[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION]Cordell your lume work has definitely improved! Congrats!!
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Decal printed dial
- Thread starter Bart Cordell
- Start date
Last 29mm 6538 dial
Tried to lume a new Explorer dial but I was not handy enough yesterday evening.
Next will be a 27mm for my new case
[emoji632]
Tried to lume a new Explorer dial but I was not handy enough yesterday evening.
Next will be a 27mm for my new case
[emoji632]
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION], you really have perfected your lume. Looks like an MQ now, and even the surface looks very different. BTW, a couple of questions:
1) what did you use for the color? Nescafe or water color?
2) is the surface the result of your technique of sanding the dial several times with grit 2000 after mounting the decal on the dial?
3) how much of the extra decal outside the perimeter do you leave? Cuz mine peeled off if I cut it too close. Do you leave, say, 1mm of the decal so it sticks to the back of the dial?
Below is my dreaded 1st attempt at luming the dial. Needless to say, it crashed and burned, he he. Back to the drawing board!
Note below how the SWISS is ruined --- and practically from the 20th to the 40th --- when the decal peeled off. Do you wrap the decal around the edge of the dial?
1) what did you use for the color? Nescafe or water color?
2) is the surface the result of your technique of sanding the dial several times with grit 2000 after mounting the decal on the dial?
3) how much of the extra decal outside the perimeter do you leave? Cuz mine peeled off if I cut it too close. Do you leave, say, 1mm of the decal so it sticks to the back of the dial?
Below is my dreaded 1st attempt at luming the dial. Needless to say, it crashed and burned, he he. Back to the drawing board!
Note below how the SWISS is ruined --- and practically from the 20th to the 40th --- when the decal peeled off. Do you wrap the decal around the edge of the dial?
[MENTION=121448]thinwhiteduke[/MENTION]
Sorry for late and succinct reply.
1) Sennelier terre de Sienne pigment.
2) Sure.
3) About 1mm or less.
[emoji632]
Sorry for late and succinct reply.
1) Sennelier terre de Sienne pigment.
2) Sure.
3) About 1mm or less.
[emoji632]
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION], thanks for your generosity.
I think among the maaaany decal printing I've attempted to mount, below is my best so far. This picture was taken after mounting it on the 29mm dial, and I have yet to spray clear gloss. Will let it be for 24 hours before starting the spraying, curing, spraying, sanding, spraying etc process.
BTW, I've decided to go with the Laser Printer options versus the Inkjet Printer option. The Inkjet ink tends to expand, crowding out the print in the process. That's why SWISS disappears in the sample below. With the Laser, the black is not as nice, but it is robust and holds its own. Thus you can now see the SWISS better. See comparison below, Inkjet first, followed by 2 pics of Laser-printed decal:
Inkjet printer option on my 27.4mm dial
The Laser-printer option on my 29mm dial
I think among the maaaany decal printing I've attempted to mount, below is my best so far. This picture was taken after mounting it on the 29mm dial, and I have yet to spray clear gloss. Will let it be for 24 hours before starting the spraying, curing, spraying, sanding, spraying etc process.
BTW, I've decided to go with the Laser Printer options versus the Inkjet Printer option. The Inkjet ink tends to expand, crowding out the print in the process. That's why SWISS disappears in the sample below. With the Laser, the black is not as nice, but it is robust and holds its own. Thus you can now see the SWISS better. See comparison below, Inkjet first, followed by 2 pics of Laser-printed decal:
Inkjet printer option on my 27.4mm dial
The Laser-printer option on my 29mm dial
Don't forget to sand after several (3 or 4) layers only. And it's only necessary if you see dust, bumps,...
[emoji632]
[emoji632]
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION], 3 coatings for the 29mm dial, and 4 coatings of the 27.4mm dial. Both for curing for another day. Not very happy with what appears to be the "thin" black paint of the Laser Printer option. Not perfect, but I may be getting the hang of it. Here are the two, side by side. Bart, pls let me know if I need to sand it, or just let it be.
[MENTION=121448]thinwhiteduke[/MENTION]
Nice !
I can't see anything bad.
