marble coins

[Martin Boekers]

Greetings,
I am looking for marble "coins" roughly 2" in diameter polished on front and back thickness isn't critical, maybe something in the .25 inch range. I can't seem to find anything ready made close to what I'm looking for. Lasersketch can custom make them at their quarry in China but time frame would be quite long I imagine. Also the cost would be comparable to To the coasters that they sell. I have received local quotes on water jet cutting at about $2.50 each for 200 with me supplying the marble. Does any one have any thoughts on this or does someone do water jet that would be interested in quoting this? I run the engraving shop at Scott AFB IL. Challenge coins are big in the military and I thought it might be fun to make them for our engraving shop. I haven't tried Corian but that might be an option. I have done some of the dye sub poker chips from Conde and the are pretty cool, but I thought marble would be even cooler.

Thanks,

Marty

[Jack Harper]

Martin,

I can do it on our waterjet for $2.55 each, quantity 216 at 1.9 inch diameter with polished front/back and mat finish edges (highest quality). This price would include the stone but not shipping. PM me if you are interested.

[Tom Cullen]

Hi Jack,
I am also looking for something similar but maybe a bit thinner. How thin can you go ? I was thinking around 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.


Thanks
Tom

[Jack Harper]

Tom,

Without going custom, which is a possibility, I can go to 5mm. The cost jumps to $2.97 though. The one I quoted above was for 7mm laser grade pure black marble.

[Sandra Force]

Boys, If you all have a drill press then they are easy. Set your pilot bit in a hole saw short so it doesn't touch the material while cutting. Make a jig to hold the material and run the drill at slow speed and keep water on the material, use prepolished corian and you are set (mask the corian before cutting). If you want polished edges put them on the buffing wheel. You can turn out quite a few fairly fast this way.

[Vicky Orsini]

Challenge coins are big in the military ...

Silly question. What's a "challenge coin"?

[Cary Fleming]

From Wikipedia:

A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion (usually military), bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and is carried by the organization’s members. They are given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale.

[Mike Null]

Here's a supplier of military coins.

http://emilitarycoins.com/