Hobo nickels: intricate carvings in coins - GIF and photos

**WinDancerKnives** · Aug 11, 2018, 07:01 PM

Fun!
The world needs more fun- specially right now

Thanks,
Dave

**PJs** · Aug 12, 2018, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by WinDancerKnives

Fun!
The world needs more fun- specially right now

Thanks,
Dave

You are so right Dave, we do!

First I saw this post Jon, and these are stunning examples of creative craftsmanship and engineering. I had seen a couple on YT a year or so back and was blown away. Also a bunch out there on rolling coins into rings...another creative endeavor.

PJ

**Jon** · Oct 17, 2018, 11:11 PM

**will52100** · Oct 18, 2018, 05:23 PM

Now that's just cool

**Jon** · Sep 2, 2019, 10:59 AM

Monkey king Morgan silver dollar. The engraver is Aleksey Saburov. More of his work is here: https://www.saburovart.com/.

I like what he's doing here by using hobo nickels as watch faces:

**Toolmaker51** · Oct 18, 2018, 06:27 PM

I want to see what kind of tools these craft-persons had access to, and the occupations they hailed from.
The coins sword actuator enters a shutter, marked with a very distinctive symbol. See it?

**Jon** · Oct 21, 2018, 10:56 AM

Same coin from a previous post in this thread, but here we see more of how it's assembled.

I was poking around to find a dedicated hobo nickel forum (not just a subforum or popular thread from a metalworking or coin collecting site). Thought I found a good one at HoboCarvers.com Forum, especially when I saw that they had a Tools subforum, but it's a ghost town. No new posts in years, and, the worst part, it's a graveyard of broken images! I looked through all of the threads in the Tools subforum. Didn't find many good images except for some posts from a pro engraving tool maker named Steve Lindsay, at AirGraver.com, and struck gold: custom coin vises! More here: Lindsay Engraving Vises, holders and fixtures.

Also pulled the 2016 patent for his Reversible Coin Holder - US Patent #9,448,537

**mklotz** · Oct 21, 2018, 11:06 AM

Anyone who has made soft jaws for his lathe chuck will recognize the idea. In fact, that's how double-headed/double-tailed coins are made.

**Jon** · Nov 8, 2018, 08:31 AM

Had a nice email chat with Steve Lindsay (inventor of the vises above). Definitely one of us, and it turns out he loves old machines. Check out his shop: Steve Lindsay Shop Tour

Anyway, not a coin, but this fits in this thread:

**PJs** · Nov 8, 2018, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Jon

Had a nice email chat with Steve Lindsay (inventor of the vises above). Definitely one of us, and it turns out he loves old machines. Check out his shop: Steve Lindsay Shop Tour

Anyway, not a coin, but this fits in this thread:

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Definitely a man of many talents and skills, his breadth of interests are amazing, from the 69' Vette, to machine restoration, Code Jockey, Author and instructor. The scraping work on some of those machines was artwork, let a lone his prowess as an engraver. His knife work is a treat for these eyes. That Knife book by David Darom on his site is on my Want list now. Some of the examples on his Engraving tool page are off the charts. The Mouser bolt knob although not his (Barry Lee Hands) was fabulous with the spherical knurling (engraved), stippling, and the gold inlay on the one face.