TRU-DOLLAR™ Gold Presidential coin(Liberty reverse)

[seamus7227]

I know many of you dont think I share enough about these coins, so being that this is the coin I entered in the"Best Pen" contest, I thought I might share how tedious they are to cut out. I will include start to finish, the cutting of this coin.

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[Woodlvr]

Thanks for showing your pic's. I remember when I started scroll sawing about 10 years ago people were cutting metal but I never caught on to it. I shake to much now to even think about cutting metal. Keep up the great work.

 

[D.Oliver]

Awesome, and the pen that was resulted was even better!

 

[seamus7227]

Thanks for showing your pic's. I remember when I started scroll sawing about 10 years ago people were cutting metal but I never caught on to it. I shake to much now to even think about cutting metal. Keep up the great work.

Earlier today when i was cutting on that Maine quarter, for some reason i just wasn't in the groove. Not quite sure what it was. But when i started working on this one a few hours ago, i started feeling it again:biggrin:

Awesome, and the pen that was resulted was even better!

I gotta give Frank Burger(burgerman) some cred for suggestion the idea of even cutting this coin out when we were at S.W.A.T. in Waco, Tx last month. I just never really put much thought into this particular coin, weird how it ended up being the coin to inspire me to make the "Best Pen" from. Thanks "Burgerman"! This one's for you!!!!:biggrin::biggrin:

 

[ctubbs]

OMG! Awesome! I knew it would be lots of work, but that is unbelievable. Thanks for showing.
Charles

 

[D.Oliver]

So if my count is right, we have seen a tru-penny, a tru-quarter, and a tru-dollar. So all you got left to do is the tru-nickle and tru-dime. Then you can get started on the tru-peso, tru-toonie, tru-loonie, and tru-rupee (a rupee is a coin right?)

 

[seamus7227]

So if my count is right, we have seen a tru-penny, a tru-quarter, and a tru-dollar. So all you got left to do is the tru-nickle and tru-dime. Then you can get started on the tru-peso, tru-toonie, tru-loonie, and tru-rupee (a rupee is a coin right?)

LMAO!~ I swear Derek Yeah i guess you have a point, maybe it does sound a little ridiculous.:biggrin: but HEY, i like it, so whatev.:biggrin:

 

[D.Oliver]

I like'em too. There might be one or two other people out there who also like'em too. Keep of the good work.

 

[thewishman]

Awesome! Will a dollar blank cost 4 times as much as a quarter blank?:wink:

 

[seamus7227]

thats funny, nah, I dont think so. lol.

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[Rounder]

I am curious as to how thin you make the coins before cutting.And how do you make them thin? I understand if you don't want to give out your trade secrets but it is interesting to me the process you go through. Beautiful work as usual.

 

[seamus7227]

(1)I am curious as to how thin you make the coins before cutting. (2)And how do you make them thin? I understand if you don't want to give out your trade secrets but it is interesting to me the process you go through. Beautiful work as usual.

First of all, thank you for the compliments! I realize these aren't for everyone, but me being a coin collector, I think they are really fun and nauseating at the same time(its a collector thing i guess).

To answer your first question (1) I typically shave them around a third the thickness of coin(scary thin!) So if you ever read me saying that they are like cutting aluminum foil at times, that is why. Now, i say this figuratively speaking, they aren't literally that thin, but that should give you an idea that they are thin enough. They have to be in order to still have room to cast them in resin and not have a huge bulge over the coin on the finished blanks.

Question (2) I created a jig that grabs the quarter so it can be thinned down.

Then the process of cutting starts on the scroll saw.

 

[lukcon]

That is amazing work. About how long does it take on average to cut a coin like that?

lukcon

 

[scotian12]

Thank you very much Seamus for showing us the process in making your tru coins. I don't think you will have to worry about too many people duplicating your efforts. its very tedious ,time consuming and exacting work that you do to complete these coins. We would all be better off to send you the coin for processing and concentrating our efforts on marketing the end product. That being said are you able to do scroll work on Canadian coins or are Canadian coins made of different materials that are harder to cut? We look forward to seeing more of your creations. Regards Darrell Eisner

 

[seamus7227]

That is amazing work. About how long does it take on average to cut a coin like that?

this particular coin and most others take anywhere from one hour to two hours. I just checked the camera times and this took around an hour and a half. I also went thru two blades on this coin versus 2-3 quarters per blade.

lukcon

Thank you very much Seamus for showing us the process in making your tru coins. I don't think you will have to worry about too many people duplicating your efforts. its very tedious ,time consuming and exacting work that you do to complete these coins. We would all be better off to send you the coin for processing and concentrating our efforts on marketing the end product. That being said are you able to do scroll work on Canadian coins or are Canadian coins made of different materials that are harder to cut? We look forward to seeing more of your creations. Regards Darrell Eisner

I actually cut a Canadian Veterans Quarter, well here, i'll just attack the picture!


This coin was a little more difficult than american coins due to the composition, but i still managed to make it work. This particular coin is made of Steel. But overall, i really liked the end result of the blank. "gandsande" completed the pen, here is the link:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=79454&highlight=canadian+coin+pen&page=2

the pen is on page 2

 

[ghostrider]

Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

I didn't realize you did them with a scroll saw, and think that's pretty incredible. A testament to the lengths people will go for a hobby/passion.

 

[seamus7227]

Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

I didn't realize you did them with a scroll saw, and think that's pretty incredible. A testament to the lengths people will go for a hobby/passion.

I hope this sheds a little light on the difficulty of these blanks, thanks for the great replies!

 

[Monolith]

Have you experimented with other tools? Maybe a dremel with a milling bit would make some of the super tiny details easier to do?

 

[seamus7227]

Have you experimented with other tools? Maybe a dremel with a milling bit would make some of the super tiny details easier to do?

I use a dremel but only to do my final buffing with a wire wheel. Of all of the variety of bits you can get for one of those, nothing is as small as my scrollsaw blades. Its hard to explain the difference in control. The dremel creates the swirling motion versus the up/down from the scroll saw. If i make a mistake with the dremel, it will usually jump and cut or scratch the top surface, with the scroll saw, its a forward cut coming at me(if that makes sense)

 

[bitshird]

Wow a Scroll saw huh, Back in the day, we used to use a Jewelers saw and bench pin and do dimes, quarters and buffalo nickles by hand, even did some with male attributes to the nickles, I don't think my wrist would hold up doing coin cutouts by hand any more, GO onward young man, Technology away!!!
Your coins look good Seamus even with a scroll saw it's a lot of work!!