Decal printed dial

[GenuineFool]

That toner transfer looks pretty cool with the different shades. And that does not have coating of clear yet?

Correct. No coating on the toner transfer dial. The finer details (e.g., COSC text) didn’t transfer well, so I only let the brass black proceed for maybe 20 minutes. A more thoroughly prepped surface and acrylic coating would probably even it out and darken it, but retain the variation.

 

[WatchN3RD]

Correct. No coating on the toner transfer dial. The finer details (e.g., COSC text) didn’t transfer well, so I only let the brass black proceed for maybe 20 minutes. A more thoroughly prepped surface and acrylic coating would probably even it out and darken it, but retain the variation.

I'm right there with you! I responded to @chrome72 's thread with my last transfer attempt update instead of here, but it's pretty frustrating vs. a simple decal. It's just that your toner transfer really has all those amazing shades a decal can't produce. I absolutely agree that an acrylic or solvent coating would even things out and bring out some holographic reflections with those tones too. Last question, what brand or type of transer did you use? My attempts with Sunnyscopa are more akin to playing high stakes roulette. It's unreasonably unpredictable in my experience.

 

[GenuineFool]

It's just that your toner transfer really has all those amazing shades a decal can't produce. I absolutely agree that an acrylic or solvent coating would even things out and bring out some holographic reflections with those tones too. Last question, what brand or type of transer did you use?

Apologies, I might not have been completely clear in my explanation. I printed an inverse dial image on a laser printer, so only the chapter ring, markers, text etc. on glossy paper from Staples. I then did a toner transfer with acetone onto a blank brass dial. The dial was then treated with a blackening agent, like patina in a bottle, with the toner acting as a mask. After about 20 minutes I pulled it out, rinsed it in water, and used a cotton swab with acetone to lightly rub off the toner. So the dark part of the dial is blackened brass and the gilt is where the toner was, mimicking the original process but not using galvanization.

I agree that the shading is interesting and if the transfer were better I would have let it darken a lot more. But it was an experiment to see what type of result I could get.

 

[janneau]

With the white dial

 

[WatchN3RD]

Sorry to imply my confusion was there. I thought you did one dial via toner transfer and the other using using a decal. I wasn't concerned if you were doing toner transfer for the negative or positive of the image. Just curious what you used to transfer the toner. Was it just regular printer paper and acetone?
I'm only transferring the black as a positive to hone in on the transfer process. I know it's backwards, per se.

 

[WatchN3RD]

With the white dial

That looks damn good. What was your method for such a precise lume?

 

[GenuineFool]

Sorry to imply my confusion was there. I thought you did one dial via toner transfer and the other using using a decal. I wasn't concerned if you were doing toner transfer for the negative or positive of the image. Just curious what you used to transfer the toner. Was it just regular printer paper and acetone?
I'm only transferring the black as a positive to hone in on the transfer process. I know it's backwards, per se.

Yes, I did one dial with a decal in the above comparison. I only included the toner transfer dial because it had bare brass, to compare the color against the tinted nitrocellulose on the decal dial.

Someone in the other thread ("How to make a true gilt dial on the cheap") mentioned getting their laser prints done at Staples on the thin glossy paper or even using glossy magazine pages. I tried printing it at Staples, but they used their thick glossy paper. Don't know the exact brand, but it's thick like photo paper. I did the transfer with an acetone based nail polish. The results were OK, but the print resolution wasn't high enough in my opinion. After removing the paper and trying to remove any traces of the glossy coat that were stuck (especially in the COSC text, possibly due to the wrong paper by Staples?), I then put it into a small jar with some Sculpt Nouveau Antique Black M-20 for 20 minutes or so. After that, I washed it thoroughly with water, dried it, then used the acetone again to remove the toner with a cotton swab.

Hope that helps.

 

[janneau]

That looks damn good. What was your method for such a precise lume?

I used a thicker than usual lume mix as it was over a white base, and did two quick layers wet on wet.

 

[chrome72]

I chatted with a watch restorer about getting a glossy lacquered finish. I suspect that to get the glossy finish, Rolex was not building up layers of lacquer and then either hand/machine polishing to get the finish, as that would be very time intensive and a little mistake means either trashing the dial (its cheap for them to trash it vs stripping it and starting over). The restorer showed me how she uses Zapon (its nitrocellulose) diluted with a solvent and then airbrushed on to get flawless glossy finish, no polishing needed. You can find her on instagram @arcstampfli. she has some cool posts about restoring old dials.

 

[matzemedia]

I chatted with a watch restorer about getting a glossy lacquered finish. I suspect that to get the glossy finish, Rolex was not building up layers of lacquer and then either hand/machine polishing to get the finish, as that would be very time intensive and a little mistake means either trashing the dial (its cheap for them to trash it vs stripping it and starting over). The restorer showed me how she uses Zapon (its nitrocellulose) diluted with a solvent and then airbrushed on to get flawless glossy finish, no polishing needed. You can find her on instagram @arcstampfli. she has some cool posts about restoring old dials.

Wau! She is really doing a nice job!

 

[WatchN3RD]

Interesting. So she's doing a simple thin "flow coat" and skipping any previous layers usually done to add depth. That seems overly simplistic, but if it works, simple is great. Lacquer is a thinner coating, so it should not be hard to spray a thin wet coat if you're not forced to use a rattle can. Perhaps the thin coating is why the negative relief is often easily visible too.

Did she say which Zapon product she used? Their products are mostly for gilding, gold leaf, etc., so I'm curious what product and reducer she used. They have a few different lacquers available.

 

[janneau]

I tried a white depth dial.
First I laid the transfer, cut an outline round the depth text with a scalpel and removed the transfer. I then carved out a lozenge shape and filled it with white acrylic paint which was slightly higher than the dial, waited for it to dry, then sanded it level. with the dial face.
I then laid the transfer over the dial, lining up the depth rating text with the white inlay.


There's still a very slight indent, but the final layer of clear should fill that.

 

[janneau]

After some lacquer and wet-sanding

 

[janneau]

Had another attempt at the above dial, but used a matt clear lacquer (Rusto) this time. Quite a nice finish



Shame about the cruddy lume job though

 

[WatchN3RD]

Had another attempt at the above dial, but used a matt clear lacquer (Rusto) this time. Quite a nice finish



Shame about the cruddy lume job though

The lume actually looks pretty decent from your picture. It's not on par with the obvious fake, overly puffy lume on some Vietnamese vendors, but whose is?
And while your sanding looked perfect from the other picture, and a perfect gloss is usually the ideal, it shows every detail of every flaw. I think it looks great with the matte.

Award for best gloss finish still goes to @matzemedia though.

 

[janneau]

Here's a better daytime pic



I'm going to try the matt finish on an Explorer dial

 

[janneau]

Matt lacquer gilt Explorer dial:

 

[janneau]

I re-did the gilt gloss 6542 dial and swapped out the albino dial again. The white dial didn't look right without the bakelite insert, and as it's a budget builld, an aluminum 'recall' insert on a black dial feels more apt.