Archive for August, 2010
A little update to my custom FS-400.
I made a brass badge, to replace the stock ASP badge. But I was really skeptical about trying to put some writing in it myself, and I also thought it too small and thin for standard engraving.
Doing some research on the internet, I learned there is a new method (to me anyway) called "laser engraving". And a laser engraver can do letters incredibly small. So small that you would need a jeweler's loupe to read them.
Well I found a local business that does laser engraving, and I contacted them. I have a logo I designed for myself back in the 80's. I have even had the logo made into stickers for fun. So I inquired if my logo could be copied and then engraved onto my brass tag. Well, the answer was yes, and no. Can't do color, and the image I had needed to be turned into something called "vector line art". Buggha!
Well, I futzed around with my image using Photoshop and eventually got the color removed and something that I thought might be usable. But one was a jpeg, and one was a png. All I could figure out. Never could figure out what vector line art was. Anyway, I put it on a CD and then went to the laser engraver's shop with it and the brass tag. They were able to clean up the image, smooth it out, etc and make a vector line thing that they could use. Sweet!
So I had them engrave the tag. It looks great! Couldn't make the letters black, but they stand out well enough. The holes got elongated and my little screws were now too small. So I had some button heads that were a little bigger and able to work but I had to use the original tag as a spacer so there is a slight double line. But later I got some 0-80 brass hex heads and washers and now just the single plate is on the engine.
It's kind of neat to have a custom tag on my customized radial engine.
The website for the laser engraver, if anyone is interested:
http://byfridayengraving.com/
Pictures of the tag now on the engine:
I made a brass badge, to replace the stock ASP badge. But I was really skeptical about trying to put some writing in it myself, and I also thought it too small and thin for standard engraving.
Doing some research on the internet, I learned there is a new method (to me anyway) called "laser engraving". And a laser engraver can do letters incredibly small. So small that you would need a jeweler's loupe to read them.
Well I found a local business that does laser engraving, and I contacted them. I have a logo I designed for myself back in the 80's. I have even had the logo made into stickers for fun. So I inquired if my logo could be copied and then engraved onto my brass tag. Well, the answer was yes, and no. Can't do color, and the image I had needed to be turned into something called "vector line art". Buggha!
Well, I futzed around with my image using Photoshop and eventually got the color removed and something that I thought might be usable. But one was a jpeg, and one was a png. All I could figure out. Never could figure out what vector line art was. Anyway, I put it on a CD and then went to the laser engraver's shop with it and the brass tag. They were able to clean up the image, smooth it out, etc and make a vector line thing that they could use. Sweet!
So I had them engrave the tag. It looks great! Couldn't make the letters black, but they stand out well enough. The holes got elongated and my little screws were now too small. So I had some button heads that were a little bigger and able to work but I had to use the original tag as a spacer so there is a slight double line. But later I got some 0-80 brass hex heads and washers and now just the single plate is on the engine.
It's kind of neat to have a custom tag on my customized radial engine.
The website for the laser engraver, if anyone is interested:
http://byfridayengraving.com/
Pictures of the tag now on the engine:
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