As some of you know, I have been tinkering with a cost-effective way to reproduce the different cowl streamers Studes had- 4-speed, Air-cond., and for the Skytops, sunroof. These streamers are a neat piece to have in their original spots; but frequently they were stolen or broken off. No one has been able to find a cost-effective way to reproduce an item like this with such a limited market; yet many of us would really like to have them.
I bought a Skytop with the tag still in place. Being that I had an original, I decided to take a stab at it myself. The challenge was to accurately reproduce the tags- same spacing, same size, same unusual rounded typeface. Further, I was hoping to find a system where any of the streamers could be simply and reasonably be reproduced; that would mean several die sets. All in all a real challenge.
I did what I do whenever it comes to things no one else has been able to do: Go and see my good friend Bill Marsh. Bill is a modest and humble, yet brilliant old-school machinist with nearly 70 years' experience! I can't tell you how many "impossible" things Bill and I have done over the years. I took the tag to Bill last Fall and laid out the challenge. He took the tag from me and started thinking.
We had a few ideas that didn't pan out. Finally Bill developed the current system. Dies were made by casting then from the actual, original tag. The key was the metal that could be poured in a molten state onto the tag without damaging it- yet harden enough to be useful dies. Bill remembered this from talking to then-old timers 50 years ago; I had never heard of such a thing. Bill cast the dies (both sides) and made up fixtures for them that would work in a press. All we had to try was aluminum flashing; but here's the first try:
The top piece is the original; note that it is unharmed- not even the original paint! The bottom is the copy; it fits onto the original perfectly- no shrinkage or distortion. While the type is perfect in the dies, it is not perfectly sharp in the sample. Bill feels this is because the flashing is too thin.
So the next step is to get our hands on some correct, original streamer blanks. Mike Gahlbeck said a while back that he had some, and I've already e-mailed him. My hope is to get some ASAP, so I can bring some samples along with the original for folks to see at York.
If these work, the process to make any other dies is pretty simple and cheap; just a matter of having an original from which to make a casting. We feel the dies should be good for at least a few dozen before showing wear.
I'm waiting for some tags, and I'm pretty hopeful that these will work out. I'll keep you posted. Comments welcome!
Robert (Bob) Andrews Owner- Studebakeracres- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys!)
Parish, central NY 13131
"Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions"- 311
"Do they all not, by mere virtue of having survived as relics of a bygone era, amass a level of respect perhaps not accorded to them when they were new?"
I bought a Skytop with the tag still in place. Being that I had an original, I decided to take a stab at it myself. The challenge was to accurately reproduce the tags- same spacing, same size, same unusual rounded typeface. Further, I was hoping to find a system where any of the streamers could be simply and reasonably be reproduced; that would mean several die sets. All in all a real challenge.
I did what I do whenever it comes to things no one else has been able to do: Go and see my good friend Bill Marsh. Bill is a modest and humble, yet brilliant old-school machinist with nearly 70 years' experience! I can't tell you how many "impossible" things Bill and I have done over the years. I took the tag to Bill last Fall and laid out the challenge. He took the tag from me and started thinking.
We had a few ideas that didn't pan out. Finally Bill developed the current system. Dies were made by casting then from the actual, original tag. The key was the metal that could be poured in a molten state onto the tag without damaging it- yet harden enough to be useful dies. Bill remembered this from talking to then-old timers 50 years ago; I had never heard of such a thing. Bill cast the dies (both sides) and made up fixtures for them that would work in a press. All we had to try was aluminum flashing; but here's the first try:
The top piece is the original; note that it is unharmed- not even the original paint! The bottom is the copy; it fits onto the original perfectly- no shrinkage or distortion. While the type is perfect in the dies, it is not perfectly sharp in the sample. Bill feels this is because the flashing is too thin.
So the next step is to get our hands on some correct, original streamer blanks. Mike Gahlbeck said a while back that he had some, and I've already e-mailed him. My hope is to get some ASAP, so I can bring some samples along with the original for folks to see at York.
If these work, the process to make any other dies is pretty simple and cheap; just a matter of having an original from which to make a casting. We feel the dies should be good for at least a few dozen before showing wear.
I'm waiting for some tags, and I'm pretty hopeful that these will work out. I'll keep you posted. Comments welcome!
Robert (Bob) Andrews Owner- Studebakeracres- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys!)
Parish, central NY 13131
"Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions"- 311
"Do they all not, by mere virtue of having survived as relics of a bygone era, amass a level of respect perhaps not accorded to them when they were new?"
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