You have to judge if it is necessary to sanding
[emoji632]
Nice !
I can't see anything bad.
You have to judge if it is necessary to sanding
[emoji632]
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION], finally done curing and luming our 29mm dial. Probably my best, though my luming sucks, and very far from getting there. The lume as as is, no tinting colors. I have a problem with the binder, as 1part binder, 1 part lume powder is still too thick, thus the lumpy sugar-like lume. Where I am, we have no access to Testors Dullcote Lacquer. I tried using clear gloss lacquer nail polish. Crashed and burned. Any substitute you can recommend to dilute my mix? Thoughts? TIA!
Those look stunning sir, bravo!!!
[MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION], 3 coatings for the 29mm dial, and 4 coatings of the 27.4mm dial. Both for curing for another day. Not very happy with what appears to be the "thin" black paint of the Laser Printer option. Not perfect, but I may be getting the hang of it. Here are the two, side by side. Bart, pls let me know if I need to sand it, or just let it be.
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
Thanks for the kind words, @GC.
I still have a long way to go. Laser printer optipn advantage is its sharpness in detail plus the ink does not expand, thereby crowding out the gilt exposure. Disadvantage: black not very black. So we live and learn and adapt. Luming is such terror.
I still have a long way to go. Laser printer optipn advantage is its sharpness in detail plus the ink does not expand, thereby crowding out the gilt exposure. Disadvantage: black not very black. So we live and learn and adapt. Luming is such terror.
[MENTION=121448]thinwhiteduke[/MENTION]
This is very nice and sharp.
I use matt acrylic varnish as binder.
[emoji632]
This is very nice and sharp.
I use matt acrylic varnish as binder.
[emoji632]
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
Coming from you, that's a compliment, [MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION]!
Thanks.
I continue to experiment cuz I ruined the 29mm white lumed dial. I tried tosand down the lumps by making the dial pass through a 2000 grit paper. It kinda worked well iat the start, but I got carried away, and lo and behold, there were a few scratch marks on the dial at the depth rating area. I tried to "erase" the sanding marks/scratches by spraying on the affected area only, making sure I don't spray on the rest of the dial. Success! No more scratch marks! BUT! Now there's a visible "square" where the scratches used to be!
Whew! Back to the drawing board! Will take pictures when I get home tonight.
Thanks.
I continue to experiment cuz I ruined the 29mm white lumed dial. I tried tosand down the lumps by making the dial pass through a 2000 grit paper. It kinda worked well iat the start, but I got carried away, and lo and behold, there were a few scratch marks on the dial at the depth rating area. I tried to "erase" the sanding marks/scratches by spraying on the affected area only, making sure I don't spray on the rest of the dial. Success! No more scratch marks! BUT! Now there's a visible "square" where the scratches used to be!
Whew! Back to the drawing board! Will take pictures when I get home tonight.
- 17/3/06
- 4,664
- 267
- 0
I'm in no position to tell you what to do, however I will tell you that if given the opportunity I would gladly use this dial as is.@bart, finally done curing and luming our 29mm dial. Probably my best, though my luming sucks, and very far from getting there. The lume as as is, no tinting colors. I have a problem with the binder, as 1part binder, 1 part lume powder is still too thick, thus the lumpy sugar-like lume. Where I am, we have no access to Testors Dullcote Lacquer. I tried using clear gloss lacquer nail polish. Crashed and burned. Any substitute you can recommend to dilute my mix? Thoughts? TIA!
In other words, this dial is beautiful and your lume is better applied than I have seen on gen professionally refinished lume.
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
[MENTION=1173]kdo2milger[/MENTION], thanks for the vote of confidence. Yes, so far, this attempt comes close to "decent," but unfortunately, like I said above, I messed up the dial when I tried to sand down the sugar-like lume. In my attempt to salvage it, I sprayed/mist a bit of the clear gloss lacquer. The scratches disappeared but it also resulted to a "square" at the depth rating area of the dial. Maybe it will disappear. Maybe not. But, yeah, in my frustration and impatience, I might just mount this in the meantime, he he. Again, thanks!
