Crusader Copper

Crusader Copper I’m a U.S. Ora et labora!

Army Veteran and retired Supervisory Federal Agent specializing in creating bespoke Catholic/Christian acid etched solid Copper coins and other items.

06/14/2026

The United States Army was founded on this day 251 years ago. June 14, 1775.

I can trace my earliest ancestors in this country back to their arrival on the Mayflower in 1620. Some served in the Continental Army during the Revolution forging this great nation. Service in our nation’s military has been a part of every generation of my family since the founding of our country.

A solemn vow of service and a deep sense of duty, honor, country. I’m proud to have served in the U.S. Army, doing my part to preserve and protect this nation, just as my ancestors did before me. Happy birthday!

“A republic, if you can keep it.” - Benjamin Franklin

Happy Birthday U.S. Army!!!
06/14/2026

Happy Birthday U.S. Army!!!

Hard to believe it’s been ten years since I checked that bucket list item off. Lucky to live fire the Dillon M134D from...
06/08/2026

Hard to believe it’s been ten years since I checked that bucket list item off. Lucky to live fire the Dillon M134D from a Vietnam era UH-1 Huey piloted by a former 160th SOAR Nightstalker. This was a work related visit to Dillon Aero at their facility in Arizona when I ran the Defensive Equipment program (fi****ms, ammo, body armor, and all related equipment) for the entire agency. That was a really cool day!

The St. Benedict medal on the left is over 100 years old and a design (there are a number of different designs) that I r...
06/07/2026

The St. Benedict medal on the left is over 100 years old and a design (there are a number of different designs) that I really like for the uniqueness and Gothic kind of vibe.

These specific medals are hard to find and can have inflated prices because of that. The hole on my medal is almost completely worn through from wearing it on a Marian consecration bracelet that doubles as a decade Rosary. This original medal is silver plated aluminum. I have another one of these medals but wanted something more robust to hold up better. So I decided to make one myself out if Titanium.

I wanted to replicate the design closely, but I’m in no way an artist to be able to create a design like this. With some initial help of an AI tool and then manual tweaking and modification I came up with this new design. I even incorporated some “wear” directly into the design since the Titanium won’t wear or patina like other metals.

All of the letters on the Cross side of the design are abbreviations for a Latin exorcistic prayer. See the second picture for the Latin and translated prayer.

06/07/2026

St. Benedict Medal Titanium Keychain and small medal design tests finished up yesterday. Very happy with how these turned out.

See the separate post about the design and the Latin prayer represented by the abbreviations on the Cross side of the medal.

Thank God that such men lived.
06/06/2026

Thank God that such men lived.

06/06/2026

Oh yeah! The combination of a heavy stonewash and then a Bronze anodizing turned out really cool. Almost an aged/worn look.

I’m not sure how well the anodizing will hold up over time on a keychain with keys and other items wearing on it, but this looks really nice.

What’s hard to capture in photos is the nature of the electro anodizing finish when it’s viewed at different angles and in different lighting conditions. The color shifts/changes with angle and light. Pretty cool how it does that.

A couple of military designs for these tests. The stonewash finish looks really good on these with a nice matte look. ...
06/06/2026

A couple of military designs for these tests. The stonewash finish looks really good on these with a nice matte look. These were stonewashed for 2 hours. I can also stonewash for a shorter time so they’re not quite so matte overall.

These initial keychain design tests were made out of Grade 9 Titanium as that’s what I had on hand in 1.5mm thick. Ones I produce for sale will be Grade 5 Titanium which will also be 1.5mm thick but stronger. I should have the Grade 5 Titanium plate in hand in the next few days.

Titanium keychains can be customized with just about any design and I can do custom shapes as well.

06/05/2026

Trying out a Crusader/Templar themed Titanium keychain design.

I’ve found that a stonewashed finish for keychains is the best option considering the wear it’ll get from keys and other pocket contents. Titanium will scratch due to a different surface hardness from other metals like steel.

This one may get Bronze anodized after stonewashing just to try and see what it looks like.

Address

Thurmont, MD
21788

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Crusader Copper posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category