State Quarter pen blanks

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seamus7227

seamus7227

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Joined
Mar 18, 2009
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Many of you may know that I like to indulge in the cutting of state quarters and casting them in resin to make what I call "State quarter pen blanks". So here are a couple that I have created for a couple of buddies that have made some fantastic trades with me! The blanks have been squared so that may impose on quality of the pic, but it gives you a general idea of the work involved.Also, the background images are each states flag. I know a few of you in this group that are scrollers and can truly appreciate the work that goes into each quarter. Hope you enjoy looking! Any comments, critiques, criticisms welcome! And in case you are unsure, these are REAL Quarters!

Note: Just to clear up any issues or misconceptions about defacing coins, feel free to google "defacing coins" and completely read up on the definition before making any comments regarding that.:mad-tongue: It seems to be the most frequently asked question since I started these.
 

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G1Pens said:
Really really cool. What pens are the blanks for?....just curious.
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I made these for the Sierra pen kits, but I have also done them for Navigators, Jr. Gents, Cigar or Big Ben, My "Upshaw Hybrid" pen kit design( this can be seen on my website in the pen gallery either labeled "Upshaw Hybrid" or congressional pens, or like this pic.......

workinforwood said:
Nicely done Seamus. I've cut a few coins..it's a lot of work! You have a great idea there, applying them with pens.
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Thanks Jeff! It truly is a challenge on each and every quarter. The Illinois quarter took three tries before I got it right. There were some super thin areas in there like Lincoln's head, that would snap off just from the up and down motion of the blade. Remember, these quarters are 1/3 the thickness of a normal quarter, so its almost like trying to cut aluminum foil.:eek:
 
I cut a few pennies to do basically this same thing a few yrs ago. They get real hot, burned me a few times and things got bloody with some little sharp burrs and the struggle to hold down the penny. I surrenderred eventually. I wasn't interested enough to take a few minutes and make a coin holding jig which I suspect must be what the expert coin scrollers use. I really like your cut coin pens..great niche in the pen market..good idea keep running with it
 
I too have cut quaters before and yes a coin cutting jig to me is the way to go. You can eliminate the heat problem. What blade are you using to do this with??? I used jewlers blades for cutting all my metals. Talk about being fragile. Those blades are so thin and fragile but do a great job. Great idea and wish you well with your sales. Thanks for showing. I bet you can get many sales of the blanks if you want to pursue that line.
 
That is a great idea and some very nice blanks. It piqued my interest somewhat so I searched coin cutting on the internet and came up with a you-tube video about it. It shows a simple jig to make to hold the coin. I'm wondering is it would be best to cut the coin before thinning it. I have no idea, because I have never done this type of work. I don't know how they are thinned, I'm assuming with a sander. I can picture a jig for that also. Very interesting, and yet another thing on the list of things I want to play with someday. The list keeps growing.
 
PaulDoug said:
That is a great idea and some very nice blanks. It piqued my interest somewhat so I searched coin cutting on the internet and came up with a you-tube video about it. It shows a simple jig to make to hold the coin. I'm wondering is it would be best to cut the coin before thinning it. I have no idea, because I have never done this type of work. I don't know how they are thinned, I'm assuming with a sander. I can picture a jig for that also. Very interesting, and yet another thing on the list of things I want to play with someday. The list keeps growing.
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I can answer that one or at least from my experiece from scrolling. No it is better to thin before doing the cutting because the pieces get fragile and the thinning process is aggressive. Seamus may have a better answer for you.
 
I can attest to the absolute TOP quality of Seamus' blanks. They are FANTASTIC.
 