Scratches disappeared, but see the "squared-off" area around the depth rating:
Scratches disappeared, but see the "squared-off" area around the depth rating:
- 17/3/06
- 4,664
- 267
- 0
I see it@kdo2milger, thanks for the vote of confidence. Yes, so far, this attempt comes close to "decent," but unfortunately, like I said above, I messed up the dial when I tried to sand down the sugar-like lume. In my attempt to salvage it, I sprayed/mist a bit of the clear gloss lacquer. The scratches disappeared but it also resulted to a "square" at the depth rating area of the dial. Maybe it will disappear. Maybe not. But, yeah, in my frustration and impatience, I might just mount this in the meantime, he he. Again, thanks!
Scratches disappeared, but see the "squared-off" area around the depth rating:
But that's the beauty of vintage builds too, you can have things like this on a completely otherwise normal dial and get away with it. Its part of the Patina.
- 21/2/16
- 1,052
- 232
- 63
So, back to square one, [MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1173]kdo2milger[/MENTION]! That crashed and burned because the solution (to the scratches) became a problem. Should have let the scratches be (3 very minor sanding scratches) as KDO says, but by the time he chimed in, I already sprayed over the scratches...
Below is the new nth mounting on the 29mm dial. Will spray and cure for 3 days and then attempt to lume it. Oh, yeah: a bit of a tip on how to achieve a "cleaner" decal mount around the edges of the dial. Once you're very sure of your alignment, press it down slowly, very carefully (face down) on the yellow side of a Scotchbrite pad, and with your other hand, squeeze up the long side of the pad so the "extra" decal on the sides wrap around and sticks on the dial edges. I also cut out a triangle at the hour markers so that the wrapping --- and sticking of the extra decal on the underside of the dial is smoother and to prevent it from overlapping one another.
While we mounted a new deacal, we practice and practice luming on a zippo lighter! Am beginning to develop some sort of technique: 1) use 1:1 by volume binder and powder; and start with the difficult triangle, then the rectangles for 3, 6, & 9 hour markers. 3) Never attempt to start luming nearest the borders. If your hands tremble like mine do, you will mess it up. I start dropping the lume in the innermost area, then kinda push your way to the margins, letting capillary action do the trick. I think the results below are pretty decent. Thoughts, guys?
It's not perfect, but kinda gives you more confidence. After doing the triangle and rectangular hour markers, I moved to the "easy" dot markers. This way, the mixture is still aqueous when you are doing the tri and rectangles, and that's what you need to have a less lumpy, sugary finish. The mixture tends to dry up, but by that time, you're already done with the dial dots. Again, thanks to [MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION] for the instructions nd the inspiration! Am not there yet, but will keep trying.
Below is the new nth mounting on the 29mm dial. Will spray and cure for 3 days and then attempt to lume it. Oh, yeah: a bit of a tip on how to achieve a "cleaner" decal mount around the edges of the dial. Once you're very sure of your alignment, press it down slowly, very carefully (face down) on the yellow side of a Scotchbrite pad, and with your other hand, squeeze up the long side of the pad so the "extra" decal on the sides wrap around and sticks on the dial edges. I also cut out a triangle at the hour markers so that the wrapping --- and sticking of the extra decal on the underside of the dial is smoother and to prevent it from overlapping one another.
While we mounted a new deacal, we practice and practice luming on a zippo lighter! Am beginning to develop some sort of technique: 1) use 1:1 by volume binder and powder; and start with the difficult triangle, then the rectangles for 3, 6, & 9 hour markers. 3) Never attempt to start luming nearest the borders. If your hands tremble like mine do, you will mess it up. I start dropping the lume in the innermost area, then kinda push your way to the margins, letting capillary action do the trick. I think the results below are pretty decent. Thoughts, guys?
It's not perfect, but kinda gives you more confidence. After doing the triangle and rectangular hour markers, I moved to the "easy" dot markers. This way, the mixture is still aqueous when you are doing the tri and rectangles, and that's what you need to have a less lumpy, sugary finish. The mixture tends to dry up, but by that time, you're already done with the dial dots. Again, thanks to [MENTION=9607]bart[/MENTION] for the instructions nd the inspiration! Am not there yet, but will keep trying.
