# Not Worth a Plug Nickel......



## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Had a request for a real wooden nickel. This called for a thing called "two sided machining." Never did it - don't have a clue. I tried my idea of cutting one side, flipping the piece over, and cutting the other. Should work if the x and y are maintained, right? With the lip of the coin everything had to be perfect. It wasn't. After a reach out to Beltramidave and MEBCWD I attempted to do it by the book, using the dowel method. It worked!! I used the nickel bank file and shrunk it down. It's just a 11 x 8 piece of cut off baltic birch 3/4" panel. Finished coin measures about 6 1/4 inches in diameter.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

That's a nifty project.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Nicely done, John! I've done several two-sided projects and yes, the dowels really help for alignment.

David


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

More dowels the better! I did 2 and had a little slip because they weren't really 1/4" diameter, tried again with 4 dowels and worked great


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

what's the dowel method???


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very nice John . I love neat projects like that . I seen one before where it was much larger and made into a piggy bank . It was painted ,but I prefer the bare wood look


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

John or anyone,please correct me if I'm wrong,but shouldn't the "plugged"nickel have a bullet hole in it.I'm not being a smart-ass here ,I always thought that's what it had to have otherwise it's not worthless. James jj777746


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Stick486 said:


> what's the dowel method???


Stick,

It's a means of making sure that your project is machined exactly where it needs to be on both sides by boring index holes into the piece and the spoilboard.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> what's the dowel method???


When you design your project you add holes that will be drilled in the first side of the project blank sized for a snug fit for some dowels. As Doug said the more the better. Three work pretty good. These holes need to be precisely located in relation to the overall center of the project. Then another set of holes is set up by locating them by mirroring around the job center so they are a flipped version of the ones for the project blank.

This second set of holes will be drilled into the spoil board and when the blank is flipped over to cut the backside the holes will line up and you add the dowels to register the blank to the spoil board. This centers the front and back cuts so that everything matches up.

After you have done this a few times you realize how easy it is.

The important thing to remember is to make sure the first side is machined with the registration holes drill in the project blank before removing it from the spoil board. At that point, you can drill the registration holes in the spoil board and locate the blank using the dowels, then cut the backside *OR* you can actually move to any point on the spoil board, zero your X-axis and Y-axis and drill the spoil board registration holes, then mount you project blank using the dowels for registration and cut the backside. With that in mind, you can cut the first side of the blank or several blanks, shut down for lunch or overnight and still be able to register the front to the back of your project. The important things to remember, you need to locate the registration holes correctly in your design file and make sure you drill the registration holes in the first side of your project blanks before you remove them for the spoil board.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

ahh..
orientation pins...
thanks..


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

kp91 said:


> More dowels the better! I did 2 and had a little slip because they weren't really 1/4" diameter, tried again with 4 dowels and worked great


I used 3 and it worked pretty good



Stick486 said:


> what's the dowel method???


Drilled 3 holes on the top side and put dowels in them. Then mirrored the hole pattern on a spoilboard. The dowels will fit in those holes and (hopefully) you can cut the backside accurately.


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## UglySign (Nov 17, 2015)

honesttjohn said:


> I used 3 and it worked pretty good


That's what counts HJ, it worked and looks like a pretty cool method.
On a curious note, you seem to be bizzie on the spoil board.
What else ya cuttin? huh.. huh... come on spill it.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Just he usual, Ronnie. A bunch of Polish Eagles, text signs, and repeats of things already shown here at one time or another. Xmas kicked off - got 6 custom orders from Etsy yesterday. Been using up inventory at the store display. Got to think of something new or different this winter to add and cut like
the devil this winter to get ready for next year. Plus.....it is hunting season.


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Fantastic results but I'm guessing, like the government, it cost more to make than the face value (think penny)  Is that a counterfeit plug nickel?


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

sreilly said:


> Fantastic results but I'm guessing, like the government, it cost more to make than the face value (think penny)  Is that a counterfeit plug nickel?


Shhhhh


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