how to make enamel pins at home

what up!! oh what up. So today guys I'm going to show you how to make this enamel pin. pin. pin...

So the game plan is to make little molds of plastic to cast the metal in. I made two, The base plate that the metal is going to sit in and then one that you're going to stamp in the metal

so to make these what I did was I took some clear acrylic plastic and I printed out the images that I wanted and and taped them to the back of [the plastic]

That way, I could see it and i could scratch into it. so you scratch it out first. (or draw it out) these scratches are going to make the lines that stick out on your enamel pin.

what you do next is you want to get those [lines] nice and deep. I took a Dremel and i drilled out the lines.

You don't have to use a Dremel, just so long as you get them nice and deep.

If you follow me on Snapchat you'll know that I cheated and I went and got these laser engraved, just because it was going to be quicker and easier.

It still wasn't deep enough so I took it and I dremeled it again.

Go ahead and clean it out a little bit. I put a piece of tape on the back [of the stamp one] just so i could hold it [better].

The metal i used was just solder. (Come to find out even lead free solder has bad fumes.. so use super good ventilation and mask or try a different metal) what you use on any electrical repair and a little tiny blow torch. heat it till its liquid. and your going to pour it on the little base. and push it in with the stamp and pull it off.

so I mean that didn't work so I tried it again. lets try that one more time. Nope lets try again. liquid it up. and push it in.

Guys this took so many tries

But eventually I got one I was okay with. Then go ahead and cut off the excess. It looks good so lets run with that one. cut it off more. get it to where you want it. file it to get the nice little details on the edges.

next were going to glue on the pin. I took the epoxy and mixed it. put it on the back of the [metal pin] it takes about 4 to 8 hours to set.

but once its set you can go ahead and paint it. I started with a black paint but you could just leave it silver.

now time for the enamel. you can get this at any craft store - its what people use to paint their model cars and what not. I mixed up the colors to what i wanted and with a paint brush i just painted it.

with the small parts I used a tooth pick. tiny little detail in the eye right their. looks good

I like to mix the colors on the same little pallet so they marry each other and have the same feel.

again with the small little detail in the eye and... done. let that dry.

all you have to do it put the backing of the pin on there and there you have it. DOOOPE.

(UPDATE: that JB weld didn't hold too well.. so I recommend using super glue...)

As far as a home made (hand made) pin I was pretty pumped on it. A little enamel pin. I hadn't seen one done.

So guys I'm going to be giving away this one, or a different one that i made, on my Instagram. Go ahead and check out [my Instagram] . Just like the post with this pin on it... and... ya ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(I kind of just must made this up... so there might be a better way to do it from home... but this worked well enough for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Music: Wūsh - late nights with you / for her

Follow me and watch the art process:

Like. Comment. Share.. or what ever..

[stolenzephyr]

You should be careful with solder. Work in a well ventilated area and be aware that it has lead in it.

[mikesanchez]

I hope people read the comments before trying this at home.

[guapagrande]

Truly appreciating this video cuz it actually shows how to make the pin instead of saying “draw a picture then send it to a factory”. I’m actually gonna start making my own enamel pins this way. Not for sale or anything cuz that would be time consuming!

[spirkspirk]

Omg! Dont use electrical solder. Use the stuff for jewelry. The electical kind is not good to keep near your skin.

[Ceci-dbkh]

This video was really about how to make enamel pins?
To me it was about this guy who finds out how to do stuff in a way I would never thought. And still, seems accessible. I mean, even I could do that, though my blowtorch is for cooking - I hope that it works with this.
For real tho, this is awesome.

[Hanna.Banana.]

Dude, your DIYs are so cool and unique, it's awesome to see what I could actually create by myself at home with so little (though I'll probably never do it, but I like watching anyway)!

[kaitlinalana]

This is great, every other tutorial I've seen for making enamel pins has been "design it and send the design to this company so they can make it for you".

[Bloodyroot]

just dont use any solder which contains led for this. wouldnt be very healthy. also if it contains flux dont breathe in the fumes it creates while it melts. again not very healthy.
doesnt the solder bend quite easily? i feel like that could happen and cause the paint to chip off.

[notfst]

Not to be a downer but even cured solder is insanely weak. I wouldn't be surprised if that broke within the first month. With that torch you might get to aluminum levels and cast a actual metal pin.

[starblaze]

Even more reason I give respect to those people who sell custom enamel pins or something on Etsy. Like actual custom ones, not like they ordered it from other websites.

[Wyohmingknott]

There are a bunch of things you might want to try as harder wearing alternatives. How about resin with metal powder (or even glow in the dark powder!) rather than the solder base? You might also want to experiment with metalclays like silver clay, you still get to use your blow torch and a lot less problems that the solder! :) do post if / when you try it though as I would like to see!

[TopFurret]

While not enamel, if you'd really like to make pins Shrinky Dinks sealed with Mod Podge or domed with UV resin are quite nice.

Definitely less... Toxic than soldering metal.

[AiraDiosa]

Cute! It's my first time to watch a guy doing DIY. 😊😊😘

[suemebanhme]

Your intro is like the most awesome thing I have ever seen.

[TheSquaretoSpare]

Awesome tutorial Brian!! I love your process of using acrylic as molds. I only ever seen people use plaster or silicone for molds so this was pretty refreshing :)

[XiiaoXinn]

dude you're so crafty and creative this is amazing

[nancyflowers]

I love how your hands looks like the hands of an artist, with remaining paint in the fingers...

[orcas]

This is so much better than that girl who made a "how to make enamel pins" video and just told you to send them to a place to get them made.

[MakerCuisine]

Its really cool to see a process that uses actual metal, i never would have thought to use solder. Great idea and the pin looks awesome 👌

[StJossyofAmnesia]

I'm just glad to finally see a video for DIY pins that doesn't involve Shrinky Dinks or hot glue!