[Lightningbolt]

Every once in a while I find myself inspired and this time it was with Claudes thread: Fourth of July With his generous permission for anyone to (try ) duplicate his projects I decided to start with his Fourth of July pin and I really enjoyed the challenge.

I started with a little chunk of basswood 1 1/2" X 1" and carefully cut out the general "S" shape of the flag with the bandsaw then proceeded to carve out the shape I wanted. I started with the idea to remove as much wood as I could since I was concerned about the possibility that a heavier pin might sag too much when worn, so from the pictures you can see that I did some fanciful carving on the rear side to accomplish this goal including a bit of "tunneling" under the pin attachment area. I think that I have a LOT of training in such weight reduction carving methods since that's a big part of carving pinewood derby cars where you have to get pretty good at such things as tunneling, compartments, and other such ways of removing wood from places that you'd never suspect by looking at the shell of the car.

Anyhow, when I got the shape that I was looking for I then lightly sanded it with some 220 grit paper but not enough to remove the look of a hand-made carving. And unlike finishing my woodspirit faces I didn't do the extensive layering of sealers and finishes since for these tiny lapel pins I think that Claude has the right idea in just using bright & bold colors.

Let me tell you, the carving of this project is EASY compared to the nerve-wracking, tooth-clinching, and nail-biting concentration that it took to lay out the 13 red & white stripes AND the 50 stars of Ole Glory! Whew, did I ever feel proud when I completed that step to my eventual satisfaction! And to be honest, I can't see a way to make a profit from carving this pin because I think that I could have carved a woodspirit walking stick in about the same amount of time and I don't see folks forking over that kind of $$ for a pin. But that's ok because "I" like them AND the friends that I'll give them to will most definitely love them.

I completed the pin by attaching the pin and spraying it with a coating of gloss Krylon acrylic sealer. Afterwards I realized that I should have used the satin sealer since after this step is when I usually take pictures and the satin does better with making pictures since there's less gloss thus less glare. Fortunately, I think that the attached pictures turned out ok nonetheless. After the pictures I put a very high gloss polurethane on it which I think looks good for this little project and is bound to catch a lot of eyes when I wear it.

Thanks again Claude for a nice idea which just "hit" me right when I saw it. I titled this thread as a challenge which was mainly refering to see if I could come up with a nice pin to wear to work on Monday but please, anyone feel free to add you own pins or ideas here. I'm not sure what kind of pin I'm gonna try next but if anyone has an idea then please, like in Mick Jaggers hit single, "Start Me Up"!

[Lightningbolt]

Update on flag pin:

When everything was finally dry enough to give the pin a test run I found that it drooped downward on my shirt and too much for my satisfaction. It would look "OK" if it were anything other than Ole Glory but she deserves better than that! The flag should be displayed standing straight and tall.

With that said I carved out a second flag pin in an attempt to correct this drooping discovery and learned a few more tricks along the way. Unfortunately there's no pictures but this time I decided to leave the flag portion of the basswood attached to an extending "handle" of the wood which made carving such a small project MUCH easier. As for correcting the drooping effect of the pin the attached pictures best describe what I did:

• Picture #1: The second pin (on the left) shows the final and much lower profile as compared to the first one. Also notice that I also took out some of the "S" swaying motion in the second flag as a compromise in having a flag "in-motion" with less downward sloping.
• Picture #2: A view from the underside showing the same lower profile of the newer pin.
• Picture #3: A rear standing view showing how the second pin is more set "into" the wood.
• Picture #4: Close up of second pin up close.

Looking at some of my political pins collection (and I have quite a collection going back to the Nixon/Humphry race of '68) I noticed that the pins are set inside the "cupped" area which gives it a normal flat appearance when worn. I'm gonna keep this in mind as I continue to make more and see if I can eventually get it right-on.

Amazing how much complex learning can be had from what on the surface appears to be such a simple project!

