Metal Prizes for Future Marathons

2011-12-12 04:58:40 pm

As the title says, I've started this thread to discuss metal prizes for future marathons. I'll post some pics below and you can tell me what you think as far as what projects will or will not work in the future. I guess this is mostly for my benefit as I seem to be the only machinist on staff, but of course, anyone is free to give or take with these ideas.

First up, here's something you've probably already seen. It's the Master Sword that I made for AGDQ 2012. The rendered image is what the part looked like in the CAM software before machining. Please compare the rendered image to the real, final product. This comparison will be important for future items. More to come...

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Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:04:05 pm

Here's the Super Meat Boy tenderizer with the same juxtaposition as above.

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Tom Folino

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Tom Folino: 2011-12-12 08:24:53 pm

2011-12-12 05:06:36 pm

I forgot to mention this above, but a common thread of the items I'm posting now is that they involve engraving. Despite how good this stuff looks, it's actually really easy to do, and that's why I want to do more of it. Making the sword was a huge project, but engraving the triforce only took about 5 minutes.

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:09:32 pm

Here's a mortar and pestle. The first pic is just so you know what it is. Again, I want to emphasize the engraving.

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2011-12-12 05:16:34 pm

Here's a medallion that I made as an Xmas present for someone I know. He hasn't seen it yet, so I don't know if he wants pics of this thing with his name on it on the internet, thus the blackout on top. If you take a moment, you may notice a dirty joke contained herein.

I don't know if medallions would make good game-themed prizes, but this thing was a cinch to make, and it looks great.

And in case I didn't emphasize this enough already, all of this stuff is metal. The medallion is nice and heavy and feels very good to hold.

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Chrno

2011-12-12 05:22:41 pm

WOW.

Dat Super Meat Boy cleaver...

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:26:32 pm

And now for some futuristic items. Here are three images. One you'll recognize as a drawing of Crono from Chrono Trigger. The other two are rendered images from CAM software. The green and yellow on is what the finished product will look like, as above. The other is an image of the paths that the tool will take while engraving. This is not necessary at all. I just include it cause it looks cool.

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dballin

2011-12-12 05:28:07 pm

Balls jerky

This all looks incredibly sexy. You obviously know what you're doing. I don't get to play with any of the CNC stuff at work so this is all way above me. 20 year old Bridgeport manual machines 4 lyfe. Even then only a machine op at best. I don't know how to do a damn thing with it other than about three super easy jobs haha. Trying to think of something Sega related so I can fanboy all over it.

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:29:13 pm

Same treatment as above, with the cover of the game this time. This is one of my favorite games, so I will probably end up doing prizes for it eventually.

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Tom Folino

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Tom Folino: 2011-12-12 05:30:48 pm

2011-12-12 05:30:27 pm

dballin: I don't know what you do for a living, but if you like metal and machines then I suggest you go to school for it. I didn't know shit about this before I went to school. Feel free to PM me about this.

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:35:33 pm

As you can see, engravings can be simply polished up when done or they can be colored. The tenderizer was painted red and then polished, while the medallion was painted black and polished.

About these Chrono Trigger items, note that the green and yellow rendered images look pretty lousy. This is because I did a simple raster-to-vector from those image files. In other words, the original images were never designed with machining in mind, so they don't really convert well. If anyone out there knows how to work with Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape or any sort of line art program then this is a good opportunity for you to contribute, should the mood strike you.

Ok, that's all I've got for the moment. Let me know what you think.

Mercury.Com

2011-12-12 05:37:53 pm

Sea of Green

I think I speak for most of SDA when I say that we would love to continue having you make prizes for future marathons. They're really unique and also beautiful. I can't wait to see what else you can do! Smiley

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 05:41:34 pm

Thanks, MZ. You do good work yourself.

romscout

2011-12-12 06:23:20 pm

that Metroidvania guy

If medallions are easy to make, of course the obvious suggestion is the 3 elemental medallions from LttP, as I'm sure LttP will be played in several future marathons. It's hard to take guesses at what would make good prizes for future marathons without knowing exactly what games are being played at them, but I'm sure whatever prizes you end up making will be a huge draw. Something I jokingly mentioned regarding Earthbound in a chat was having a Mani Mani Statue as a prize, but I'm not even sure if that's something you'd be into making. I'm certain the game will be played at future marathons at some point though, even if it has a year off next time.

