Brass engine spec. plates made
to order
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(Update 11th August 2007) If the brass specification
plate (A.K.A "Makers Plate", "Spec plate", Identification Plate, "brass
plate" and other descriptions) on your engine is missing or damaged then
you may want to consider having me make you a new plate. I make "etched" brass
plates and at this time I am only able to make this type of plate. I
do not make aluminium plates or use any metal other than brass. I also
cannot, at this stage produce "cast" plates. Ideally I need an original plate to work from (this will be returned to you) but I can also work from a good, large, fairly high resolution digital photograph - taken straight on. In all cases I redraw the artwork and go to great pains to duplicate the original including the letterstyle and spacing. I do not use modern computer typefaces (fonts) and actually redraw the lettering as close as possible to the original. I also do not just scan the original - I need to convert it to a drawing made up of vectors (lines) as opposed to pixels as found in a .jpg or bitmap file and this can take many hours. At this time I do
not charge for doing this artwork - I consider it to be my contribution
to the hobby as is the process of making the plates. I do this as part of
the hobby - it is not the way I earn my living - so please understand that
it also sometimes takes some time to produce new artwork. Fortunately my
customers have been very patient up till now - thanks. I also do not ask for payment up front !! When I've done the artwork I will mail you a copy and if you are happy then I will make the plates and send you a photograph of them - if you are still happy then we will talk about payment - can I be any fairer than that? I supply the plates "raw" ie. I just clean the masking solution off, grind them to shape (I cannot do concave shapes at this time - only convex like the Fairbanks Morse, Wolseley and Ruston & Hornsby plates below or rectangular) and it is left to the customer to polish, paint, buff or whatever his preference is. Click this link for instructions on the various ways of finishing the plates off - all very simple and no need for any special equipment. I also do not drill the holes because these were not always exactly the same on the original engines - I think some manufacturers just had a guy fitting them by hand and that was not too accurate. I can etch "false countersunk screws" into the plate (see Fairbanks Morse plate below) if you plan on attaching them with adhesive (the easiest way). I have done artwork for
some models of the following engines: I'll publish a page soon
showing pictures of the plates I can produce but if you need a plate
for an engine that is not listed please feel free to eMail me. Remember
that I do not charge for doing the artwork but do need a good copy or picture
to work from. The prices I charge are
as follows: Airmail postage
rates are not exhorbitant from South Africa to the rest of the world.
Up to 4 of the smaller plates above airmailed to the U.S.A. comes to approximately
US$ 3.00 and I do not load the price with a packaging charge. Payment: As mentioned
- this is not a business and I do not have a secure server or credit
card facilities and PayPal does not do business with South Africa - so
it will have to be a bank transfer or a cheque to my mate in the USA. IMPORTANT ***** BEFORE ORDERING PLATES FROM ME PLEASE READ THIS PAGE FIRST *****IMPORTANT
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Here are some pictures.
Click on any pic to see a larger version - use your "back" button to return
Half size "Big Chief" plate made for one of Reg Ingolds models. Some of these letters are less than 1mm high.The letters in the line with the Patent Dates are 1.8mm high x .8mm wide. |
Half size agents plate also made for Reg Ingold. This tag was 40mm x 20mm and the pic above will be almost double the actual size if viewed on an 800 x 600 browser.Click on it to see the definition |
Fairbanks Morse plate with black background |
Lister plates - supplied as a set of two. These have the background painted black - I do not supply them like this |
I also make "Specials" like this one acknowledging the friend who donated this engine to me |
Another Special I made for my own engines |
Wolseley WD - this was the first plate I made (It's not for sale but I can make a duplicate). |
Ruston & Hornsby PT - I can also etch the engine number, H.P. and other details into the plate. Just specify them when ordering. |
International Harvester from picture supplied by John Hammink. Thanks John - R.I.P. |
Update June 2009 Click here for pictures of plates for San Francisco made engines. |
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