Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Does anyone here do any metalwork that would be able to emboss a design into a set of valve covers or does anyone know what kind of shop I could check with? I would like to get a set of plain chrome valve covers like these and have them embossed with a custom design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Ooooohh a chance to put my art degree to use.... Do you want an engraving or relief image? You can do a lot with hand tools. I made a few belt buckles in the 70's from 20 ga. steel, because I couldn't afford to practice on silver. Envision the way a gunsmith hand-engraves a Colt .45 into a work of art using basically iron-age hammer and chisels. I would start with a a set of round punches - from Harbor Freight, and slightly grind away the square edge so it doesn't puncture the sheet metal. Support the back side with a shot bag (leather bag full of lead shot). Then start in the middle of the design and work you way out to the edges. A process like tooling leather. For a deeper, and more production-appearing product - Someone with a large screw press or hydraulic press or brake might be able to emboss a design into the tops of those rocker covers. The difficult and expensive part is making the "dies". For nice, crisp edges you would want a set - male and female. Heat the steel red-hot first so it stretches without tearing. That initial investment is why Nissan made the same fenders for 8 or 9 years. For less detail you might get by with a male die only and press into a shot bag or a tray of fine, dense sand. A CNC mill can "draw" a design by taking very shallow cuts into the steel, but the surface must be perfectly flat for uniform depth - unless you program in all 3 axes. There is also the "explosion" forming method whereby a female pattern, like a stencil, is used and explosives are detonated on the backside of the steel. I AM JOKING, a contained explosion inside the rocker cover would probably pound it flat. Or shred it. The Chrome plating is hard and brittle and would probably crack away from the deformed steel, so plan on replating them after the decoration process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Wow, I can learn so much by reading this forum!!! Nic, I don't know what you were planning, but you can have all sorts of neat stuff done at engraving shops. "Things Remembered" at the mall has engraved some pretty wierd things for me in the past. I've even had them engrave a Stanley box knife before. I didn't even think about what Trevor advised, but he's right. The chrome plating is thin, and would crack and rust through. You'd probably have much better results with plain aluminum covers. Since you would have to get a metal stamp CNC milled anyway, why not just cut your costs and have the covers milled instead? I'd imagine it would be MUCH cheaper to have the covers milled than it would to have a set of tool-steel stamps made up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 There is also the "explosion" forming method ... Sounds like fun! I might try that myself. The design I am going for is a raised simple design. I want to have a outline of a Chevy bow-tie with a "302" in the center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I've had less than impressive results with this, but it might work. You could make some kind of template, and then sandblast the exposed portion of the chrome to achieve a "frosting" in any design you choose. The problem is in my experience chrome is really tough and doesn't sandblast well... and you'd have to make a template from something that won't get destroyed too fast by the sand. Anyway, that's what they do with glass a lot of times to make a design on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldZguy Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 To use Drax's idea, a good place to get material for making sandblasting templates is a place that makes headstones. All of the lettering and designs on a headstone (gravemarker) are sandblasted and they use a rubber sheet that is like 1/8" thick and has an adheasive back. you cut the design out with an xacto knife, stick it on and blast, it is reuseable too if you want to make multiple items, the local place has one for this year that they use over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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