So I've decided that I'm going to start making wooden badges for our Coops, let me know what you guys think, and if anyone has any ideas, feel free to post them up on this thread..... I've just been searching for "higher quality badges" for some time now, and haven't really ran into anything, quality wise or worth displaying everyday. And being a woodworker on the side, figured why not make them out of exotic woods, engrave logos, and/or designs into them, and make them for whomever would be interested.... The one shown below, is made from Spalted Maple, not an exotic wood i know, but was some scrap I had lying around, that had some decent figure to it.... I'll be making a bunch to show you guys exactly what I'm referring to here...



This is one on the MINI Magnetic Badge Holder. And I have a 2.75" recessed magnetic "flushed" to the back surface of the actual badge.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated everyone....... And sorry for the low res iPhone camera image. Will get better images soon.

 

Oh yeah - And I haven't posted this anywhere else.. Just in case your wondering..

 

Interesting idea for sure.. curious as to how you are going to treat the wood to keep it from warping or getting damaged by the elements.

 

I can make them, so that you could be basically underwater - or covered in snow (so not excited about that by the way), and they wouldn't Warp/Split, or loose any sort of gloss!!! I've worked with wood and finishing woods for a long time, to say the least...

 

Nice.. i am not good at working with wood -- i feel like some "branded" for lack of a better term ones would look cool -- where the wood is "burned" in? Post up some pictures when you've got one going. Could be very unique for a region specific car club.

 

Well "burning/branding" (if that's what your referring to..) wasn't my exact plan, cool idea also, but laser engraving was more towards what I was swaying towards..... More pics are sure to come...

 

Laser engraving was what I was looking for as a term..sorry.

 

 

I'd be very interested and would like an estimated cost on a badge of similar colored wood with 3 letters engraved.

 

Kathy1946 Ultimately, I will through a website together where you'll be able to pick through all the different sorts of exotic and domestic woods that I can get. And a place where you'll be able to upload the actual graphic that you'd want engraved into it, - Then I'll send you a proof file for approval upon production of the actual badge. And or for your sake, a choice between a couple different font options, will also be available, for simpler badges. Hope this helps answer your question..

Kathy1946 by the looks of how this is going.... (I want to keep the costs down, It will depend on the actual wood and all that, but like I said, working on it....plus I can't really discuss selling these on this particular thread, not being a vendor..)

(P.S. guys, I'm turning these on a lathe, so I will ultimately be able to add beveled edges and concave/convex faces to these also. But again, this thread was just started to give everyone a heads up on my plans, and to see if anyone would be interested in these higher quality wooden badges, and if anyone has any other sorts of ideas that they think I should incorporate into the design process....)

Thanks for everyone's input so far.... GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

 

Here's a even "blurrier" side view of the exact same "Spalted Maple Badge" from the initial post... Darn I wish I had my Nikon with me, and it was a little sunnier... But you guys will get better pics soon.. Promise. Baiscally this pic is showing how thin I was still able to keep it, and still recess a "STRONG" magnet into the back, not just the cut-able magnet sheets. (flush with the back of the badge)

 

Will be checking back.

 

I have also been thinking of making these with locking mechanisms, so you'll never have to worry about leaving it on the car while away from it. This will be more down the line in production, but have already looked into a couple of suppliers that say they can do what I'm requesting without being visible from the outside of the car of course. Just figured I'd let everyone know how far I'm looking to take this. Plus, these don't have to be just wood, but like I've stated throughout this thread, that's just what I know best about. Currently back up in the wood shop working on more prototypes for you guys.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated before I begin finalizing methods, and/or designs. So I can get them off to you as soon as possible.

For example: I'm working on one tonight that actually wraps around the badge holder, not just sticks to the outside like all the rest.

 

Out of curiosity Kathy1946, what 3 letters are you looking to have engraved? And all CAPS?

 

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you see a different variation of a wood that I'm looking into using also. Like I've already stated, I like exotic woods, because of their "not so every day looks".



These could ultimately be some very NICE badges!!!!

 

R50- Spalted Maple (or similar), with enough margin at top and bottom to see the wood grain.

 

Pretty much was guessing that that's what your were looking for, I will have all the R50's / R53's / R56's / ETC.... in stock first. So just keep checking back for the most current updates.

Like this basically?

 

I think it depends on the look your goin for. I think these would be sweet on cubbys and country's!
Interested in seeing the burnt ones.

Good luck hope it catches on for ya.

 

I totally agree 100%, but I have some "sportier" designs in the works also. With like Black Gabony wood (if familar with that type of wood) with grey wood inlays. Or which ever color you would want. This will just add a step of dyeing/stabelizing the wood to the desired colors, and a little more work, but in the end Im actually designing more for the "high end sportier" designs. And that's what I'm really going to focus a lot of my time on. I'll have to get more pics online so you guys can see.

 

I am interested in these also. can't wait to see some of the designs. I'm sure you'd sell a few in the spring (or before) with a Dragon theme of some sort.

 

Yeah I'll be able to do whatever you guys want. I'm just revising the "design" of them so that they wrap around the edges of the actual badge holder a bit. Instead of just sticking on the front. If that makes sense guys/gals..

 

I'm also starting to work on getting these badges, into formats that I can reproduce flawlessly..... (Vectorizing, for those who speak art ) So that I'll ultimately be able to laser and/or inlay.

I'm referring to all of the badges that all us NAMer's have. But NOT doing it now, special thanks to rawk

 

I think it'd be cool to get my family's coat of arms etched into one

 

You're not going to vectorize every single one are you...that's crazy talk!

 

But since you don't have permission to make any products of any of the badges on that thread, you would be wasting your valuable time that could be spent creating your own.