Loar tailpiece Cover

[Jeff Mando]

Sounds like a boy named Sue........

[MikeEdgerton]

If you did, in milliseconds you would be facing the wrath of one Lucian Beavers--an intellectual property attorney in Nashville, TN...

http://www.iplawgroup.com/

I'm guessing his friends call him Wayne.

[Spruce]

I'm guessing his friends call him Wayne.

Friends?
Ohhhhh, right.
Henry....

[Timbofood]

You guys!

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm pretty sure his momma called him Lucian Wayne.

[Hendrik Ahrend]

Here's the tp cover alloy of Loar #75319, silver plating worn off. Nickel silver, indeed. (XRF-measured in mass %.)

Zn 24.4
Cu 56.6
Ni 17.8
Co 0.05
Fe 0.23
Mn 0.18
Pb 0.02

[Timbofood]

Well, now we just need to have a foundry make some sheet material and find a punch presto make them up with authentic metallurgical content! Engrave and silver plate at your own risk of corporate wrath.
Honestly, thank you Henry the more we know, the more we understand.

[Loudloar]

Well, now we just need to have a foundry make some sheet material and find a punch presto make them up with authentic metallurgical content! Engrave and silver plate at your own risk of corporate wrath.

Sheet nickel silver is readily available and is plenty close enough to the Loar Tailpiece metallurgy. I have hand-made a couple of tailpiece covers out of it. One was a Loar reproduction and the other was an engraved cloud TP for a Martin bowlback. It's not complicated to cut out and bend the material into a tailpiece. And nickel silver is fairly easy to hand engrave. The lettering for "The Gibson" requires some skill and a very sharp engraver. The wiggle work around the edge is fairly easy.

Steve

[Hendrik Ahrend]

Well, now we just need to have a foundry make some sheet material and find a punch presto make them up with authentic metallurgical content! Engrave and silver plate at your own risk of corporate wrath.
Honestly, thank you Henry the more we know, the more we understand.

Timbo, you're welcome.
Despite your "honestly" I sense some sarcasm. No problem, we're on the same page.

[Spruce]

OK, here's what I've got...
I had 4 of these engraved...
Look OK? Be honest...



I'll antique a couple of them soon so we can have an idea of what they could look like...

[Loudloar]

I had 4 of these engraved...
Look OK? Be honest...

The tailpiece engraving looks pretty good. If you have more done you could suggest your engraver use a straight edge as a guide for the wiggle work along the straight edges. You can see that yours wanders slightly from being done freehand, and the originals are quite straight. The lettering is pretty nice. The uprights of the letters are a bit wider cuts than the original but that's being picky. Lettering is hard to do and this is a pretty darn good job. I did engrave one of these and if this was my work I'd be satisfied. My 2 cents.

Steve

[Timbofood]

Timbo, you're welcome.
Despite your "honestly" I sense some sarcasm. No problem, we're on the same page.

No sarcasm directed at you, the more we know the better the understanding. The sarcasm is purely the realm of "corporate wrath". Now, we should all have a wonderful weekend!

[Oliver A.]

OK, here's what I've got...
I had 4 of these engraved...
Look OK? Be honest...

Spruce, I'm gonna' tell you as a friend, just like I would tell you if you had a piece of parsley stuck to your teeth. That engraving is a bit rough and creeping up on crude. I honestly can't imagine a Loar owner being happy with that as a replacement cover. It might be fine for modern Gibson F-5s that need a replacement but not for a $150,000.00+ instrument. 'just sayin'.

[Spruce]

Spruce, I'm gonna' tell you as a friend, just like I would tell you if you had a piece of parsley stuck to your teeth. That engraving is a bit rough and creeping up on crude. I honestly can't imagine a Loar owner being happy with that as a replacement cover. It might be fine for modern Gibson F-5s that need a replacement but not for a $150,000.00+ instrument. 'just sayin'.

Yep....
Trying to rust it out to distract the eye...

[MikeEdgerton]

If I was doing that I would simply forsake the wiggle work and it would look more like the OP's where the wiggle work is apparently worn off.

You're looking to make it look like it's been used anyway, right?

[Oliver A.]

Mike has a good idea. Maybe you could introduce some wear before doing your aging process. I'm wondering if maybe a buffing wheel with some course compound couldn't wear down the wiggle work as well as the lettering to subdue the engraving some.

[Jeff Mando]

Exactly. Like the way coins get worn over time rubbing against other coins.

[Spruce]

Exactly. Like the way coins get worn over time rubbing against other coins.

Mike has a good idea. Maybe you could introduce some wear before doing your aging process. I'm wondering if maybe a buffing wheel with some course compound couldn't wear down the wiggle work as well as the lettering to subdue the engraving some.

If I was doing that I would simply forsake the wiggle work and it would look more like the OP's where the wiggle work is apparently worn off.

You're looking to make it look like it's been used anyway, right?

[Jeff Mando]

Reminds me of something I read on a motorcycle forum for "cleaning" the rust from the inside of vintage motorcycle tanks -- the common solution is to coat the inside of the tank with a chemical "liner" which covers and supposedly neutralizes the rust, but doesn't remove the rust. This guy says put some small stones in your tank, put the cap on it, wrap the outside in a couple bath towels secured with string AND, here it is, drumroll please, put the tank in the dryer for a couple hours (low or no heat). Supposedly, the stones will remove every speck of rust and the inside will look like it is chrome plated. The guy added, don't try this on your wife's dryer as it is deafening to be around. Go to the laundromat, put a couple hours worth of quarters in it, then wait in your car......

[Tobin]

You could probably do what reloaders do to clean brass casings. Use a rotating tumbler filled with ground walnut shells (or a more coarse/gritty medium, if desired). Turn it on and check it periodically to see how much wear it's applying. Granted, it will wear everything fairly evenly, not like a "real world" wear pattern. But it's easy to control and monitor.

[Spruce]

Granted, it will wear everything fairly evenly, not like a "real world" wear pattern.

That's what 2 layers of duct tape is for...
(Man, I'm really hijacking this thread....)

[Spruce]

OK, here's what they look like after the first round of antiquing...
Much better than "before"...

[Timbofood]

Getting there....

[Spruce]

Getting there....

Man, how do the original tailpiece covers get so hammered??
I've thrown 3-4 hours of time in the rock tumbler, and a month in a vinegar/salt water bath, and it's nowhere close to the wear you see on a lot of the Loars...
Go figure...

[pops1]

There was a product I used decades ago to rust, and I mean rust, the out side of a muzzle loader to make it look older. Works fast and very well. You may try a gun shop that specializes in vintage muzzle loaders to make it go faster. Most likely some kind of acid bath. It washed off with water though.