I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
....what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

You just might want to touch base with the US Mint......

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..




wrote in article
. com...
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

I'm thinkin' that your drilled coins and wire, and then use a bunch of
o-rings between each coin and epoxy for the bits that can be set. The
o-rings can be used as a dam around the epoxy joint as well, and the black
o-rings might give a cool contrast with the coins.

Or, instead of o-rings, you could use rings cut from radiator heater hose so
you can cut them at angles and allow for the sorts of bends that you may
need.

If you are using hinge joints for say elbows that move, you could have the
hinge hidden in rubber boots like they use on steering bits of cars.
(technical term) There are a range of different sizes available from the
local wreckers or you could use offcuts from multifit bendy radiator hose.

Using tube rather than wire or rod would allow you to feed electric wires
through sections of the work to get hidden power for moving things, and in a
similar way cables can be fed from thicker sections (or the statue's stand)
just like bike handbrake cables.

Someone posted a few pics of his stickman statue made from rod recently,
maybe the two of you should do a "joint" effort!

Hope this helps,
Peter

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

"*" wrote in message
news:01c5d3ef$5e799d00$f1a3c3d8@race...
You just might want to touch base with the US Mint......

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..




wrote in article
. com...
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins


In the US (where I am not), AFAIK, its OK so long as there is no intention
to defraud.

Here in Australia (and I think in the UK) the mere _defacing_ of the Queen's
currency is the offence (never mind any intention to defraud, or absence
thereof.)

YMMV

--
Jeff R.

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..

Wow, just think about all that free publicity when they show footage on
three or four major news feeds!
;)
Pete

* wrote:
You just might want to touch base with the US Mint......

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..



One may do whatever he pleases with his money, but if defaced, he CANNOT
attempt to redistrubute or use it as legal tender again....

Bill

If I were so gifted as to even consider this....

I'd look at Euros first. Seems like they have several sizes in a gold
color metal, and the coins themselves are fairly thick. The thickness
would allow for drilling, and I'd probably look to piano wire to string
them. The metal could probably be silver-soldered. I think a uniform
god color would be esthetically pleasing.
To form the pieces beforehand (no pun intended. really) I'd use an
arbor press with several variations of aluminum forming dies. You want
the dies slightly softer than the metal you are bending so you don't
distort the features.
OTOH, some distortion may be useful, if you think in terms of
simulating skin. For example the fleshy area at the base of the thumb
stretches as it moves, so coins in this area might be elongated somehow
as they are bent to shape. This might lend some naturalness to the piece.
Also be aware that if you use drilled holes, bending may pinch those
off. There may be cases where you need to drill after bending, and
perhaps on 2 intersecting axes.
One method you might think about is using thinner coins, if
available, and overlap them like scales. You could join them by
edge-drilling one hole, attach piano wire stub, and solder the other end
somewhere on the hidden face of the overlapping coin.
There might be some value in allowing some open space in the
surfaces, rather than trying to make a contiguous surface of coinage.
Something like chain mail, to give it an airy feel. That would also
make it slightly easier to build.

- -
Rex Burkheimer
Fort Worth TX

wrote:
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

"Rex B" wrote: (clip) I think a uniform god color would be esthetically
pleasing.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
And theologically significant, but does anyone know what that color is?

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Rex B" wrote: (clip) I think a uniform god color would be esthetically
pleasing.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
And theologically significant, but does anyone know what that color is?

Well, *I* do, but I ain't sayin'.....

On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:28:12 -0500, * wrote:
You just might want to touch base with the US Mint......

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..

minor coinage = "go for it". Me, I'd drill the coins and link 'em like
chainmail. Or make chainmail gloves and attach these as in plates of
armor. Actually, I wouldn't, but if I wanted to build this, that's
what I'd do.

A couple of clarifications first:
No offense, but how much metalworking experience do you have and what
kind of equipment do you have access to? One of the best ways to
attach coins together is by brazing with brass rod (many coins are made
of brass alloys), but this requires access to oxyacetylene welding
equipment and the skill that brazing requires (it isn't much but it's
best if someone teaches you--it's not quite like soldering)
In your message, you mention "filling in with metal of some sort" The
ideal way would be filling with metal from some sort of welding
process, but many processes are limited to the amount of gap they will
fill. Perhaps some sort of oxyacetylene or stick welding would work,
need thick rod or electrode. My personal preference would be the
copper-based two part epoxy that sticks well to these kinds of metals.
Especially if you paint it or add a metallic filler, it looks very
close to real metal.

Thanks for all the feedback...as i said in the beginning I'm just
fishing in the dark trying to find possibilities.....as far as
experience in metal working goes.....I've more experience with
wood...which you can't weld together and if you screw it up you can
always burn I do have basic blacksmithing skills and I'm always
trying to learn more so this may well help. As far as tools go, I do
have access to a metal working workshop and have friends who can help.

I like the idea of using euros as i'm in the UK where it is treasonous
to drill a hole through the queens head.

My biggest concern with fixing it together is strength. I've build
things that have been ripped apart by the masses ....but this time.

I'm looking into copper brazing at the moment....to see what is needed
and how hard it will be. I think i'll do some tests with making a
simple cylinder.

Maybe a combination of copper brazing and copper epoxy where strentgh
is not crucial.

thanks again for the constructive comments.....I've just spoken o the
client and he is possitive about the idea.

