Pattern Making ~ Name Plate Help

I am in the middle of making a name plate for one of my older metal working machines. The pattern is mahogany and so are the letters I cut out on the scroll saw. I am was thinking about a background that has a textured finish like you find on the older plates below. Does anybody know how the old time pattern makers accomplished this affect on the pattern background? Also, would I go about gluing my letters first then texturing or texture the background first then glue up the letters? Thanks for any advice, Jake

Affect I am trying to achieve:

I would guess the pattern was cast in lead or aluminum from a wood pattern and then the dimpling was done with a small punch. The lead or aluminum was probably cast in plaster. The plaster has to be baked overnight to drive all the water out of it.

That or the whole pattern was chased out of lead or built up with lead letters on a lead block. I have carved logos from body filler but used to work with guys who tell me they used to chisel cut logos out of sheet lead.

Maltesehunter said:

I am in the middle of making a name plate for one of my older metal working machines. The pattern is mahogany and so are the letters I cut out on the scroll saw. I am was thinking about a background that has a textured finish like you find on the older plates below. Does anybody know how the old time pattern makers accomplished this affect on the pattern background? Also, would I go about gluing my letters first then texturing or texture the background first then glue up the letters? Thanks for any advice, Jake

Affect I am trying to achieve:

View attachment 75313

Click to expand...

If your trying to put in small round dents in mahogany may or may not hold them well. A lead background would work well.

I cant claim to have done this type of work on a pattern, but I have created similar textures on blacksmithed items.
Options incude -
Hammer and punch, you have a lot of control with this.
Small ball pean with a reshaped pean to create the dimple, and go at it. - less control, do it before the letters go on
Needle scailer or automotive air chisel, not much control, but fast.

The sample you show is lightly dimpled and the dimples dont seem to be cliped by letters.
I suspect the dimples were put in after the letters were applied, possably post casting, or the cliped ones were filled with glue or somethign else that eased the corners of the letters and made the patern pull away more easily.

Thanks guys. I will try and cast one out of lead and experiment with it. Jake

I believe you are going about this wrong. The brass tag pictured was, most likely, etched with nitric or ferric acid. I doubt very much if it was cast.

The background looks like it was added afterwards. If you look very closely you will see it was applied around all the letters and in some spots seem to be a repeated pattern.

Google "etched brass" for how this is done.

Basically:
Acid etching usually involves applying an adhesive or tape to the raised surface (The letters) to "mask" the acid from the brass. The acid removes the brass from around the letters.

Strangely I was going to ask the very same question but the type of plaque I was thinking of has a background which looks like cloth or flat knurling,I always wondered how it was done. I'm sure it is some kind of printing operation to mask off the letters but I can't see how the cloth or knurled finish was done. It must be a relatively productive method as I have lots of them on my machines ,including at least one that is for a previous owners plant number.I guess this process has been replaced by vinyl stickers,sad really.

I think it's just the sand used in the casting, coarse sand and you get a coarse texture

Those were not carved from wood they were photo engraved and then cast in brass. Tucson Trade engraving can make them for you all you need is a pic. I have had several reproduced and he makes the badges that go on a press I make. They have been using this process to make badges for a long time it uses zinc and etching, the printing industry used it for making plates for printing.