F-18 challenge coin display - Woodworking Talk

Al B Cuttn Wud · 10-18-2009, 11:22 PM

I made three of these coin holders this weekend for a guy at work. The finished one is walnut and I am going to stain the two oak ones with a golden oak stain to give them a little color over the next few days. Enjoy!

frankp · 10-19-2009, 08:16 AM

Nice. We recently had a discussion about unit coins here at work. I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them. I used to carry one of my military ones, but now carry one from a Global Hawk project I was the principle engineer on a few years back. People always ask why I carry it, which inevitably brings a lot more questions.

Great looking projects, Al B. I only have a few coins but always thought a nice collection from various units and "swaps" would be cool.

red · 10-19-2009, 09:27 AM

Very nice and a cool project. I have collected several of those coin "medallions" but they are for NASCAR.

Red

GeorgeC · 10-19-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankp

Nice. We recently had a discussion about unit coins here at work. I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them. I used to carry one of my military ones, but now carry one from a Global Hawk project I was the principle engineer on a few years back. People always ask why I carry it, which inevitably brings a lot more questions.

Great looking projects, Al B. I only have a few coins but always thought a nice collection from various units and "swaps" would be cool.

"I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them."

I am a 23 year, retired military person who never even heard of them until they were menioned on here some time back. I have a feeling that this is something that has come up in the last 25 years or so.

George

USMCBAZ · 10-19-2009, 04:11 PM

Hey buddy cool project, i did some also...but i never seem to get the darn slots depth correct? What bit do you use and how deep do you inset?

Chad · 10-19-2009, 04:18 PM

Very nice looking display project.

Kenbo · 10-19-2009, 08:28 PM

Definately cool. I really like the shape of the jet. I mean the aircraft carrier ones that I have seen are cool to, but I really like this one. Great job.
Ken

Al B Cuttn Wud · 10-19-2009, 08:54 PM

Thanks for the complements. I've been in the Navy 21 years and seems like they have become popular over the last 10 years or so. They seem to be popular with all the services.

They get the name "challenge coin" because often in the base clubs, someone will show their coin and everyone has to pull their coins out to match. Those that don't have a coin have to buy a round. Afterwards, it's common to trade coins.

Al B Cuttn Wud · 10-19-2009, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCBAZ

Hey buddy cool project, i did some also...but i never seem to get the darn slots depth correct? What bit do you use and how deep do you inset?

I used a 1/4" dado blade and just ripped them with the grain of the wood. In the past I have used a router bit but I wanted the jet to be sloped like it's in a bank so I just angled the blade. I just plugged the slots to make nice clean ends.

For the depth, I wanted a 1/4" depth as the end product. I cut a little deeper so I could run through the planer and make the plugs smooth across the surface. I just ran through the planer to where I got the slots down to 1/4". This was much easier than trying to use a router. Hope this helps.

frankp · 10-20-2009, 11:44 AM

GeorgeC, perhaps. I know we've had this discussion before, but it's definitely something that was around at least in several of my units since the early-mid '60s at the latest.

woodman42 · 10-20-2009, 05:56 PM

Thats cool Al B. Very clean.