Coin Carving Software

[chris]

hi
the computer defanatly has no heart or sole but the man behind it certanly has and is defenatly skilled in his FIELD as you all are in yours as stated its not the tools its the way its used i think marcus has said that quit a bit i think you did im sure i will hear if im wrong most on here are using power assisted tiny jack hammers not really traditional but the sure cut some[ sweet music ] parts of your jackhammers probably made by cnc
and so i think the cnc has helped engraveing come forward instead of dieing
so it is in a bit of every thing you cut unless you push may be the blank steels are done by cnc the hardenig to sereously i think character is what everyone leave in there work no matter how it was done
chris

[thekoabenchgoldsmith]

The effect of computers in all manner printing/engraving/carving is pervasive.

While I was living in Honolulu a highrise was built shortly after a well known metal fabricator installed a computer controlled water jet metal cutting machine. The building architect had that shop cut the name of the building from 1/2" thick steel plate in letters that were about 12" tall. I had been using my Mac computer with Adobe Illustrator for a couple years at that time, so i was rather familiar with the font Zapf Chancery. I recognized the font style used for the building name immediately. There was something that bothered me about the cutting that I did not recognize for sometime however. Yes, the letters were all absolutely perfect, and that made the signage uninteresting to my eye and lessened the overall visual appeal of the building, which at that time was quite stunning and forward thinking for Honolulu. But, what really made the letters look second-rate was that the serif ended in a large flat, rather than thinning to a point. It took me a while to realize that was the effect of taking a letter that looked great at say 12-18 pt size (1/6 - 1/4 inch tall) with only a couple pixel widths for the point of the serif, and enlarging the letter 50-70 times. What would have been a lovely shaped point had a human touch been applied became a run-of-the machine process. And if we look around now at all the vinyl signage on stores and shops we can see the same "dumbing down" of lettering. It looks good at a first, and casual, glance. But compare it to a hand cut letter, or a hand painted sign and the difference is so apparent. In 20 years it won't matter. No one will remember what real serifs on letters looked like. And at the rate that my visual acuity is abandoning me by that time the fat ugly serifs will likely appear thin and graceful.

Another tell tale of machine cutting is that inside corners are never pointed but always have a small radius. I think that is what Steve was referring to when he said that even machine cut dies look better when retouched by a hand cutter.

Aloha all,
reb

[thekoabenchgoldsmith]

Aloha Mr. Carr,
I think your software is simply cool. I don't think I will be using it to run any cnc equipment but the images it produces are very stunning. Just wish it were available for a Mac. I have Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro so i could run your software, but I find it too time consuming to shutdown and restart my computer to get to the Windows side.

Welcome to the cafe, by the way.

Aloha,
Robert Booth
The Koa Bench Goldsmith

[dcarr]

Greetings everyone,

I haven't visited here in quite a while but just dropped in by accident. Interesting posts.

I would like to reiterate that the "soft" look of my Washington coin was intentional. I travel in the same circles as many coin collectors. Many of them lament the cartoonish over-exaggerated (but low-relief) imagery on US coins. Most of them, for example, when comparing the current portrait of Washington on a state quarter to the original issue of 1932, say that the "spaghetti hair" on the modern version is distracting and amateurish. I agree. So I didn't want to have that same sort of look.

By the way, the US Mint Washington dollar that I compared mine to is NOT a "Hand" engraving !
It is a hand-made sculpture. But the dies are created using a reduction lathe. Here is a picture of my Washington dollar with a proof finish:


PS: Here is a new example of a 38mm piece I did. It was sculpted by my hand (using a mouse). I engraved the dies via CNC and did not have to touch up a single thing on them:

[dcarr]

16.5mm gold:


39mm silver:


39mm silver:


39mm copper:


22mm nickel:

[KCSteve]

You could sell a ton of those last two coins - they'd be very well received collectibles.

[Weldon47]

Mr Carr,

I really enjoyed seeing your work and also enjoyed this thread. Very creative work you are sharing....thanks for letting us take a look.
The differences mentioned are simply: differences in the application of the creative mind

WL

[gtsport]

Dan! I've been meaning to contact you. I will be inthe springs for the summer seminar later this month. How would I get to your place form there?

Joe Paonessa

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by KCSteve

You could sell a ton of those last two coins - they'd be very well received collectibles.

Thanks, I have been selling all of those shown. The Jefferson coin was struck over normal US Mint Jefferson Nickels. Due the the extreme forces (tons per square inch) required to obliterate the underlying design when struck, the obverse die cracked on the very first one and then I had to scrap it after about 240 strikes. I did sell all of those 240 already (except for a couple I kept for myself ).

PS:
In 2010 I made a new pair of Jefferson dies, same as 2009 but with a 2010 date and somewhat lower relief. That one lasted 330 strikes.

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by gtsport

Dan! I've been meaning to contact you. I will be in the springs for the summer seminar later this month. How would I get to your place from there?

Joe Paonessa

Hi Joe,
Private Message sent.