Pressed Steel Ford and Coke Logos

The Ford and Coke pressed-steel logos are great for motivating students who want a quick, easy project and perhaps have little interest in metalwork. The sheet metal can then be used as a sign, wall hanger, or incorporated into a sheet-metal box or another project.

To make the logo is very easy, you will need the sheet metal stamps, an English wheel and some thin sheet metal. I use .55mm galv as it's cheap and forms well in the press, but you can also use thicker aluminium or cold rolled sheet steel at .8 mm thick

Its important to use the flat anvil on the english wheel

You will need to cut some sheet metal to a size that avoids the bolt holes, either vertically or horizontally. Alternatively, you can drill four holes in the sheet metal if you need it to be bigger for your project.

It's then just a case of positioning the stamps carefully and bolting them together. Finger tight is all you need.

Next roll in the English wheel, with light pressure and adjust the pressure after a few passes, until the plates are pressed toghter

You can then pull the press apart and check out your handiwork. You can sand with some scotch brite, paint it or use the logo as part of another project, like a toolbox or drinks cooler

There is a fair amount of work in making the sheet metal stamps. I've supplied the DXF files, and they will have to be laser cut out of 3mm sheet steel. The laser cutter operator will have to have clear instructions on what you want. Mine had to redo the project 3 times, as he kept losing pieces. You will need every piece of the letters and the holes inside the letters.

You can see the coke plate has a few pieces missing, so it could not be used.

Each stamp has 3 plates, two of which have a series of holes. It can be a bit confusing, the idea is that you fit the letters in the correct position on the plate and plug weld them through the back side. The other plate with holes is for the holes in the centre of the letters.

The photos have notes if you click on them, and show the finished stamps for clarity. The sharp edges from the laser cutter were all rounded off before welding on the letters and the "letter holes" I rounded the edges with files, and for some of the large pieces, I used a pneumatic chamfer tool. (check out the photos)

The letters have to be welded in the right position before welding. I bolted the plates together to stop them from moving and used sheet metal off-cuts and pieces of MIG wire and sheet metal to position the letters and "letter hole"

They are quite difficult to plug weld through the holes. I welded them on with a MIG welder, which was very difficult. A TIG would be a much better option, but you can see the two finished plates after plug welding.

Overall, a great project if you want to make multiple pressed logos, and it is a hit with my students. The only downside is that building the plates is very time-consuming, and designing them was a bit of a pain.