his necklaces. He'd look the person in the eye with a big grin on his face and give that necklace away.

Right now I'm wearing a wooden ring given to me by Dustin, an awsome guy from my camp. Its probaly worth less than its weight in sand but I've not taken the thing off for more than a day since donning it at Burningman. Its perfect for me and I love it, and the person that gave it to me as well.

[Toolmaker]

OK.. after some careful thought and research..

Coin/Token is OUT. Ring/DooDad is IN.

Going a whole different direction thats to atar

I rolled the coins today to flatten them and now have odd shaped discs.
I am thinking of working everything from here on out old school all the way. Some are going to be hannered and twisted with basic hand tools to for rings, some are going to melted and cast into figures.. design yet to be done.

[geekster]

I have in my hand right now an object from the 2005 burn. It is a brassy color, about the size of a 50 cent piece, about twice as thick as a 50 cent piece, and heavy.

My ex was somehow involved in getting them distrubuted, not sure where they came from, I will ask her in case someone else wants something similar sometime in the future.

[flipper]

For the quantities you have, I think homemade is the right choice. But I also like the pressed penny I was gifted last year. It's never quite as special as something homemade, but if mass production means someone can be generous to more people, and it's not instamoop, that's cool too.

Keith

[theCryptofishist]

Maybe this is just my pet peeve, but if you are rolling pennies, it's just classier to use the all copper ones from pre-1990.

[mdmf007]

Toolmaker -
drop me a note as I have three coin rollig machines we got froma lot sale at a theme park. All we need is a design cut into the hardened steel wheel.

It already has two disney land like designs on the die, but all I need to do is open up the side, and rotate the design and index it with the gear that drops the coin in.

Theres room for 9 molre designs to be made - I dont work steel, but know these wheels are extremely hard

the existing designs look lazer cut, and are cheesy.

these machines are the hand cranked penny crushers. I envisioned making the intake slot wider to accept copper / brass / or other soft metal blanks. ( i can get these punched in bulk) and put slugs into the machine so it doesnt cost 50 cents a whack but is free.

anyways - were looking for someone who can get our design on the wheels (12 inches in diameter - 2.5 inches at the face, polished like a mirror, and easy to ship at about 30 pounds each)

just a thought - looking foreward to BM 2007

eric

[kikidelosfeliz]

I'm a jeweler, and made some cool stuff for Christmas that were like old silver coins. I melted my scrap metal into small lumps, then hammered and put through a roller to make relatively round flat lumps. Then you can leave the edges rough (looks kinda cool - like old pieces of eight), or "coin" them with a hammer (the kind with a wedge/chisel like head on one side - don't know what they are called). Then I annealed them again to make them soft and stamped my design in to them. On some, I cut designs out of copper and soldered the copper bits on (could make a man or other logo out of copper or other sheet metal). I drilled a small hole at the top of each and attached them to key chains. They came out nice and solid, like something you'd like to have in your pocket or around your neck in case you might not have any pockets at the moment. Definitely would be valued by any lucky recipients! If I can help with the project, let me know. I've been thinking on my schwag for awhile. When I went in 2004, I made dog tags with a man with wings (Prometheus?). You can find them on the art site under my name kikidelosfeliz. Peace.

[Steamboat Ed]

--FWIW Burning Silicon Collective has set up an artsy-fartsy project committee to try and hash out similar ideas resulting in semi high-end BM bling. You might want to slide on over to our Yahoo group or our Tribe page for more on this..