This is another little project in a similar vein to the square hollow section steam card. It's fun to do a more creative project occasionally rather than the more engineery stuff I usually do.
The gift code will be stamped into one surface of a 5x10x100mm piece of steel. Then another piece will be welded over the top, along the edges, with a shallow weld depth. Then the two pieces will be turned down to a cylinder on the lathe, taking care to get a good surface finish. Then primed and painted matte black.
The plan.
Preparing some steel plate. Generously donated by Scott metals. I asked for some scrap bits to practice TIG welding and they obliged.
Softened the steel with a blowtorch and slow cooling, to make the punching easier. The bits of steel came out slightly different sizes, but it didn't end up being that big of a problem. In retrospect I should've cut them bigger and turned them down to size.
Sanding the important surface smooth and nice.
Stamped.
Minor intermission in which I disassembled my TIG welder to work out why it wasn't turning off when I lifted off the pedal.
Welded.
Chucked up and vaguely centered.
Rough finish. It ended up with a flat spot on one side, because I wasn't able to centre it perfectly in a 3-jaw chuck and putting on the 4-jaw is a pain in the bum.
Sanded the flat side on the linisher and chucked it up in a drill to sand the other surface.
Primed.
Needs one more coat of paint, but it's raining now.