WOW to all of you! Listen, I was just piddling around in the garage and thought I would try this idea and it worked! thanks for all of your kind compliments.:bashful: I typically cut these using the smallest scroll saw blades with the most teeth or a spiral blade. both are my preference. did i mention that the Illinois qtr blank took three tries. the problem is, the process i use to shave them down is nowhere near what everyone thinks and takes me around 15-20 minutes to perform. Then, the cutting process is about another hour if I stay focused and dont let my A.D.D. get the best of me:biggrin:, but there are so many variables and things have to be precise to achieve quality results. (Rambling on...) there is alot of planning that goes on to make each one. then there is the casting process, which has its own difficulties. Had it not been for PtownSubbie's "New and Improved" molds, I may not have been able to have made some of my casting progress with these as of recently. I know lots of you have questions and I really appreciate your curious minds! I still have other things up my sleeves, feel free to check out my pen gallery on my website to see some pics that I haven't posted on here.

Probably my most popular blank is the Texas qtr pen blank!
these can be done a variety of different ways
below is the south carolina qtr after being cut.
 
so now you finally have found a use for one of those chincy 1/3 hp 4" wide drum sanders. Be worth the couple hundred investment if you are going to make these as blanks to sell. You'd have to make a little jig to set the coins into as they pass through the sander. Glue might work but then you have to pry them out. I'm thinking if the quarters are magnetic, then you use a forstner bit to make shallow quarter size holes in a board of wood, then another forsnter bit to drill for a small magnet in the hole, glue in the magnet, then insert the quarters and make really light passes, you can gang sand multiple quarters and they all be perfectly even too. Something to think about for sure.
 
workinforwood said:
so now you finally have found a use for one of those chincy 1/3 hp 4" wide drum sanders. Be worth the couple hundred investment if you are going to make these as blanks to sell. You'd have to make a little jig to set the coins into as they pass through the sander. Glue might work but then you have to pry them out. I'm thinking if the quarters are magnetic, then you use a forstner bit to make shallow quarter size holes in a board of wood, then another forsnter bit to drill for a small magnet in the hole, glue in the magnet, then insert the quarters and make really light passes, you can gang sand multiple quarters and they all be perfectly even too. Something to think about for sure.
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Hmmm, now thats an idea I have not though of! And it would sure save time, the only problem is the quarters aren't magnetic. Just got through trying that. In theory, it would work but how many passes would it take to shave them down to the thickness that you need and how much are those drum sanders capable of taking off at one time(one pass?)
 
I think they are pretty damned cool too!!
I also think you could simply make them as necklace jewellery. If the back is polished and possibly engraved, then they might even fetch more than pens.:confused:
I don't know how big a US Quarter is, but maybe they could even be earrings?
Beautifully done Seamus:biggrin:
 
skiprat said:
I think they are pretty damned cool too!!
I also think you could simply make them as necklace jewellery. If the back is polished and possibly engraved, then they might even fetch more than pens.:confused:
I don't know how big a US Quarter is, but maybe they could even be earrings?
Beautifully done Seamus:biggrin:
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thanks Steve! I was thinking about offering up blanks for sale but unsure how many people would be interested. I suppose a PM would solve that issue.:biggrin:
 
Nice Seamus. I already told you they look awesome. If you search the net you will find a bunch of articles on cutting coins for jewlery. In the mid to late 70s we used to cut up the liberty dimes for pendants, these were silver so a little easier but we also used a coping saw, at that time scroll saws were way to costly. You have done a wonderful job and I hope to try cutting coins again but not for awhile. Continue the good work. Awesome idea and presentation.
 
My drum sander can technically eat a quarter in one pass. But you can decide how much material you remove at a time. The less material you remove in a pass the better when it comes to a coin I'm sure. Go look on ebay at drum sanders and you'll find some tiny junk cheapo units for a couple hundred bucks or less. I would never recommend one of those, until I saw this..now this is perfect for that. I'm sure you can find a way to hold the quarters into holes so they don't come out. Double sided tape..hot melt glue. If you take light passes, you can minimize the heat which would break the bond to your jig. Time is not an issue because you can be sanding 50 quarters at a time, so if the whole process takes 20 minutes...well can you do 50 quarters perfectly and evenly sanded in 20 minutes right now? It's obvious to me you have a market here...but how big and how long can you run with it, and if you run with it, then what will that do to your private pen inventory values? Those are the only concerns. You can't know if you don't try.
 
