How about a HOBO Tutorial?

[KCSteve]

SDCoxx and some of you other great coin carvers: How about doing a tutorial thread for all of us newbies you're sucking into the fun?

You know, all the little things like whether you should always use 'vintage' nickels (and which ones are considered best), how to get a good flat field, why you might not want to get a good flat field, different ways of toning, where and how to best sell them - all the good stuff!

That tip about the Armour 'Sand Etch Kit' at Hobby Lobby for use as a budget nickel blaster, for example.

Should you leave the lettering or take it off? Borders?

Just thinking it'd be nice to get as much of the info in one place as possible.

Wonder if there's enough interest in the subject to support GRS having a class on it?

 

[quickcut07]

You should take a look at Steve's tutorial on coin cuttin. He put a lot of effort into it as well as a ton of skill and knowledge. The kind of stuff you ain't gonna find in a book. The man has true talent and clearly shows others how to approach the subject.
It is something you may end up viewing many times. I'm not sure if Sam has it here or if it is only on the other site.

 

[sdcoxx]

Steve,
The Tips achive of the Cafe has a Bill Jameson tutorial on the Carving of a Franklin Half Dollar.
The Lindsay Forum has a Steve Elsworth Hobo Nickel Tutorial.
Steve Adams' website has a Hobo Nickel turorial.
I found where Bill Jameson posted his toning method on the Knife Network under embellishment.
I posted the toning method I use here in the Cafe...
Joe Paonessa posted a toning method in the Cafe...

Steve, Search the internet for "hobo nickel".
There are a lot of information available.
At your next GRS class diner, request to sit at Bob Finley's table.... he is a wealth of information.
Checkout the OHNS at www.hobonickels.org .

Steve, there is no substitute for experience. Start putting every kind of HAT you can think of, on the Indian. Master the ear. Start cutting mustashes, beards and hair. Add a Collar... Develope yourself a sequence of engraving steps.

Steve, This is what works for me. I hope this is helpful...

Have Fun...
Stephen D. Cox

 

[coincutter]

Tutorial
Get nickel
Carve Nickel
dont remove letters dates
do not clamp so hard as to distort rim with vise pins
do not nick rim
recut if shot and make new
recut numbers if gone and weak if you are brave
same with letters
leave no evidence you repaired
carve scrape sand peen or micro stipple field till perfect
blend into design and rim
Set aside 3 days
have three fingers single malt scotch
Look at nickel
If it looks good
show it to your worst critic
if they say it looks good
bank on fact something is wrong
put it under the scope look at it
from all angles
this time without the scotch
if you cant find a goober on it
put your initials on it

If not recarve till good
repeat process till done
then try and sell it

i amaze myself at the dumb ass mistakes i make which go unseen if i dont follow this process

tutorials are great but the trick is just to cut what you like in the way of imagery
each of us has something we do well - some faces, some cartoons etc. Hobo's are agreat way to learn
as they combine most of the elements - contrary to what most say they are not easy to do as you have to move a lot of metal around to get a nice cut

the important part is not to buy cheap scotch
Rod Cameron taught me this, I am an Englishman - we no nothing about good scotch so when a Scott tells you what to do, you do it. Before I used tequila and my carvings were so so. Single malt is the boon of engraving. It stops shaking, kills the pain of sitting long hours at the bench and it is not fattening.
too much does result in falling off the chair at times and having to refocus. So if you have no self control a seat belt would be a good thing to invest in.

the descision as to when to jump to a better nickel
ie when it goes from pure fun to an expensive hobby
that depends upon your skill and confidence and how well your designs are accepted by the collectors.

each collector looks for something differnt, each has a particular motive for collecting
some will tell some won't
granted old indian heads are the best medium, (sweet metal) Au's in particular but be sure that you aren't going to trash a coin just to see if you can pull it off.

Better to stay with lesser coins or 2005's until your carvings start to bring a fair return for your investment of time and tools.

buffalos are harder to get and pricey for nice stock - to ruin one is a sin as they are beautiful works of art in themselves even before carving however when you cut an Au that hasn't been pocket hardened you will think you have died and gone to heaven.

if you cant bust 20 bucks on a 2005 then you probably wont do much better on a high end buffalo unless someone takes pittty on you or another carver buys it knowing he/she can recut over your mess and make a good profit on the coin.

it's just simple math at the cost of coins you need to be capable and disciplined - bright side is, if you can cut pretty coins you can cut anything - its a confidence builder working small.

there are no tricks to this
we employ the same techniques used on guns knives etc just on a smaller scale with home grown tools and big scopes. if you cant see you cant do as well - sometimes you cant do when you can see

but high power helps as does learning how to make the tools you need to do a particular job.

