Inlay idea

[Col. Batguano]

Have any of you ever cut out the facial profile on an old coin (George Washington or Ben Franklin) and used that as an inlay? Maybe the Liberty Bel from the reverse side? Though obviously not of the period, the individuals (or the bell) certainly would be. I recall several rifles in RCA having cut outs with Geo Washington's profile in the finial. Maybe a real vintage period coin, like a flowing hair Liberty bust? That might get kind of spendy though. Some of those coins in any kind of condition can go for well over $1000.

 

[Trot]

You could always get one of the modern Chinese replicas of an older coin to cut and make an inlay. They are flooding the market with these replicas and could be bought for a few dollars.

 

[BrownBear]

Tandy has a bunch of coin conchos, as do others. I've used them in leather projects, but they are mostly from around 1900.

 

[54ball]

No need to use an old coin. Silver is available by the sheet. I just have a hard time destroying one when a sheet serves the purpose so much better.
For the face....again a sheet would be better rather than trying to file or cut it out of a coin.

An intact or partially intact coin inlet into a stock to me is a little.....Red Ryderish. Sorry.

I have never seen a intact coin inlet into a rifle. I'm sure there could be one but I've never seen it. I did see a 1942 penny on the cylinder of a Pratt and Whitney Radial engine. It was in a T6 Texan.

Coins beat into sheet.....quite common but unnecessary now.

 

[rich pierce]

Cool idea to keep the image on the coin. Even better if you could have an appropriate date on there.

 

[Col. Batguano]

An intact or partially intact coin inlet into a stock to me is a little.....Red Ryderish. Sorry.

Agreed putting the whole coin in there would look pretty cheezy. I was talking about only the image, in this case Ben Franklin or the Liberty Bell to preserve the relief elements of it, though Ben would be facing rearward on a right handed stock. The Bell on the half dollar would be a little small for a cheek piece, so maybe that, and an inlaid silver banner that had the word "Liberty" above or below it might be sort of cool.

 

[Captjoel]

When it comes to these old rifle's I have learned to never use the word "never".

Seems that the old gunsmith's already thought about ideas that we sometimes come up with, thinking we are on to some new revelation!

The silver coin inlet into this West Virginia rifle has worn away most of it's details except for the date 1825. Too early for this rifle, but it could have been a special date for the maker.

Of coarse, there are no guarantee's that the coin was put there when the gun was made.

This very well may have been the first "Red Ryder"
to hit the market!

 

[Vaino]

Viewed a program on TV in which a guy used a very fine toothed jewelers saw to cut the image out of coins....the edges were so smooth that he didn't touch them up. He displayed the artful and highly skilled use of a jewelers saw. Requires an inordinate amount of patience because w/ the very fine toothed saw blades, the progress is extremely slow......Fred

 

[BrownBear]

Requires an inordinate amount of patience because w/ the very fine toothed saw blades, the progress is extremely slow......Fred

I got inspired to try it with a Mexican peso a few years back. Whooo boy, did I learn a lot. Number one, I ain't got the patience. Number two, refer back to number one.

 

[Billnpatti]

Some time back, I decided that I needed to learn how to make my own inlays from pieces of metal such as coins, sheet brass or sheet German silver. I purchased a good jeweler's saw and a large pack of various blades for it. I properly secured my metal as illustrated in the book. Then with a hood type magnifying lens, I started trying to cut out various shapes. No matter how I tried and how slowly I went, I simply couldn't follow a line. I adjusted the tension on the blade, changed blades and everything else that I could think of and yet the ability to follow any line continued to elude me. Over time, I went through nearly a whole large pack of blades and several sheets of various metals and yet the ability to follow a simple line continued to elude me. I have a tremendous amount of patience and have managed to learn to do many things but this one thing has, to this day, had me whipped. The saw lies in my gun tool cabinet along with a few blades but is in no danger of ever seeing action again. I am forced to face the fact that it has whipped me. :cursing:

 

[John May]

I had my jewellers saw out today to cut out a matchlock lock-plate from 4 mm brass sheet. Out of interest I timed how long it took to saw 1 linear inch of the brass (how sad is that?)
It took almost exactly 9 minutes using my saw frame and a 32 tpi blade.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Went to a jewelery show one time, saw a woman with a jig saw cutting out coins, very fast. She explained she was using a blade that cut in all directions, she just had to move the coin, and it would cut.

 

[BrownBear]

If I was to try it today, I'd have to elbow my wife out of the way. She has a small band saw with a diamond blade intended for cutting rocks and shells. She uses it for cutting in her stained glass work. Effortless. It would go through coins or sheet brass like butter.

 

[Zonie]

I'm a-feared your wife would pound knots on you head if you cut soft metal with her diamond band saw blade.

Cutting soft metals will plug up the blade by coating the hard diamonds with soft metal making it fairly useless for cutting rocks, shells and glass in the future.

Be sure to turn your head so the knots are on the side opposite the knots you got the last time you messed with HER stuff. :rotf:

 

[BrownBear]

Hadn't even thought of that.... I just know better than to mess with anything in her shop. Period!