Jeff, of you suggestions above, and I'm just thunk'n here, seem like a spot of hot glue would work pretty well if you can keep the heat down when they go through the sander. To remove the thin coin you could use heat to soften the glue to remove it. Coarse them there has to be a way to remove the glue residue from the thin coin. Maybe a spot of CA to hold them, the a little soaking in acetone to remove them. I was also thinking that when cutting the coins, maybe there would be an advantage to cut the bulk with the scroll saw, but when it gets to the delicate areas a coping saw might allow more control. Just to clean up with. What is used to attach the coin to the tube before casting? I've read that CA can be problem when casting.

I'm just thinking out loud here, haven't got a clue what I'm talking about. And, I respect you may not want to give out methods on something that you may want to produce and sell.
 
I would like to make one of these if you dont mind Seamus......I could look at a way to thin them as well, being a machinist and all. :)
 
You can actullay cut the quater in half if you so choose to do that very easily if you have a scrollsaw. Use a jewlers blade and sandwich the quarter between two pieces of mdf and away you go. When done sand the back side of both smooth. Now that is pretty thin.:biggrin:
 
jttheclockman said:
You can actullay cut the quater in half if you so choose to do that very easily if you have a scrollsaw. Use a jewlers blade and sandwich the quarter between two pieces of mdf and away you go. When done sand the back side of both smooth. Now that is pretty thin.:biggrin:
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John, I challenge you to do that! And show me pictures, hope you have a steady hand. :redface:That would seem damn near impossible by hand.
 
seamus7227 said:
jttheclockman said:
You can actullay cut the quater in half if you so choose to do that very easily if you have a scrollsaw. Use a jewlers blade and sandwich the quarter between two pieces of mdf and away you go. When done sand the back side of both smooth. Now that is pretty thin.:biggrin:
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John, I challenge you to do that! And show me pictures, hope you have a steady hand. :redface:That would seem damn near impossible by hand.
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I will give it a try this weekend hopefully. . I will have to see if I can find my quarter fostner bit.
 
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I'm not taking on that challenge. It might be possible, but seems unlikely you could do so with a scroll saw and keep the blade from wandering out too much, and that's a heck of a lot of meat to cut, might take a few blades and a few days. How you going to hold on to it I sure can't guess..because squeezing it to hold it will not work for long. Try even a metal blade on slow speed cutting 1/2" thick aluminum and it takes forever to cut it. If it doesn't get cut perfectly even, by the time you sand it flat there be nothing left of the quarter halves. Not worth the time.
 
workinforwood said:
I'm not taking on that challenge. It might be possible, but seems unlikely you could do so with a scroll saw and keep the blade from wandering out too much, and that's a heck of a lot of meat to cut, might take a few blades and a few days. How you going to hold on to it I sure can't guess..because squeezing it to hold it will not work for long. Try even a metal blade on slow speed cutting 1/2" thick aluminum and it takes forever to cut it. If it doesn't get cut perfectly even, by the time you sand it flat there be nothing left of the quarter halves. Not worth the time.
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You are probably right Jeff. It was probably a stupid idea on my part and I am sure Seamus has perfected his way and from photos is very good at it and it works for him. I will give it a try. I think the key challenge will be how to hold it. I am not sure epoxy glue will be strong enough. I will try with epoxy and maybe CA. Not sure if I can clean the glue residue easily afterwards too. Will let you know of my findings. Hopefully I will have some time to try this weekend. :)
 
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If you used epoxy to hold it while you grind it down, you should be able to burn the epoxy off without hurting the remains of the quarter.

Then it is just a matter of cleaning off the soot.
 
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