Paul Krush

Before writing software, I have to test my prospective user base for the crowdsourcing service bureau. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse like I have done in the past! There are so many great things I can do in software, but I have to make sure people are going to use them. It’s a little cocky of me saying I am going to start a new hobby, so I need to do some crawling before I code in the dark for months.

I have been selling on eBay for eight years. I am afraid I suffer from tunnel vision as I keep thinking eBay is the best method to get the word out. There are other ways to promote my site and find designers interested in using my methods (Duh!). I would like to have a local group that gets together to talk about their designs but for now the Internet is easier to find people.

I am going to offer free rings in the forums for people that want to test out making some very simple rings. I will let people email ether grayscale pictures or 2D Rhino files. I also am going to let people snail mail rings designed on paper. Alone I think automated paper to finished silver ring is pretty darn cool. It’s very simple to do.

At some point I will offer a free ring a day to the best design submitted to the database.

So I will make a submission rules web page and post to these forums:

Art Jewelry Magazine Forums
Orchid Forums on Ganoksin.com
Rhino3D CAD Software Forums

As soon as I start writting a FAQ I think I am not going to do coins! I’m sure some of this will carry over to jewelry.
What’s with all the “Greek” language on your site?

Sorry for all the technical jargon; it’s meant to attract technical people. At some point I will help others create consumer friendly front-end web sites. Creating Internet configuration tools is something I have done in the past, so I wanted to start attracting 3D CAD designers and get the manufacturing up and running. By the way what I mean by configuration tools are web pages that help you design a coin. You know, choose a style, pick a center logo, enter text for various places, and so on. Simple tools that most people could figure out how to use. See RingHunt.com, this is my work. I plan on using Flash, or Rhino 3D running on the server in the future. Opps, there I go with that tech talk again.

What do you do with this wax you have on the eBay auction?

When I say wax, it’s just that. It’s harder than candle wax, but it’s not the end product, as it’s kind of ugly. In metal the coin will look much nicer. So if you want a metal coin you still need to get it cast using a lost wax casting process. Having a jewelry casting house cast this in silver will run about $35. A jewelry store would charge $50-$300. In quantity you should be able to get this cast overseas for less then a dollar in bronze. I have heard prices of $3-4 for bronze in the states, but I don’t have the sources. BTW, some people just want the wax so they can get a version of their 3D file they can hold in their hands. It’s great for testing proposes.

Can I send a jpg or bmp?

Yes, but you have to understand what I am going to do with it. Pictures for me serve a very limited use. You can’t take a 2D picture of a coin and easily make another coin. A designer has to spend many hours to recreate the 3D information to design the coin.

To get technical, what you can do is use the grayscale color information in the picture to communicate the height of the surface of the coin. This is called height field from bitmap modeling. Artcam is a popular CAD software package that is based on this idea. For example let say you send a pure white picture with the words “HELLO WORLD” in pure black in the middle. The black text would be raised up .5mm, and the white would be flat. A medium gray would be raised .25mm. There are 256 different levels of grayscale in a picture. I plan on providing a lot of examples of height field from bitmap modeling.

Can I send a 2D CAD file?

Yes, but I have to come up with requirements for this. You would have to send me something very basic at first.

What software can I use to design a 3D file?

There are many different types of software to do this. I don’t have a great answer at the moment. I like Rhino, but it costs like $800. You can download a version at Rhino3D.com that will let you save 25 times. There also is a free program at MOI3D.com, but it does not do text. Artcam is one of best programs for doing flat work like this, but it’s pricey.

What if can’t give you a 3D file?

Do you know anyone that is technical and can design a file for you? This would be a rather fun project being involved in one of the first crowdsourcing service bureaus online. I do know some designers that can create a file for you. It’s not cheap. As I get rolling I am hoping some designers that use the site are also looking for paying jobs. It’s one of my core goals to introduce my customers to each other.

I milled a wax blank that is 38mm dia x 3mm thick with a 1/2mm deep area in the center. I’m am designing a few test pieces that can give people an idea of what a finished coin looks like, and what design elements are possible. This project is going too slow!

I posted this in the Challenge Coin Association on eBay:

I plan on making around 400 unique custom coins a month using a lost wax casting process. I plan on having only one standard size of coin to make things as easy as possible. I’m doing orders of one. Yes, the quality of cast coins is not as good as die struck coins, but I’m using the equipment I have. Also I am getting into to this more for the designs and not the final product. Coins are just an easy start. It could be anything smaller and flat.

What size should I choose? Challenge Coins are new to me, but seem to be the largest type of custom coins. I am thinking of the 1 1/2″, 38.1mm size, as this seems to be a standard challenge coin. This is a silver dollar size.

What about Thickness? I would like to go with 3mm, because I am going to let people design ½mm into the coin each side leaving me with a 2mm thick center at times.

2mm think seems to be something of a standard, but I think a 1mm center is too thin as I am not stamping, but casting.

I don’t know why I am beating myself up on this. I just need to start making coins and see what people tell me.

A 1 ½ inch by 3mm coin seems a little big to carry in a pocket or to be on a key chain. A pendant would be way too big. What do you think? You guys carry these coins. If you look at history silver dollars were never really used. I tried carrying around a silver dollar and I thought it was too big. I thought a half dollar was perfect. Before I really started looking at challenge coins I thought the half dollar size was the best.

With a lower price for a single custom coin I see coins based on personal goals, affirmations, and constitutions a bigger market then challenge coins. I see these coins being carried not just displayed. The coin designers will determine the market, but am I am just trying to come up with a great size.

Thanks much for your input,

Paul Krush