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Ian Wilson (AUST)
11-05-2009, 7:46 PM
Hello Creekers,

I have been asked to quote on a Bronze Plaque for a name of a building.

I have read the threads on Bronze and am not sure whether I should attempt this with my 35 watt machine .....size is A3 & A4.......out door plaque.

Has anyone done anything similar? Any tips or pit falls?

Kindest regards,

Ian

Bill Cunningham
11-05-2009, 11:33 PM
'Bronze' plaques like the ones used to dedicate buildings and such are cast or etched. You can't do one on a 35 watt laser..

Dan Hintz
11-06-2009, 7:10 AM
Bill, what about those bronze-like laserable substrates? It would take a while with a 35W unit to get any decent depth, but it should still be possible.

Michael Hunter
11-06-2009, 9:33 AM
Ikon Metal might do the trick.
(Brass powder held together with resin. Said to be engravable and cuttable with a laser. I have a sample but have not tried it yet)

There are various threads about it in the forum.

When I enquired (a while ago now) it was only available in the USA, but they sent a sample to the UK so as long as your plaque is not too big it shouldn't be a problem.

Dan Hintz
11-06-2009, 9:44 AM
Ikon Metal... that's the stuff. Thanks, Michael! I hear it's a royal pain to etch and makes a complete mess with the residue/dust, but if the end result looks like a standard cast plaque, who can argue with success.

George D Gabert
11-06-2009, 11:24 AM
You also might try to make a negative master 3D mold out of acrylic or something and then use that to pour some metalized casting acrylic to make the positive plaque.

Also we used to make a master 3d pattern and send it to a brass sand foundry to have it cast in sand pattern / mold.

GDG

Ian Wilson (AUST)
11-06-2009, 7:24 PM
Thanks everyone for your help................I just completed my brass job...which took 3 hours to etch.......so might leave the Bronze and have it cast. Thanks again!!!

Regards

Ian:)

Scott Shepherd
11-06-2009, 7:27 PM
Ian, Gemini is the US does it, I'm sure there must be someone closer. Go to http://signletters.com/MetalPlaques/architectural.html and have a look. I'm sure someone around you does this. Look up Rodney Gold on this forum, I'm sure he can tell you who, in that part of the world, would be good for this stuff.

Bill Cunningham
11-07-2009, 10:16 PM
I had a call regarding something like this. A 'patch' for 2' x 4' bronze building dedication plaque for my town.. It would seem that after they installed it on the building, someone noticed it said November 2008 and not November 2009.. They wanted to know if a patch could be made to correct the error.. Nope.. Not by me anyway.. Their going to try and paint out a bit of the 8 and make it a 9.. I don't know who made the error, if it was the plaque caster, I'm sure it will be replaced, but if it was the town, it's just another sample of my tax dollars at work:mad:

Bob Davis
11-10-2009, 10:27 AM
South Africa is actually quite a distance from Australia...
Offhand, I would think Rodney is around 8000 kilometers (5000 miles) from the Whitsundays, and most of that is water.

Oops! - Severely underestimated the distance. It's actually around 11,800km / 7,300 miles, so Ian is actually closer to Los Angeles than Capetown.