Ever heard of sovereign coasters?

[BullionBuyerUK]

1 minute ago, James32 said:

If you have a blow torch, try burning the light coloured wood first then engraving. 

I had thought of that, trouble is, there will always be a bit of sanding to do afterwards the engraving, and that will remove the burning

[James32]

2 minutes ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

I had thought of that, trouble is, there will always be a bit of sanding to do afterwards the engraving, and that will remove the burning

Fair point, could lacquer after torching first I suppose..but you're absolutely spot on, if any cleanup is needed it may destroy the previous steps. 

[slack]

2 hours ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

Just a bit of fun really, been playing around with my laser engraver, never tried coasters before, so didn't have a clue on design, so I thought I'd have a go at some special year sovereigns for a start.

Wanted to make them look they had been pressed into the coaster surface, rather then a perfect picture. Little bit of a clean up with the sander, and some sort of finish on top and I think they will look alright 😁

Yes I would have at least one set if not more if they became available to purchase 

[SemolinaPilchard]

Nice job

but.....

coasters schmoasters

 

[BullionBuyerUK]

6 minutes ago, slack said:

Yes I would have at least one set if not more if they became available to purchase 

Looks like I'll have to pull my finger out then and get this sorted. 5hrs ago I did this as a bit of fun, now it looks like I've set my self up for something.

The world is my oyster! How about a sovereign pizza peel? Or a Britannia wooden topped bottle stopper! 🤔😁

Will have to start a list. 

If @ChrisSilver was to be involved, I could do TSF metal cup/bottle flasks if that would interest people?

[BullionBuyerUK]

1 minute ago, SemolinaPilchard said:

Nice job

but.....

coasters schmoasters

 

That's a fibre laser and would cost about £7000 for one like that. A hell of a lot of coaster would have to be made to get that back! 

I hope Lawrence ok'ed the use of that picture 😂

[Bigmarc]

Make sure you don't have to get a licence from his majesty. 

Years ago I looked at doing plaques for service men/women with tour's and medals on it. Turns out all the artwork is owned by the queen and I think at the time it was £500 a year for the licence and 8% of all profits. 

Didn't end up doing it as I had a few nasty letters from Disney from a previous project. 

 

[BullionBuyerUK]

4 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Make sure you don't have to get a licence from his majesty. 

Years ago I looked at doing plaques for service men/women with tour's and medals on it. Turns out all the artwork is owned by the queen and I think at the time it was £500 a year for the licence and 8% of all profits. 

Didn't end up doing it as I had a few nasty letters from Disney from a previous project. 

 

I would argue the point that I'm using photographs of coins not supplied by the royal mint (as theirs aren't of a good enough lighting standard) as I mentioned originally, it was all done for a bit of fun for my self

[SemolinaPilchard]

1 hour ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

That's a fibre laser and would cost about £7000 for one like that. A hell of a lot of coaster would have to be made to get that back! 

I hope Lawrence ok'ed the use of that picture 😂

No it's a CO2.  X700 clone from China.  Worked remarkably well - had to have the wiring checked before use of course but all was good.

No room following a move so no longer have it.  I do miss it!

Yes...this 320mm 2017 wooden Britannia has been in Chards window display for a few years now

[Bigmarc]

1 minute ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

I would argue the point that I'm using photographs of coins not supplied by the royal mint (as theirs aren't of a good enough lighting standard) as I mentioned originally, it was all done for a bit of fun for my self

I know, just thought I would give you the heads up. 

If you wanna clean the images up a bit before lasering then there are a couple of open source software apps you can use. 

Inkscape for turning your photo into a vector 

https://inkscape.org/

Gimp (why name it this I don't know) for cleaning up a photo

https://www.gimp.org/

 

[Darr3nG]

10 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Gimp (why name it this I don't know)

GNU Image Manipulation Program  

[BullionBuyerUK]

24 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

I know, just thought I would give you the heads up. 

If you wanna clean the images up a bit before lasering then there are a couple of open source software apps you can use. 

Inkscape for turning your photo into a vector 

https://inkscape.org/

Gimp (why name it this I don't know) for cleaning up a photo

https://www.gimp.org/

 

Thanks for that, I do use inkscape, but I managed to clean the fields up in these coins in the xtool creative software. Not heard of the other one, I'll take a look at it

[bobski]

4 hours ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

I'm yet to try my laser out on metal. You can create different colours when engraving on metal by adjusting the speed and temperature. My other hobby is wood working, so can't see me doing this anytime soon, but never say never

I used to program CNC lasers as part of my job back in the day. If you've ever had anaesthetic, You've probably had some of my work down your throat lol

[monkey]

Lovely bit of work! have you considered laser etching leather?

They come out very nicely with crisp detailing.

[BullionBuyerUK]

40 minutes ago, monkey said:

Lovely bit of work! have you considered laser etching leather?

They come out very nicely with crisp detailing.

Thanks! I haven't no, my other hobby is woodworking, so I always have plenty of wood on hand.

[BullionBuyerUK]

Right then, I think I've cracked it. Have tried a few different styles, but this is the best.

Original first followed by the latest version 

[James32]

4 minutes ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

Right then, I think I've cracked it. Have tried a few different styles, but this is the best.

Original first followed by the latest version 

Certainly an improvement👌 

[Kussilver]

These look great. I think I prefer the wood as they actually look like a coin with the colour and shape. 
Nice little hobby business you could build there, I’m sure you would have a few buyers on here to start you off.
Good luck

[BullionBuyerUK]

Gothic crown anyone? This is on wood.

[BullionBuyerUK]

What started off as a bit of fun, seems to have got quite a bit interest in me producing some of these. This is the 12 coaster designs I've settled on. I'm using different coasters to the original post as these aren't quite as white looking.

Each coaster is finished with a coat of tinted furniture wax. If there is enough interest in these then I will put up a sales post.

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by BullionBuyerUK

[Aldebaran]

5 hours ago, BullionBuyerUK said:

What started off as a bit of fun, seems to have got quite a bit interest in me producing some of these. This is the 12 coaster designs I've settled on. I'm using different coasters to the original post as these aren't quite as white looking.

Each coaster is finished with a coat of tinted furniture wax. If there is enough interest in these then I will put up a sales post.

 

I think these are really great🌞

[BullionBuyerUK]

26 minutes ago, Aldebaran said:

I think these are really great🌞

Thanks, was a daft idea at first I thought, but seems to have gone down well on the forum