I would build a solid sub structure then tile the surface with the coins.
Karl

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

First of all, what coins are you intent on using, and from what country?

For example, bimetal European or Canadian coins might be tough to keep
together, while pennies vary from US' zinc-cored low melting penny to
Canada's copper-plated steel coins which will probably rust after brazing
and cleaning up!

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

I think I'm going to be using euro's and british silver 5p's at the
moment.

On 19 Oct 2005 11:15:07 -0700, "
wrote:

I think I'm going to be using euro's and british silver 5p's at the
moment.

Copper-brazing may be problematic, but you can silver-braze about
anything but zinc and aluminum. Nickel, brass, nickle-brass,
copper, silver, steel, no problem. Those joints are very strong.

BillP wrote:
* wrote:
You just might want to touch base with the US Mint......

Seems to me I remember reading about some laws concerning the defacing of
US currency......but, I MAY be wrong..



One may do whatever he pleases with his money, but if defaced, he CANNOT
attempt to redistrubute or use it as legal tender again....

Bill


Just take it to a bank and exchange it for good money. I've never been
questioned or hassled at any bank for trying to exchange all sorts of
botched up money for undamaged currency.

I think I'm going to do it with silver soldering. I was a jewelry
apprentise for 6 months so i have abit of previous experience. In the
studio where i worked we we're using big bottles of gas and other bits
and bobs. Does anyone know what i will need to get to do this project
on a small scale. I've been looking into portable gas solders and was
wondering if there was something special to look out for. Also what
grade of silver solder should i use...soft, med or hard....?

many thanks to all replys so far...the darkness is getting brighter.

wrote:
I think I'm going to do it with silver soldering. I was a jewelry
apprentise for 6 months so i have abit of previous experience. In the
studio where i worked we we're using big bottles of gas and other bits
and bobs. Does anyone know what i will need to get to do this project
on a small scale. I've been looking into portable gas solders and was
wondering if there was something special to look out for.

Silver solder doesn't take much heat, but a bit more than lead/tin
solder. I'd start with a small propane torch. You might also look at
the mini-butane torches for fine work. If you need more temp, probably
MAPP gas is next up. All available at your local hardware store.

Also what
grade of silver solder should i use...soft, med or hard....?

I'd start with soft, in case you need to form the piece by bending the
welds. It's not expensive, just get a little of each and experiment.

On 18 Oct 2005 07:13:41 -0700, "
wrote:

I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.

If you use some type of contrasting filler between the coins, I
suggest plastic wheel alignment shims. They are available in several
tapers and colors. They could be stacked to create joint angles. Rex
can expand on this.

Andy Asberry wrote:
On 18 Oct 2005 07:13:41 -0700, "
wrote:


I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.


If you use some type of contrasting filler between the coins, I
suggest plastic wheel alignment shims. They are available in several
tapers and colors. They could be stacked to create joint angles. Rex
can expand on this.

I'm having trouble visualizing this. The only plastic shims I know of
are the round rear wheel shims, which are much too big for this project.
Besides, I'm sure he wants to stay with metallic

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 09:05:05 -0500, Rex B
wrote:


Andy Asberry wrote:
On 18 Oct 2005 07:13:41 -0700, "
wrote:


I am doing an art piece and need to make a pair of lifesize hands.
Initially i was going to cast in bronze but recently I've had an idea
to make this out of lots of coins

Ok, imagine the fingers made from varoius sized coins joined together
(welded....drilled and wired...???) in a cylinder.... these cylinders
would continue until the wrist and where the flat top and palm of the
hands were, could be filled in with metal of some sort. From the wrist
down could be two of these welded cylinders next to each other and also
filled in with metal(solder). Any ideas what to fill in gaps with....?

My problems are : how can i bond the coins together...? what infill too
use...? how to make it strong? It is tricky because all the coins are
made from different metals...so i think welding would be impossible.

The piece is going to part of a display that sees 65000 visitors every
year, so it has to be very durable.

I've been thinking of drilling holes in the coins before hand and then
threading a wire through from the tip of the finger through to the
wrist....so i'd have 5 strands coming together. It would be cool if the
fingers could move slightly at the joints ,as it is going to be an
interactive....but it still has to be super strong so doing this is not
so important...a static piece would be alright. What wire....maybe some
sort of cable...?

I've also been thinking of possibly shaping the coins beforehand
...what would be the best way to do this....? And when the piece was
roughly made how would you model the shape abit more....? It does not
have to be perfect....and gaps will be ok.

At the moment i'm just feeling in the dark to see if is feasible...any
ideas or suggestions welcommed.


If you use some type of contrasting filler between the coins, I
suggest plastic wheel alignment shims. They are available in several
tapers and colors. They could be stacked to create joint angles. Rex
can expand on this.

I'm having trouble visualizing this. The only plastic shims I know of
are the round rear wheel shims, which are much too big for this project.
Besides, I'm sure he wants to stay with metallic

Well, this would only work for the drilled and wired method. The
suggestion of o-rings and shaping the coins for joints made me think
of the shims. Appropriate size and shape pieces could be cut from the
shims. With a compressible spacer on the inside angle of the joint and
offset drilling, you could pull the wire (1/16" cable) to cause the
fingers to close.

I think i may drill all the coins twice horizontally and then i'll run
some cable through from the back and around the first coin at the tip
of the finger and then back to the wrist again....this way i won't have
to secure the front and if i want the fingers to move they will but
only up and down.