New Platinum bezel mod idea!

[janstood]

Thanks for that Sumikito! I think one of the hardest parts of this is painting the engravings with embossing ink and not getting any on the bezel face, as the powder will stick where you don't want it to.
If we made some sort of stamp (you could make one from clay I suppose) to apply the ink and use a finer powder (we could maybe use a mortar and pestle) then it could possibly still work.


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Agree with that.

I have done a Martha Stewart and warm platinum acrylic paint mix job on my surf bezel. Will post pics shortly. It is not bad and the mix takes the silveriness off the Martha Stewart paint. Interested to see what you guys think of the colour. Bare with me.

 

[janstood]

By the way, I have done some research. I would not advise grinding or freezing and grinding the powder down to get it finer, although it is tempting. The polymer is very toxic.

 

[davidmac]

By the way, I have done some research. I would not advise grinding or freezing and grinding the powder down to get it finer, although it is tempting. The polymer is very toxic.

Got it. A job for the wife then?


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[Norrie]

Got it. A job for the wife then?

Haha.

 

[davidmac]

I was thinking, how conductive is Ceramic? Does anyone have a multimeter handy to test the continuity?


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[janstood]

Why, what's your plan davidmac? I imagine it is not conductive given that ceramic was/is commonly used as an isolator. The polymer won't be either. But have to admit I have been doing some wild thinking too about how to attract the powder to the engravings - that, I think, is the challenge!

 

[davidmac]

I'm actually thinking about electroplating! I saw a cool video last night how someone used a disk from a hard drive to electroplate platinum to a copper ring.
I now know that ceramic is a non conductive but have read you can buy conductive paint to apply prior to electroplating.
The guy used a 12v car battery charger to electroplate the copper ring.


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[janstood]

Wow, I love the sound of that. Do you happen to have a link to the video, I am also up for crazy experiments!

 

[janstood]

Found it - very cool.

Check this out for conductive paint - I can imagine acrylic and enamel variations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egMr9kk1uHk

 

[davidmac]

You could probably use clear coat mixed with a thinner and graphite. Sounds like it could work. I may give it a try over the weekend.
An issue I've just thought of would be needing to get the base coat of conductive paint very flat and smooth as once electroplated; it takes the from of the surface it's plated. So, if it's uneven it'll show up.


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[janstood]

I have done a blended paint mix job for the interim. I am quite happy. Certainly improves my smurf. The white markers made this look like a toy. I have gotten away from the overly silveriness of the martha stewarts platinum and have gotten close to the peachy hues of the gen - I think. Certainly has different colours anes different angles to the light.

Let me know what you think of the colour?

 

[davidmac]

Looks great Janstood, have you got no interest in trying the platinum plating method? I'm going to give it a go over the weekend hopefully, I can see my Son messing with it if I tried in the week, I quite enjoy him being alive.


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[janstood]

Absolutely, going to give it a try. My neighbour is digging out some old hard drives as we speak. Think I might go slow though and try a nickel layer as a sub-base. Will need to find nickel sulphide. There again, I might just try copper as a starter for 10. Might not be this weekend though - going away. But I will try cos it sounds like serious fun even if a total car crash!

 

[Milkbread]

This is my attempt using both the Ranger platinum embossing powder, as well as Wow platinum embossing powder. I had previously understood that Davidmac and Janstood have had issues with getting the embossing ink where they wanted it to only, as well as getting the powder to stick.

So I decided to give it a try, and I am satisfied to say the least. Although the end result is still slightly too peachy as compared to my GMT II gen insert.

Tools/items used:

Ranger platinum embossing powder
Wow platinum embossing powder (super fine)
Versamark embossing ink
Oiler, very fine tip
Oiler, grinded off needle tip only
Small lil scoop for handling the powder
Dust blower
Loupe (not shown in pic)
Heater gun (not shown in pic)

Steps I took to do this:
1. Apply embossing ink using the very fine tip oiler to the numbers. This can be applied very nice and evenly. The entire process of my attempts took nearly 2 hours, and by then, the embossing ink had not even dried. Very interesting to note.

2. Scatter the platinum powder onto the inked numbers. Shake the excess off, followed by using the dust blower to remove even more excess. What is required on the numbers is only a minuscule amount of powder, like a couple of grains enough to cover the number.

3. Apply heat using the heater gun. It only requires about 10 seconds for the platinum powder to melt. Once melted, let it cool for a couple of minutes. DO NOT touch the insert once the powder has melted, as it is very very hot. Burnt my index finger slightly doing that.

4. Once cooled, I used the needle tip oiler to scrap clean the edges of the numbers only.

5. After the edges are clearly defined, rub the number with your finger to thin it out. The insert will become very sticky at this point of time.

