Kentucky Trip 2

Wow! Again, I'm amazed at the number of people passing on their congratulations to Chris. Thank you and I'll be sure to tell him (he is also receives these notes).

Many leaders and organizations in the Army use challenge coins to recognize significant contributions of individuals. Some coins are handed out like candy and are nice to get but not necessarily all that special - almost like a nice business card. The opposite of that is when that coin is presented by high command recognizing specific contributions or a deployment. Chris has accumulated "many" coins in his time and I saw an idea for a display he might like. As you see in the photo, it is a wooden flag with 9 mm casings for coin support. I used bloodwood (red), maple (white), and walnut (appreciate the beautiful grain in the second photo!) (blue star field) - no dies or stains. I used a template for the stars, laid down painters tape on the walnut, and then cut each star using an x-acto knife. Donnice then painted the star cutouts. I shot 100 rounds of 9 mm at an indoor range trying to collect the spent casings. I gathered up about 60 or 70 of them (needed 44 in the project). If you have never shot a luger style pistol, you might struggle to understand why this was a major effort! The spent casing ejection is anything but predictable regarding location (even in a shooting range alley)! I wanted all casings to have the same markings. I wanted all casings to have a firing pin mark (ie - not brand new which often are missing the primer - ready for reloading). Fortunately, there was only one other shooter at the range and he was several stalls away. I'm sure I looked about half crazy searching for my cases! With spent cases in hand, I headed home to wash them and rub them down with Brasso to get all the gunpowder residue off. I am quite certain I would not have made it through any airport security after this job with hands covered in gunpowder residue. I had marked (very precisely) and drilled (with a drill press) the holes in the flag using a un-shot bullet. My drill bits are sized in increments of 1/64" and I selected the best/tightest fit. When I go to place the cases into the flag, I have to dope-slap myself. My pre-drilled holes were too small as the casing expands upon firing. If you think no big deal, just use a little force, it can't be that hard - you are wrong. Too much force on holes drilled into very hard wood and close to the edge would break the board (I know because I tested on a piece of scrap). I ended up having to re-drill the holes with a 1/32" larger bit. I use a brad point bit so the hole has a clean edge. Centering the slightly larger bit in an existing hole was more difficult than you think. My original very precise holes were now less precise than I wanted. The straight lines in the stripes of the flag were not my friend in this exercise. Regardless, it was finished and I applied several coats of lacquer finish and we gave it to Chris in advance of his promotion.

He selected his favorite coins and populated the board making for a nice display for his desk. Lauren set up a display table at the promotion ceremony much like a timeline of his military journey. The flag received many compliments. Would I repeat the project? Not for anyone other than a very special connection! As simple as the project looks, it was not something I would enjoy mass producing! The precision required is deceiving with the tools I used. If curious, the flag proportions match federal regulations. Finished size is 9-7/32" x 17-1/2" x 1/2" (essentially dictated by the 5x7 starfield template).

Thanks,

Doug White

https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/