There are 2 parts to this project; the CAD design of the 'replica' emblems and the material/finish of whatever gets produced. Printing in nylon is easy but I’m all about metal.
The 60% 316L 40% Silicon Bronze matrix does pretty well in a very aggressive hot salt brine - no visible rust in a couple of hours. For reference, a piece of 440 stainless in the same brine was rusting in less than 15 minutes. I decided to passivate the emblem in a hot citric acid solution followed by oxidation in hydrogen peroxide but that darkened the finish slightly (probably the bronze in the matrix). It is good, but still not quite what I want, so I'm still working the material and finish side of the project. More to follow...
I am pretty stoked that the design side is working out really well. I did come into possession of an original emblem (kinda beat from corrosion) and was able to make measurements of it to fix little inconsistencies in my earlier versions. I also got to replicate the '27' from a 1968 hull. Not exact but within a few thousandths in most places. I couldn’t find the exact font for any of the letters/numbers other than the MIAMI, FLA, so I had to do the equivalent of hand digitizing for each letter/number. The original emblems were thinner (0.140") - I made the new letters and waves 0.200" thick so they would be stronger and could still be surface polished. Here is an image of how that would have looked with the replicas for the 27.
As far as I can tell, Potter only used decals while Carl used either nylon or zamak emblems. But since I have a 23 and not a 27, I decided to skip the decals and come up with an aftermarket jewelry design for mine and the plethora of other 23s out there.
Right now I am thinking of setting this up as an ala carte thing – people get to order whatever part or parts they want. Like I said earlier, plastic is easy – good metal is gonna take a bit more time. I am still planning on having metal prototypes at the next gathering (Jensen Beach).
Oh yeah – for the rare and coveted 21’s out there I made a design without the ‘MIAMI, FLA.’ block. You will get to drill the other 3 holes yourself on those and I haven’t gotten the numbers for the 21 yet.