6. Wash the insert with detergent and wipe clean. Result will be as per my photos if you got this right.

The platinum seems to be rather durable for now, although that remains to be seen.



I did not capture the process of doing it, as I was still skeptical about the results that I would get.
I did the mod on the 20, 30, 40 and 50 numbers on the insert. As you can see, there is already a noticeable color difference when seen from a distance.





First attempt using Wow platinum embossing powder


Second attempt using Ranger platinum embossing powder. I think Wow does a better job, although both seem to have identical colours.


Third attempt using Wow. At this point of time, I was focusing on regulating the amount of granules getting onto the inked numbers.


Last attempt using Wow. My best attempt so far, and I am satisfied with the result.


Comparison shot of best attempt, number 50, against gen GMT II insert triangle.


I will make a pictorial if there is interest in getting a real platinum mod done on your ceramic inserts!

Credits to Davidmac and Janstood for discovering this method and giving their best shot at this!

 

[Tanya]

Congrats
what beautiful work

 

[Smoke]

I have done a blended paint mix job for the interim. I am quite happy. Certainly improves my smurf. The white markers made this look like a toy. I have gotten away from the overly silveriness of the martha stewarts platinum and have gotten close to the peachy hues of the gen - I think. Certainly has different colours anes different angles to the light.

Let me know what you think of the colour?

looks pretty good colour mate u got the peachy brown tones in there not the crappy silver i see people doing with there paint mods

 

[Smoke]

I have done a blended paint mix job for the interim. I am quite happy. Certainly improves my smurf. The white markers made this look like a toy. I have gotten away from the overly silveriness of the martha stewarts platinum and have gotten close to the peachy hues of the gen - I think. Certainly has different colours anes different angles to the light.

Let me know what you think of the colour?

..

 

[ztealth]

which smurf is this? noob v4?

 

[janstood]

Fantastic work and good colour. You have a lot of patience! I think I will have another go but just on one marker for now!. One question though, why do you suggest spreading it out with your fingers? Does that not destroy the surface?

And the smurf is the v4 noob.

 

[davidmac]

This is my attempt using both the Ranger platinum embossing powder, as well as Wow platinum embossing powder. I had previously understood that Davidmac and Janstood have had issues with getting the embossing ink where they wanted it to only, as well as getting the powder to stick.

So I decided to give it a try, and I am satisfied to say the least. Although the end result is still slightly too peachy as compared to my GMT II gen insert.

Tools/items used:

Ranger platinum embossing powder
Wow platinum embossing powder (super fine)
Versamark embossing ink
Oiler, very fine tip
Oiler, grinded off needle tip only
Small lil scoop for handling the powder
Dust blower
Loupe (not shown in pic)
Heater gun (not shown in pic)

Steps I took to do this:
1. Apply embossing ink using the very fine tip oiler to the numbers. This can be applied very nice and evenly. The entire process of my attempts took nearly 2 hours, and by then, the embossing ink had not even dried. Very interesting to note.

2. Scatter the platinum powder onto the inked numbers. Shake the excess off, followed by using the dust blower to remove even more excess. What is required on the numbers is only a minuscule amount of powder, like a couple of grains enough to cover the number.

3. Apply heat using the heater gun. It only requires about 10 seconds for the platinum powder to melt. Once melted, let it cool for a couple of minutes. DO NOT touch the insert once the powder has melted, as it is very very hot. Burnt my index finger slightly doing that.

4. Once cooled, I used the needle tip oiler to scrap clean the edges of the numbers only.

5. After the edges are clearly defined, rub the number with your finger to thin it out. The insert will become very sticky at this point of time.

6. Wash the insert with detergent and wipe clean. Result will be as per my photos if you got this right.

The platinum seems to be rather durable for now, although that remains to be seen.



I did not capture the process of doing it, as I was still skeptical about the results that I would get.
I did the mod on the 20, 30, 40 and 50 numbers on the insert. As you can see, there is already a noticeable color difference when seen from a distance.





First attempt using Wow platinum embossing powder


Second attempt using Ranger platinum embossing powder. I think Wow does a better job, although both seem to have identical colours.


Third attempt using Wow. At this point of time, I was focusing on regulating the amount of granules getting onto the inked numbers.


Last attempt using Wow. My best attempt so far, and I am satisfied with the result.


Comparison shot of best attempt, number 50, against gen GMT II insert triangle.


I will make a pictorial if there is interest in getting a real platinum mod done on your ceramic inserts!

Credits to Davidmac and Janstood for discovering this method and giving their best shot at this!

Fantastic job you've done! I'm glad someone has taken this idea to the next level!


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