Such as mylar cardboard holders and the cheap display units i.e. for Jefferson nickels (cardboard holders that hold several coins with design printed on them in acrylic cases.) What "kind" of cardboard do they use? I'd like to make my own custom holder (display) for doubled die coins, die chips etc. So does anyone know what kind of cardboard (does it have a name) or where someone might get a few sheets. Sorry for the odd ball question
I don't think it's an oddball question. The new H.E. Harris holders have inserts made of plastic foam. I don't know for sure, but it seems this would tend to be less chemically reactive than cardboard. I think the kind of acid-free cardboard sold for photographic mounting would be the best choice. The question I have is, how are you going to cut the holes in the cardboard? I looked into doing this and I can't find any affordable tool that can cut perfect circles. All I could find was professional die-cutting equipment that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, not counting the cost of custom making the dies. It's really practical only if you're planning to go into manufacturing. Based on my experience, it's virtually impossible to do an acceptable job on this with hand tools. If anyone knows another way, I'd like to hear about it.
The simplest solution for cutting holes. A cutting compass. They cut in diameters of 1mm to 50mm (can't remember the actual up-to size) I saw one for $6.99 at Micheal's Art & Craft Store. Then if needed I can trim it up with an X-ACTO knife. Micheal's also has a small die-cut machine for $99.95 which would be worth the investment if I sold the displays or something.
I found some online. I won't post a link because I don't want to promote any eCommerce store but the keyword to Google is in bold. Compass Cutter That one is the "X-ACTO Precision Compass Cutter" which retails for $9 Seems like it can cut through anything I would want to use. I did think about using foam board but I didn't know if that would be good or not plus its pretty expensive and damn thick. Their smallest size is still pretty thick.
check a school supply store. I work in a school and we buy dies for our hand die cutter fairly inexpensivley. you can buy just about any size circle, square, rectangle or even a heart if you want. Its a very simple tool to use and if you were setup you could crank out hundreds an hour if you wanted.
You can post links to sales sites any time you want - as long as it is not your store, or you are not affilaited with it.
CoinMelt - GO FOR IT! Don't pay attention to the nay sayers. You've got a project and you've got an idea. I'm sure you'll discover things we (CoinTalk) members didn't even know about. I'm anxiously awaiting that. Heck, we've got guys finding counterfeit bills being graded by TPG's, Maybe you'll discover a couple dark secrets that the Dansco people have been hiding from us all these years........
If you check out some well stocked tool stores you may find punches for a large variety of sizes. I know I have several round punches that produce holes of from about 1/4" to 1/2". I know there are numerous other sizes available and now in metric also. These punches are intended for use on usually leather goods. I also have some for puting holes in those plastic tarps for the rings for tie downs. Harbor Freight Tools used to carry a variety of those. Try ordering a catalog by calling 1-800-423-2567. Not sure of thier web site but must have one. With a variety of these punches you could make holes of many sizes in many types of materials. There is also small puches for leather goods and for snaps that are put on clothing available at stores that carry clothing materials. I have some of thoes also. As to the cardboard to use. Not sure but I wonder if you contacted Whitman Publishing and asked Dennis Tucker, Publisher, he might tell you what type they use for their albums and folders.
Thanks. I'll be heading to a few stores tomorrow to see what I can come up with. Of course if there is a good result then I'll write it up on my site. Thanks for the heads up about Dennis Tucker. I sent an email to Whitman Publishing asking what material they use for their pages. I doubt they'll go into too heavy of detail. "Cardboard and mylar" is the response I'm expecting. As for the tool punches the only thing I can seem to find are like spikes you have to hammer into the leather or whatever material. Think the cutting compass is the winner at this point. I can cut circles at 3am without waking the girlfriend :thumb:
I got the cutting compass this morning and it works brilliantly. I now have a cardboard box with various hole sizes cut into it, lol. I visited a few framing and hobby stores for the photograph mounting mat. They had precut ones in stock (with a giant square hole in the middle) but no plain solid ones. She said I could order some but it would take a week and I'd have buy 50+ of them. *shakes head* Who knew it would be so hard to find CARDBOARD, lol. I've got a few other places to visit before the day ends. But again the cutting compass is pretty nice. It has a slight learning curve but once you get the hang of it its nice. I wouldn't suggest using it for mass production but to make a little holder for your special variety/error collection then YES. Uh, finding mylar should be a fun time too. More to come...
I just remembered another item I have for making holes in materials for the addition of grommets, eylets, etc. It is a complete kit with numerous sizes of hole puches and compression pieces for connecting the items. Easy to use since you just put the end piece on a supplied pair of pliers and squeeze. Might be from the place Harbor Freight Tools. Might be just www.Harborfreight.com
Carl, thanks for the email addy. I just got back from a mom n' pop frame and hobby store. They had the plain mats! They were a little over priced as expected so I got a small one to test with. I told him what I was planning on doing and after he looked at me like I was crazy he offered to make the holes for me. I don't know how many coins or the over all size I want in this display just yet so I turned him down but he said if I couldn't get it to work just come back and he'll cut it down and drill the holes for me (with another purchase of mat board of course). So, thats pretty cool.. this sucker is getting made either way. I'll keep any of you who care an updated in a few days.
I know what your planning on doing but why? There are now professional organizations with expensive machinery that now makes those things. They are appearing everywhere. I've seen them with all three 1943Cents, 1 each of the War Nickels, 1 of each type of Lincoln Cent and many, many more. They are all over the place at coin shows lately and usually in a junk or discount type box. They are just to many and contain just normal, worn coins. There is a guy at one of our flea markets that always has those and also in a bin full of just plain old coins. If your planning on making those for yourself, not bad idea. But if for an attempt at sales, your to late.
I made one. You can check it out HERE Because I couldn't find any for varieties and error collections (sets). DDO/DDR/RPM/Die chips/Cuds .. etc!
Have you actually done this? I bought one of these and it was a disaster. I found it impossible to control where the edge of the hole falls and most of the time it didn't cut all the way through on one pass. The next pass didn't line up properly. Any trimming after the fact looked like a rat chewed on the hole. Maybe you have better hand-eye coordination than I do.
Yes, I have. See thread: http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=34371 It wasn't bad using the compass cutter.. but it could of been better. It took a few passes but it came with a plate to stick the spike thing in. I used that to line up on a hole i made in the center of the mat board.