Of course, the prizes you made for this marathon are incredible and whatever else you ever decide to make will also probably be awesome.

wooden sparrow

2011-12-12 06:42:53 pm

I'm just a random lurker popping in, but I had to let you know that those prizes look amazing.
I'm actually finishing some CNC mill classes (a lot of g-code) this week before I take some CAD/CAM and CNC lathe classes next semester.
It's stuff like this that motivates me to learn more! Awesome work.

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 08:09:31 pm

Romscout: If you tell me what LttP stands for then I'll check it out. I'll have to see if I can find a decent pic of the Mani Mani statue before I can say on that one. I do have a soft spot for Earthbound. I'd also like to do something for FF3 or 6 or whatever we call it here.

Wooden Sparrow: If you don't mind my asking, where are you going to school?

Tom Folino

2011-12-12 08:17:45 pm

Oh, I get it. Link to the Past. I'm not up on my AVGTA.

Now to find some pics of those medallions...

Mercury.Com

2011-12-13 03:31:43 am

Sea of Green

The last three items in the second row here are the medallions romscout was talking about. I agree that they would be pretty awesome prizes. (And thank you for the compliment earlier. Smiley

)

Tom Folino

2011-12-13 06:47:34 am

I can make those. They're too plain though, so I'll have to add some detail. For instance, the ether medallion will have a more detailed lightning bolt. It'll also get some snowflakes or something, as I think I recall that it would freeze stuff. Bombos shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Not sure what to do with quake. What is that supposed to be, a sine wave?

Mercury.Com

2011-12-13 06:53:26 am

Sea of Green

Yeah, the Ether medallion definitely freezes stuff. I think the Quake medallion is meant to be the ground shaking? Maybe some more detail / shading on the ground would help it. Either way, it's really cool that you're thinking of making these! Cheesy

Tom Folino

2011-12-13 07:44:57 am

Well then, I suppose it's settled. I'll make these for AGDQ 2013. Or perhaps sooner if there's another summer run.

If any artists want to contribute designs, please contact me. You will receive credit for your design, assuming I use it. Your name will be engraved on the back along with mine.

wooden sparrow

2011-12-13 08:24:53 am

Quote from Tom Folino:

Wooden Sparrow: If you don't mind my asking, where are you going to school?

Just a community college in Upstate New York.

Tom Folino

2011-12-14 10:33:10 pm

So I was just watching Philippe Brisson's run of Zelda LttP and I thought "Hey, I could may Ganon's trident or something for a prize. That would be a cinch." And then I thought "Hey, wait, I already did something cooler." And here it is. I call it the cadena cincodent. That's my spanglish way of saying that it has a chain and five points, as opposed to the three points of a trident.

The first pic shows it before I welded it together. The second pic is the chain end. As you can see, the chain actually fits inside the hollow staff and the weight on the end screws in, making for a neat package. The thrid pic is the pointy end. I apparently forgot to take a pic once it was all put together.

I'd hesitate to offer this particular item as a prize, mostly because I have no idea what game it would fit, but here's something for you to think about. It looks neat and it's easy to make.

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2011-12-14 10:36:32 pm

Here's something else that I found in the archives. It's a Halloween present that I made for someone a few years ago. It's made entirely out of strips of steel. As you can see, both faces are on the same pumpkin, just opposite sides.

Again, I have not idea what game this would fit, but this sort of thing is pretty easy to make, and it makes a hell of an impression.

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2011-12-14 10:44:18 pm

Balls jerky

If I was able to do only super cool stuff like this, I think I could live with working on machines for the rest of my life. Mass producing crap is boring as all hell. So is working on the same dumb electronics stuff that I do day in and day out. Too bad the super high start up costs are kinda prohibitive of making that a hobby.