# F-18 challenge coin display



## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

I made three of these coin holders this weekend for a guy at work. The finished one is walnut and I am going to stain the two oak ones with a golden oak stain to give them a little color over the next few days. Enjoy!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Nice. We recently had a discussion about unit coins here at work. I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them. I used to carry one of my military ones, but now carry one from a Global Hawk project I was the principle engineer on a few years back. People always ask why I carry it, which inevitably brings a lot more questions.

Great looking projects, Al B. I only have a few coins but always thought a nice collection from various units and "swaps" would be cool.


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

Very nice and a cool project. I have collected several of those coin "medallions" but they are for NASCAR.

Red


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

frankp said:


> Nice. We recently had a discussion about unit coins here at work. I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them. I used to carry one of my military ones, but now carry one from a Global Hawk project I was the principle engineer on a few years back. People always ask why I carry it, which inevitably brings a lot more questions.
> 
> Great looking projects, Al B. I only have a few coins but always thought a nice collection from various units and "swaps" would be cool.


"I'm always surprised at the number of defense contractors who've never seen them." 

I am a 23 year, retired military person who never even heard of them until they were menioned on here some time back. I have a feeling that this is something that has come up in the last 25 years or so.

George


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## USMCBAZ (Sep 13, 2009)

Hey buddy cool project, i did some also...but i never seem to get the darn slots depth correct? What bit do you use and how deep do you inset?


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## Chad (May 10, 2009)

Very nice looking display project.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Definately cool. I really like the shape of the jet. I mean the aircraft carrier ones that I have seen are cool to, but I *really* like this one. Great job.
Ken


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## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

Thanks for the complements. I've been in the Navy 21 years and seems like they have become popular over the last 10 years or so. They seem to be popular with all the services. 

They get the name "challenge coin" because often in the base clubs, someone will show their coin and everyone has to pull their coins out to match. Those that don't have a coin have to buy a round. Afterwards, it's common to trade coins.


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## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

USMCBAZ said:


> Hey buddy cool project, i did some also...but i never seem to get the darn slots depth correct? What bit do you use and how deep do you inset?


 
I used a 1/4" dado blade and just ripped them with the grain of the wood. In the past I have used a router bit but I wanted the jet to be sloped like it's in a bank so I just angled the blade. I just plugged the slots to make nice clean ends. 

For the depth, I wanted a 1/4" depth as the end product. I cut a little deeper so I could run through the planer and make the plugs smooth across the surface. I just ran through the planer to where I got the slots down to 1/4". This was much easier than trying to use a router. Hope this helps.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

GeorgeC, perhaps. I know we've had this discussion before, but it's definitely something that was around at least in several of my units since the early-mid '60s at the latest.


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## woodman42 (Aug 6, 2007)

Thats cool Al B. Very clean.


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## jacknewbury (Feb 21, 2010)

*Help*

Al B,
Great work, I am a CTMC just got off the GW and a novice woodworker. A few weeks ago I built a carrier coin display on a pedistal and in my opinion it looked great, till I grooved it for the coin slots. I did not want to go al the way to the ends of the board but starting at my end points made my entry wider than the rest of the cut from my table saw. What do you mean you "PLUGGED THE SLOTS". I have no problem building my templates, to scale even, I would love to have a cleaner finnished product though.
any help would be great.
Jax


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## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

jacknewbury said:


> Al B,
> What do you mean you "PLUGGED THE SLOTS".
> 
> 
> ...


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## jacknewbury (Feb 21, 2010)

*Nice*

Al B,
thanks for the assist and you have no idea how hard i want to hit myself for not figuring that out on my own. attached is a scateboard that i did i know that the deck is backwards but i didn't reallize it until it was mounted. thank you again for all your help. pic is a bit blury i am working on that too..
jax


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## Al B Cuttn Wud (Oct 14, 2007)

jacknewbury said:


> Al B,
> thanks for the assist and you have no idea how hard i want to hit myself for not figuring that out on my own. attached is a scateboard that i did i know that the deck is backwards but i didn't reallize it until it was mounted. thank you again for all your help. pic is a bit blury i am working on that too..
> jax


 
I laugh because I do the same. My wife makes fun of me all the time as I stand in front of something and try to figure out in my head how it was done. 

Your skateboard looks good so keep it up. Also, you can use different species of wood for the plugs to give it a little personality. Keep up the good work.


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