zman7458 Report post Posted April 11, 2008 1st one in 20 years?? Sure don't look like it. That is amazing work. *VERY* well done. thanks Gremlin, nice of you to comment. staining is still giving me the heebie jeebies, but with the info I'm finding on this site I think I'll muddle through. it seems I ran across my old air brush compressor awhile back. I'm not sure how it survived the fire that wiped out all my old leatherworking goodies, but I'm gonna go see if I can find it and get it up and running. if not it would be a worthwhile investment if it saves me time and money redoing ruined projects. what a great site and fantastic group of people we have here! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Myriam Report post Posted April 12, 2008 it's similar to leather. a different set of tools and alot of time spent behind a magnifying glass. I found carving metal to be a little less forgiving than leather. its really not very expensive to get into a scroll saw, some jewlers files and a dremel with a few basic burrs and your set. oh and a lighted magnifying glass on a arm is a must, but I use that alot with my over 40 eyes (chuckle). Guess I'm off to a good start then. Already have the jewelers files and the dremel. Magnifying glass wouldn't be a problem but when it comes to the scroll saw, that's another story! I'm curious though, what do you use the scroll saw for? Oh, while I'm at it, what kind of burrs would I need to work metals? I have a bunch that came with the dremel and I also have a set of diamond bits. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zman7458 Report post Posted April 12, 2008 Guess I'm off to a good start then. Already have the jewelers files and the dremel. Magnifying glass wouldn't be a problem but when it comes to the scroll saw, that's another story! I'm curious though, what do you use the scroll saw for? Oh, while I'm at it, what kind of burrs would I need to work metals? I have a bunch that came with the dremel and I also have a set of diamond bits. the scroll saw (jigsaw) I use is a table type (I think dremel even makes one or did) i had to modify the one I bought to hold a jewlers blade that is just a little thicker than a human hair, but they sell a chuck that will do that also. I use it to cut the metal to the shape I want. I use carbon paper to transfer the patern to the metal then tool it and lastly cut it out. dremel sells some very fine burrs, the diamond ones are good too. it really depends on the size of the peice and the gauge (thickness) of the metal. I like to work with aluminum because its fairly soft and polishes up really nice. I also work alot with a xacto knife for nice clean sharp lines. I think I have a few pics of some medallions I made here somewhere...here ya go. this was one of my favorites, I'm not anywhere near as good as the pro's but I enjoy the detail work anyhow. this one wasn't polished up yet in this pic so it looks rougher than what it should but you get the idea. you can't really get an idea of dimentions from the pic. this one was roughly 3" by 2.5" I believe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Myriam Report post Posted April 12, 2008 the scroll saw (jigsaw) I use is a table type (I think dremel even makes one or did) i had to modify the one I bought to hold a jewlers blade that is just a little thicker than a human hair, but they sell a chuck that will do that also. I use it to cut the metal to the shape I want. I use carbon paper to transfer the patern to the metal then tool it and lastly cut it out. dremel sells some very fine burrs, the diamond ones are good too. it really depends on the size of the peice and the gauge (thickness) of the metal. I like to work with aluminum because its fairly soft and polishes up really nice. I also work alot with a xacto knife for nice clean sharp lines. I think I have a few pics of some medallions I made here somewhere...here ya go. this was one of my favorites, I'm not anywhere near as good as the pro's but I enjoy the detail work anyhow. this one wasn't polished up yet in this pic so it looks rougher than what it should but you get the idea. you can't really get an idea of dimentions from the pic. this one was roughly 3" by 2.5" I believe Nice piece there. Thanks for the info, zman. I'll be sure to keep it in my mind. Guess I should go looking for already cut pieces to try my hand and see if I'll be any good. Putting that on my list of things to do during my summer vacation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zman7458 Report post Posted April 12, 2008 (edited) Nice piece there. Thanks for the info, zman. I'll be sure to keep it in my mind. Guess I should go looking for already cut pieces to try my hand and see if I'll be any good. Putting that on my list of things to do during my summer vacation. brass is another nice soft metal that polishes up real nice also. you might be able to find some plain conchos to practice on and if you like what comes out you could use them on your leather and blend the two crafts. never know til you try. Edited April 12, 2008 by zman7458 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beaverslayer Report post Posted April 12, 2008 That's cool zman, how long did it take to make that? Ken Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zman7458 Report post Posted April 12, 2008 That's cool zman, how long did it take to make that?Ken Thanks Ken. theres a little story involved with that item and since I know we have some Harley guys on the forum I'll try to explain. right after I bought my bike I went online to see what I could find about the bike. I ran across a site called vrod forums which was just a bunch of folx who had vrods and shared information and stories about them, so I joined. the forum had a store where they sold (for a fair price I might add) about ten different items that had to do with the vrod which the members had come up with. now the reason they did this was because Harley didn't (and still doesn't) make hardley any items like shirts or jackets that had the vrod name or logo on it. so one day the owner of the site posted a message stating that he had received a letter from Harleys lawyers stating that they had to take the items with the vrod name on it out of the store, not only that but he had to change the name of the forum to something that didn't have vrod in it. well to say the least we were pissed and some people even went so far as to take anything that had the Harley name off their bikes (or at least threatened to). so thats when I decided I would make my own emblem without the Harley name on it for my bike. also when Harley was in the process of trying to make their drag bike motor into a street worthy dependable engine they contracted Porsches engineers to redesign the engine to their specs (not the first time Harley had used Porche to help them with an engine design by the way). so knowing that I decided I would marry the vrod emblem with the porche emblem ( I had seen something similar before, but couldn't find it) and this is what I came up with. so now if you see a vrod going down the road and notice a porsche emblem on it, you know the inside story. but to answer your question, if you don't count the time fiddling with it on the computer, I would guess about 10 hours to make the finished product. theres a few of them that I made out there on the street, but to be fair to Harley I didn't sell them, I gave them to forum members who had seen them and wanted one. it just seemed kind of poetic to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCOUTER Report post Posted April 12, 2008 Z-man- Beautiful job! Congratulations on coming full circle! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zman7458 Report post Posted April 12, 2008 Z-man- Beautiful job! Congratulations on coming full circle! Thanks Scouter, I got alot of the basics from scout camp and school shop class. it's a shame that most schools don't even have a shop program anymore. I feel like our kids are being deprived of an important part of a well rounded education with out it, oh well at least they can still learn how to play football eh? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
