Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on lately:
I have been working on a type of "filled crest" but have rejected the idea of working with fired enamel. Since this is a "hobby business" for me I'm not at the point where I want to invest in the equipment required to work with that material. Secondly I utilize used crests with faded, cracked and chipped enamel for cores and have found that fired enamel......well....fades, cracks and chips.
For some time I have been looking for a material that replicates the look of fired enamel but is UV and weather resistant. I have experimented with a few but have narrowed the choice down to one particular type of resin that is used in marine applications. It is intended for use in, on and under the water so therefore is UV / weather / salt resistant.
I have posted a few pics of what I’m currently working on. These are “experimental “ pieces and not examples of what the finished product will look like. Here’s an experimental piece:
Once the resin was brought down to “fill” level and polished I media blasted the left hand side of the crest pictured below. I also experimented with how far I could take the material down before the metal on the crest showed through. You can see that it does show through in the “filled” areas. I plan on taking the prototypes to a metal plater to see what types of plating can be applied to the base metal on the crest. Since the cost of precious metals (gold, silver etc.) has hit the ceiling over the past few years this may prove to be cost prohibitive. Additionally I don’t yet know which plating material will hold up best to prolonged exposure to the elements. There are other options besides precious metals….rhodium, anodizing etc. I want to see how the polished and blasted finishes will come out once plated. That way I can offer both a high gloss and matte finish plated crest.
Additionally I drop tested the piece over 50 times from a height of six feet before a small piece cracked off to the right top side near the “E” in PORSCHE. I believe that exceeds what most pieces will endure in normal use barring a front end impact.
Here is another prototype polished. Again note that there are areas where the solid black fill is thin. I kept removing material on this one to see how far I could take it down before the backing metal begins to show through.
My goal here is to produce what would be considered a jewelery quality crest. Hopefully I'll have a better idea of the amount of time these will take to create these as work progresses. I'll also have a better idea about the final cost once I take the prototypes to a metal plater. The product I use to fill the crest is available in other colors so custom crests will be available.