Black Jack With Grill - E, Z Or D?

Wow - lots of response, thanks to you all! Sorry for late response on my side, busy days offshore.

cjpalermo - you made me consider an motivation for examination I had not even thought of. Beyond the interest of my inheritors, some of you fellows might also have an interest in an expert examination. I'm feeling almost morally obliged to offer that conclusion to this community, in appreciation of all the answers and experience I've gained from all of you. A glass of champagne across the Atlantic would be an achievement in itself!

Crousse - yeah, resolution really makes the difference, which leads me to replying to...

essayk - thanks a lot for your very extensive and helpful answer cjpalermo had already convinced me to send it for examination 'for the boys' when you chimed in. Your reply made me think an even better resolution scan could reveal something, so before I decide to 'bite the bullet' I'll post a high-res scan. I had to 'google' how to use this fu"#¤%/g new scanner, and now that dumb thing is finally doing its duty at 1200 dpi!

I hope you can access the scan at this link?
http://Blaamand.opendrive.com/files...00%20dpi.jpg

In order to try to 'enhance' the grill some more, I tried to apply a bit more carbon, however I am not sure if it helped or only made a mess of it all. In my eyes most of the ridges are oriented horizontally, but that might only be my super-ego trying to see what it wants to see. 'Half points' (at top/bottom) are way beyond my level... but I think most of the ridges also in the middle of the grill seems to be horizontal. Hopefully the new scan will give you folks more clues?

I realize it's is difficult to scan a 3D element on a stamp, so eyes-on examination is the only way to tell for sure. If anybody see something on the new scan that strongly indicates a fake or E grill, please let me know. If not I'll send it for examination. If it turns out to be wasted money, it would still feel like a fair investment to satisfy the curiosity for all of us.

Again, thanks a lot for looking, hope you can give the new scan a look too.

-Jon-

H DNA C, - I appreciate your not giving up on me! I missed your last post while preparing my own last post...
Anyway, here you have scans at different orientations - honestly I have never heard of that method. Hopefully it can reveal more of the 3D effect?

(Looking at the pictures, it seems like the carbon has been messed around a little while rotating the stamp on the scanner bed...)


90 degrees orientation:



180 degrees orientation:



270 degrees orientation:



Thanks again folks, you are marvelous !
-Jon-

Edit - when re-examining the last pictures (180 deg and 270 deg) it seems the carbon has really been messed around. Maybe this carbon method was not the brightest thing to do after all. At least not rotating it while on the scanner bed...

Hmmmmm - H DNA C - on close inspection, this twisting-on-the-scanner-thing of yours turned up a particular nice image :

The image below appears to me like a quite clear outline of a horizontal ridge, neither at the top or bottom of the grill. Image is from the 90 deg rotation scan:



(Keep in mind the scan is twisted 90 degrees, so what appears to be vertical on this scan is really horizontal)

What do you think?

I'm still seeing some evidence of horizontal ridges and no vertical ones. Unfortunately your 1200dpi scans almost seem worse than your 600dpi one. We need much better scans. Does your machine shop have any applicable gadgets?

BTW, I'm loving that technology is allowing us to have these exchanges while you're floating on a half billion dollar vessel somewhere far from land. Where are you at now?

H DNA C!
Yeah, technology has gone a far way, that's for sure - I'm off the coast of Brazil/Rio at present. My line is very slow and unreliable, - but it's allowing me to visit this site every now and then - which is sufficient for me


I was only waiting for someone to point at the disappointment with the 1200 dpi scan. I have the same feeling myself, as if the minimal 'touch of 3D' I observed on the low-res scans is completely lost in all the pixels of the high-res. I'll ask around if anyone has some way to make a better scan.



I agree. Pre-dominantly horizontal orientation. Can't really say I see any clearly vertical ridges at all.

For what it's worth, I looked at the Z-grill samples on this site for comparison:
. I cannot say I was blown away by the horizontal ridges in those samples. IMHO I think the horizontal orientation is more obvious on my scans...

Seeing those rotations has me thinking this is a Z-grill candidate and worth sending for a cert.

Thanks essayk !

That's it then, off to examination it goes. There is no way I will send this by the Brazilian postal 'services'...and it will take 2 weeks before I'm home at my local post office. So for anyone curious, please have patience and at some point I will share the conclusion.


Edit - until such time - why not join the grill - challenge?
https://goscf.com/t/44992
Simply a poll to check how good we all are in grills...