Granted there are a lot of things you can use off the shelf to some extent but most need to be refined to deal with the steep angle of attack. But anything that can be chucked into a graver or hit with a hammer or less is fair game. only thing i take exception to is chemical treatments which dissolve nickels over time

i mentioned this elsewhere in another post, the gravers are much the same as cowboy cutters use.
flats with big radius heels - some of mine are 3/8" wide some 1mm wide. it all depends what you are trying to accomplish and in what area. no one uses the same tool and gets the same result

feel free to check Lindsay's site for the pics i put up of the gravers i use. download them and make a few to see if you like them.


its a matter of do and do until you get the hang of it. try cutting on flat copper plate or thin brass, its cheap and easy to learn on - pennies are good too.

study bas relief and the international societies of world famous carvers to see how they pull things off.
look at coins of all kinds and see how they are designed and the work is done, not just American coins, look at the coins of other countries - see what can be accomplished with little depth and the clever use of shadows. keep in mind they generally start with large masters and shrink them down so they have some lattitude that we do not

you will never read about how they do things, they are like painters, the only way you can see their technique is to look at their brush strokes. learn to walk in their footsteps till you get your own style figured out.

if you look at some ones work close enough you can generally figure out how they go about doing things -all of the techniques and methodologies are on the net in one forum or another, but the information you seek may be on a gun or knife from centuries ago. there is nothing new under the sun, just faster ways of getting things done. so power tools are a major consideration but not a requirement, much is done by hand the hard way.

do not expect any logic in this
it is an art form
just a small canvas - small unforgiving and you dont get to make mistakes after a certain point
when you make the jump you have to stay where you land or jump higher

i can put up some complicated carvings and talk you through some of the "techniques" but lets face it with a graver you cut straight lean right or left and stop or scoop thats it. with rotary you remove metal. past that I can't tell you much.

I use diamond tools for finishing - but nickel clogs them after a while they are junk.
be prepared to reinvest.


if Sam wants to rack over the tutorial i did i have no problem with doing that - it's his file space. Some of the pics need to be lightened up and its pretty basic stuff. I could throw some pics up of more elaborate carvings if you want and talk you through the the techniques or i can upload images of tools and shop stuff which might be more beneficial. We can wait and see what Sam thinks.

still, untill you cut a few hundred it won't matter it only comes with time and practice
BJ SA SA SC and the list goes on - cant name them all - all greats and way better than me
all have sites or on the forums
everything has been told, no one keeps secrets (well maybe our age) but thats about it.
there isnt any competition no two cutters work alike on the same image or concept.
just dive in and have fun

end of basic tutorial

beginning of advanced tutorial

None of us are sucking newbies into the fun
it's not fun - it's work

You know, all the little things like whether you should always use 'vintage' nickels (and which ones are considered best), how to get a good flat field, why you might not want to get a good flat field, different ways of toning, where and how to best sell them - all the good stuff!

you mean the instant master carver pill? i think it's the red one. just like the matrix movie.
nothing comes on a silver spoon these days and to ask like that is the one sure way to meet with a crowd of tight lipped carvers.

That tip about the Armour 'Sand Etch Kit' at Hobby Lobby for use as a budget nickel blaster, for example.

or for another 40 bucks you can get a real one...

Should you leave the lettering or take it off? Borders?

What do you see the pros do?

Just thinking it'd be nice to get as much of the info in one place as possible.

Send 15000000000 to my pay pal account and ill tell you everything

Wonder if there's enough interest in the subject to support GRS having a class on it?

it was attempted some time inthe past but not sufficient interest to warrant a class
i have been asked to do a couple here and there but....
you see there is absolutely no money in coin carving
coin carving is a fun art form
not a living not a big deal

you carve coins for milk money at best
then when you have mastered carving after 10 20 years you go cut a tusk knife or a watch for 20g
or a gun for 8g or a car rim for a couple of hundred
or gold gadget pens or other pricey toys
coins are a gateway
nothing more nothing less
just fun 2 do

thanks for the kind words all
catch ya later
remember dont take any of this seriously or give it the least bit of credibility
and never type as bad as i do or people will think you a twit

 

[Metalman]

Coincutter, you have inspired me with your candid remarks to cut my first coin. Thanks

 

[Sam]

if Sam wants to rack over the tutorial i did i have no problem with doing that - it's his file space. Some of the pics need to be lightened up and its pretty basic stuff. I could throw some pics up of more elaborate carvings if you want and talk you through the the techniques or i can upload images of tools and shop stuff which might be more beneficial. We can wait and see what Sam thinks.

Steve: I invited you post your tutorial awhile back. The invitation still stands. This is what we're all about, so feel free to share your technique, photos, etc. / ~Sam

 

[Steve Adams]

Try techniques and tools as well as tutorial section at coincarving.com and sga-sculpture-engraving.com in the hobo nickel and process pages for help.

 

[threefingerdave]

Coincutter
Thank you !
Dave

 

[KCSteve]

Thanks Coincutter!

Lots of good information in that post - and in the ones I found in the Tips section.

As you said, there's no substitute for doing, but it sure does help having some idea of what you want to do.

 

[coincutter]

dont make it any harder than it is, the hobonickels.org site has all the information you seek and more examples of fine carving than you can shake a stick at..

there is also a what do do nd not do section buried in there some where.

what we are attempting to do is simply recreate the image on the coin, thats why we leave the letters and dates on. granted it makes it tougher to do since you have to work in and arround those elements but then you end up with a coin vs an art coin.

i will try to get something different put together and post it here
but i am slooooooow

 

[Keith]

As Steve said, Just get the nickels and carve them. Dont make a big deal out of it. Carve what you like and just have fun! An Anchor on a nickel, I havent seen that before, cool and different idea!!!!
If you cut into the date or lettering its no big deal as you are learning and it"s just a nickel. Even if you are buying better quality coins to carve on, You will only spend a few bucks for them at any coin store.

If you are in New Jersey area, Stop by and I will give you some to carve on even....
Its like the Nike commercial...Just do it!
Keith