Buster99

Deeply impressive build, a true masterpiece! I love it! As much as I dislike the use of the word "awesome", it would still fall short to describe what you have achieved.

Hi Roy, so glad it works for you and thank you kindly for providing the supplier! That will be very helpful. Your results look very nice and I will keep following your progress of this most interesting build. My hat of to you! @Codger, I am just glad to having been able to contribute. It has been a long quest for me too, many years of trying and searching that led to finding these watchmakers tools. As a sidenote, I was informed that the swirls were originally not even used for decorative purposes but as a means of providing mostly aluminium surfaces with a type of grooves that would hold oil in order to prevent rust and oxidation. Later on it became a more decorative method. (this apart from watchmaking were it has always been a purely decorative technique as I have also been told) Best regards, Marc

Hi CrazyCrank, The rods and holders should also be available in smaller diameters, I have a set of 2mm and 2.5mm myself. You will have to search for the right brand and sizes for your specific purpose. I have seen firetrucks using patterns with really large circles (5-6cm) and I have seen minuscule ones around 1mm on watches. @Sharknose156: Also a very workable solution, if it works for you it is great! Downside can be that changing pressure can result in different diameter circles. The watchmaker tooling is intended for high quality watches and will ensure certain standards, for private purposes it all depends on personal criteria. The sample you show looks quite good actually Best regards, Marc

Hello CrazyCrank, Yes those are quite nice but they also have a different type with larger diameters that fit in a pin vise type holder. I have a couple of those and the softer types will work on curved surfaces when used with the right pressure and rpm. My former supplier is no longer in business but the tools can still be found. See https://www.boley.de/shop/3224.stiftpolierer for examples, it shows the rods and the holder. It will take some practice to get good results on aluminium as it behaves different from gold and silver etc. Also keep in mind that these professional tools can be quite a lot more expensive than one might expect, the benefits are that they are really good quality and will perform well and last long. Best regards, Marc

Hello Roy, I have noticed your build and am quite impressed, very nice! As you seem to look for a way to make swirls in aluminium I may offer some advice: Swirls like these are often used in watchmaking and called "Perlage". Youtube has a lot of info on how this is done and watchmaking tools should help you in achieving your goal. I have a couple of special holders for making "Perlage" in a small drill press, it is like a pin-vise that holds a cylindrical piece of polishing rubber, it should be available in different diameters and grits but is for creating small 'swirls'. You should be able to obtain these from places where they sell watchmaking tools. Do a google search for "Perlage tools" and it should give you sufficient hits. "Boley", "Bergeon" and "Flume" are brands that sell the tools, as they are German/Swiss companies, look for "Stiftpolierer". I hope this willl help you in your search, Marc