11 replies to this topic

[Merryck]

I'm getting married this year, and currently am doing a silversmithing course. I'm making the wedding bands for my future wife and myself, and I'm making favours for certain people (best men and bridesmaids). One of the best men is into shooting, so I'm making him some shotgun cartridge cufflinks (thought I might try and make him something he can actually use for shooting, not sure what yet!) The other is/was into Minis.

He sold his a few years ago, and I was considering making him a silver gear knob to FORCE him into buying one. The question is this, do you guys have any old school or interesting gear knobs that would lend themselves quite well to being made from silver? It would need to be hollow because I'm not made of money, do you reckon it would be strong enough?

Also, if not a gear knob, is there anything else mini-related you think would look quite good? I was thinking piston cufflinks, but they're a bit generic. Is there a part of a mini that is instantly recognisable to a mini owner?

[miniman retford]

How about the winged mini badge ?

Edited by miniman retford, 08 March 2013 - 01:31 PM.

[Merryck]

I was thinking about that, but I can't enamel it very easily, and without the enamel it would have to be very precise to look good, whereas a gear knob id effectively a dome attached to a tapering cylinder, or a piston is a cylinder with a lid, two notches cut in etc. etc.

If I were making a mini badge I'd cast it, which is something I'd have to get someone else to do at the moment and I'd like this to be made by me by hand.

That said, I do intend on making something like that, which I'll probably put in the 'other projects' section.

[Steely]

If anyone stole the badge then that's one pricey replacement!

As for gear knobs what about one like either of these:

http://www.google.co...8&tx=159&ty=105

http://www.google.co...,r:41,s:0,i:209

[Merryck]

Nice! I like the one with the gears engraved in it, pretty close to what I had planned.

My basic design is below. The black part would be a flat sheet beaten into a rounded shape, the grey would be a tapered cylinder and the red would be a cylinder that the stick goes into. The green bit is a lug nut to hold it in place.

I'd then get something engraved on the top.

Attached Files

•  gear.gif   2.91K   0 downloads

[RyanBebo]

a mini grill would be quite a cool set of cufflinks, difficult to make i'm guessing though?

[Merryck]

That's not a bad shout actually, could make something quite stylish out of that. I'll have to get scribbling and work something out!

[RyanBebo]

Would love to see the finished product mate, or even the prototype :)
could test your skills by making a full front of a mini as a cufflink? ;)

[yeti21586]

would you not be threading the hole for the gear stick? as thats what mini ones are anyways?

[minimarco]

Maybe....

You can make a silver replica of the KAD quickshift, from knob on one end to the bell housing on the other. Then, you bend it into a C shape and wear it as a cuff bracelet.

Edited by minimarco, 08 March 2013 - 06:24 PM.

[porl]

How about an RAC truck? (We've all been there) lol

[Merryck]

I have a little silver mini already which I could get copied and create a cast from it, but I don't have the equipment to cast, so again I'd have to get it made.


I would thread the hole but I'd want him to be able to use it on other cars. Once I've worked out what it is I'm doing exactly I'll post up some pictures.