Part 1: Making the Mold (Completed)
» Part 2: The Brass Lettering/Star outline (Completed)
  Part 3: Terrazzo mix and color (In Progress)
  Part 4: Finished Product

UPDATES

» Thursday, July 1, 2004

I got the lettering from Les and I have to say it’s like fine jewlery… the photos don’t do them justice (plus I didn’t lay them out properly)… The letters are 1″ tall and were each hand poured and finished. Guess that’s what over 40 years of experience gets you! Now, I can complete the Terrazzo process… I’ll post the mixes and process in Part 3: Terrazzo mix and color (In Progress).

» Friday, May 7, 2004

Les Skinner Co, called to update me on the progress of the lettering. The original Walk Of Fame letters are 2″ and the medallions are 6″, because my star is exactly 50%, we decided to make the letters 1″ instead of 1 1/2″. The letters will be poured brass, like the originals, instead of cut from brass using a water jet process. I should have them in a couple weeks… I’ll post photos as soon as I get them.
I have also completed the star outline. I used epoxy with brass grindings to attach each point. This is good enough to keep it together until I’m ready to epoxy the star to the floor.

Here is a shot of a corner using epoxy with brass grindings:

I will be starting on Part 3 sortly…
» Thursday, April 22, 2004

It took a while, but I found the guy that has been making the lettering for the real Walk Of Fame stars since 1956. His name is Les Skinner, he is a really nice guy… I should have the authentic lettering (but only 1 1/2″ tall) by next week.
» Monday, April 19, 2004

I finished Part 2 last night… I will be ordering the letters tomorrow and starting on Part 3 this week. Here are some photos of the final star outline. Enjoy!

Mitered the points:

Placed some terrazzo chips for effect:

The final shot:

» Friday, April 16, 2004

I officially completed Part 1 yesterday. Now it’s time to start the star outline. I went to Northwest Terrazzo and Marble last week and bought two 4′ sticks of 3/8″ x 1/4″ brass strips for the star outline and four 4′ sticks of 3/8″ x 1/8″ zinc strips for the border of the whole walk of fame tile. The total cost for the strips was about $70, the brass was the most expensive at about $26 a stick.

Here is a photo of the strips:

I’ve decided that a 18″x18″ (approx size) star would fit my area the best. The whole outer portion (the black part) will be about 40″ x 28″ and will act as an entry to the theater room. With those numbers I cut ten 6″ strips and mitered the ends. If you look closely at the photo below, you can clearly see that I still need to finish the inside ends… hopefully this weekend.

Here is a shot of the outline:

I found a company that can water jet the solid brass letters for me, they need to be about 1 1/2″ tall and 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick. The cheapest I have found so far is about $14 a letter… anyone know of a cheaper place?
Anyways, I’ll try to finish up this weekend and will post the final photos and start on Part 3. Send me your comments or suggestions!