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Bakelite Inserts (Pic Heavy)

repmaster1234

You're Saying I Can Sell?
15/9/17
42
30
18
Hi folks,

This is a repost from RWG. I would have posted it here earlier but my account was just restored. Anyway -

I would like to offer a special thanks toBart CordellandNCRichor providing me with all the measurements and moral support that I needed to complete this project.

For the past few months I've been working on a project that I'm sure many vintage watch enthusiasts have considered embarking on themselves - creating a bakelite bezel insert for the 6542. This all started off because A) I thought these inserts were beautiful and B) I wanted to create an affordable alternative to the $250-500 Vietnam inserts. After many months of struggling with seemingly every little task, I finally managed to get a decent end product. So, before I spoil you with pictures....how did I do it?

Well, first off I decided that the easiest way to do this damn thing would be with 3D printing, as I am familiar with AutoCAD. So I downloaded as many reference photos I could find of original bakelite inserts, threw them into Adobe Illustrator and began making a pattern that I would later import into CAD.

Screen-Shot-2018-02-16-at-4.33.26-PM21902a89abf6fae4.png


There were many iterations of this drawing. Some of the earlier ones I experimented on with Blender, a free 3D modeling program. These attempts were very crude, and I ditched this program eventually as it was causing many headaches.

Screen-Shot-2018-02-16-at-4.34.36-PMa1d9a06c2ae13691.png


After weeks of tinkering around, I was satisfied with the drawing I had created, and I found an excellent alternative to Blender that was much more intuitive to use - so I imported the pattern and got to modeling. At the beginning, I figured it would be smart to make a 3D model of amoldfor a bezel so I could pour in clear plastic andÂ*create as many as I needed to - makes sense right? Well apparently plastic bonds to plastic, so this idea - and the many 3D models that came with it - were tossed out the window.

Bye!

Screen-Shot-2018-01-14-at-9.10.15-PMc2efafc1f2e33228.png


Now my only option was to model the bezel itself, which was actually less annoying than trying to model a mold for one. Here are renderings I created from my first effort, not too bad but still a lot to improve clearly.

Bezelfinalaac0d37f13390404.png


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After much refining, I came up with something that I thought was reasonably accurate enough to print.

Screen-Shot-2018-01-24-at-9.03.22-PM757bb975cbf4cb41.png


So I did. I received my baby in the mail after waiting for two looonnng weeks.

IMG_4675cb251b44b5df8d9d.jpg


I was overjoyed! Now all I needed was a mold. I did much research, and came to the conclusion that a silicon mold was my best option to produce clear resin castings. Here's what I came up with. The pencil became the pour spout and the toothpicks are to allow trapped air bubbles to escape. This is when I started to realize why these things are so damn expensive.

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Now all I had to do was pour in the resin, produce a bunch of really shitty reproductions because I have no idea what I'm doingÂ*(seriously, so shitty), until I finally managed to create this:

_R0102577b4495f31a015fec.jpg


A crystal clear "bakelite" insert. I decided that I wanted the lume to actually function as per the original, so I bought some powder and delicately painted it into the numerals. I then hand painted both the red and the blue halves. Here it is halfway finished andÂ*with only one coat of paint.

_R010264227651cb597385f7.jpg


A finished insert
_R01031399c6eaa2bb685e17.jpg

Another one
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A lume shot
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VS the real deal

IMG_4711144a6a1198587784.jpg



Thanks for reading.
Â*
 

kilowattore

Sales Moderator / Section Moderator
Staff member
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11/5/13
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Impressive. To say the least. So how many did you do? :)
 

SuperLory

Well-Known Repist
22/10/15
8,433
4,978
113
After weeks of tinkering around, I was satisfied with the drawing I had created, and I found an excellent alternative to Blender that was much more intuitive to use - so I imported the pattern and got to modeling.

Interested to know what that is, thanks

Impressive results by the way, ready for production ?? ahahha
 

SUK

Known Member
11/11/17
115
76
28
Hamburg
Impressive! A piece of art and a piece of engineering...


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk
 

steve3sc

Banned member, the goat does not approve
Banned
30/6/15
241
23
0
Very impressive results!
Add me to the list when you're ready to take orders!

Thx for all your hard work......it really paid off!
 

repmaster1234

You're Saying I Can Sell?
15/9/17
42
30
18
For those of you asking if they are for sale - of the several I have made, some I have sold on eBay, some I have kept for personal projects. I am willing to make more to sell, however the price will be steep (although cheaper than other options - i.e. Yuki) as I do all the work by hand and it can take me over a week to finish one insert.

Great job indeed...
(Shouldn't it be yellow lumed?)

The original bakelite inserts range from off white to golden in color. Most of what you see online are not original inserts but aftermarket inserts that tend to overdo the yellow color when compared to the originals.
 

lorenzo1910

I'm Pretty Popular
12/2/18
1,007
257
0
Tuscany - Italy
The original bakelite inserts range from off white to golden in color. Most of what you see online are not original inserts but aftermarket inserts that tend to overdo the yellow color when compared to the originals.

I know, you are right... but I see that your insert lume is toward blue... maybe because it was the first and you were testing it?