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

As I am Getting really tired of the so called election news ......I am tempted to do a politically incorrect lapel pin that would be I am afraid, socially repugnant ha ha

[Just Carving]

I am tempted to do a politically incorrect lapel pin that would be I am afraid, socially repugnant

You wouldn't dare!!!

Aw go on--ya know ya wanna!!! LOL

(Ya big chicken!!!)

Just puttin' a little fuel on the fire shall we say....

Bob L

[Claude]

Nice pin, Dave! You actually went to a lot more work than I did. I cut the front surface only, using a gouge, to five it the wavy effect. Then I cut away the back on a 45 degree angle, where the back was supposed to "not be". Your idea is definitely lighter. See - I said people would improve on it...


Claude

[Lightningbolt]

Originally Posted by Hi_Ho_Sliver

As I am Getting really tired of the so called election news ......I am tempted to do a politically incorrect lapel pin that would be I am afraid, socially repugnant ha ha

I'm with you on that thought and I'm scarred that if I made the button I wanted to, then my whole thread would be too politically controversial and get deleted... but I still might make it, just post it elsewhere.

And yes Claude, I do sometimes have a tendency to make things too complicated. Maybe I'm just trying to find a way to turn an otherwise very simple project into something more?? Sometimes I don't even understand me but I do know one thing- I'm having some fun!

One of my recent suggestions to the editors of WCI was to keep on putting those simple projects in the magazine. They make great gifts, I never consider myself too much of a carving "elitist" to learn from simplicity, and they usually make great gifts.

Although I don't have much time for carving during the week, I think that I'm going somewhere with this and I have already designed nine more pins on paper that I'm excited about getting started. I've decided to stick with the patriotic theme since love of country has always been atop of my personal core convictions.

For now, I've settled on starting the pin carving by using a 2" diameter piece of basswood as seen in the attached pictures. Actually, I just traced off the 2" circle using the bottom of my 8 oz. bottle of acrylic paint. After examining some of my favorite political metal pins I noticed how the inside is "cupped" so that the actual pin is in-line with the back rim so that the button sits quite flat on a shirt.

As seen in the third picture I found that the largest scooping gouge on my Flexcut "Carvin' Jack" was the perfect tool for scooping out this waste wood just perfectly. I thought of using my Dremel or Foredom but actually carving it was so much fun and only took a few minutes.

I then sanded the outer surface but haven't got any further so far. It'll probably be mostly a very focused paint job from here on but I'll be looking for ways to incorporate some carving and/or woodburning as I progress along. I'm kinda excited to see where this little project is gonna take me!

Oh, by the way I wore my new flag pin to work yesterday (Memorial Day) and folks couldn't believe that I had carved it. It was VERY popular so it looks like I'm gonna have to crank out a few more to keep the fans at bay!

[Just Carving]

Dave,
I like how you hollow out the lapel pins. I might try that on my teddy bear pins. Speaking of which, I'm trying to finish up painting a Patriotic Teddy bear pin--I'm hoping to have it posted by Sunday! I'd post a WIP photo but I'd rather keep you guys in suspense! LOL

Bob L

[Mottles]

Super work on the Flags Dave!
Kathy

[Lightningbolt]

Thanks for the comments and I look forward to seeing the teddy bear pins.

I finally got back to my flag pin project and just finished one that I'm going to wear on the Fourth of July in a couple of weeks. The inset pin inside the hollowed out back worked out great for a perfect fit on my shirt.

I've just cut out a few thicker 3/8" round button blanks with the idea to allow me enough wood to actually experiment with some relief carving on the surface. Right now the wood is so thin that I can only do some eye-straining precision painting so I'm excited about trying to do some actual carving in them.

[Kenny_S]

LB, great looking Flag and Freedom Ring pins.

HiHO, ya ain't got a hair, if'n ya don't. Ya know ya want to. Real Bad. LOL

Did several Flag pins just after 9-11 and like Dave was surprised at how many wanted one.