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Decal printed dial
- Thread starter Bart Cordell
- Start date
- 13/10/16
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Thanks buddy ... no lacquer as it's really scratchproof ... I had a hard time removing some parts to age it ...
Those Sealions rarely show up on the web so I've been really lucky to get one ... good luck and hope you'll find one
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- 13/10/16
- 3,917
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Did you really wrote "honeycomb dial" ?!!
I'm pretty interested about the process you use to achieve that so PLEASE share some infos ...
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Yes sir. I have edited the picture to sterile, as this is not a rep, but you can see the effect.
The best dials I made actually aren't reps, but I normally just don't post them here. I actually don't make that many rep dials, as I like to have something original. It is just fun to see if it can match up with the gen originals made by Rolex.
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Watchpocketguide42
Getting To Know The Place
Wow, very interesting. Can you share a method how to create a texture? Did you apply the decal printed in full black and then applied another decal with only honeycombs printed? I bet, alligning the text was a challenge.
Yes that's the method. Aligning is hard, but under a stereo microscope set at the right magnification it is actually pretty doable. Just need to pay attention to the right reference points and gently ease it in to the right direction whilst squeegeeing the water/glue from under the decal. So obviously first the solid version is placed and cured and then baked after the film is removed, then when cooled down the second decal goes on top.
- 13/10/16
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Never tried but I'll do that this summer ...
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I'm actually wondering, all of these genuine vintage dials from mid 20th century and later, were they pad printed? I can't find any info on the method
Here is a post about making a pad printed dial. There's a couple links in there showing how it's done.
https://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/vintage-watches/8822257-vintage-dial-making
https://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/vintage-watches/8822257-vintage-dial-making
- 13/10/16
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Probably pad printed ... the Swiss watchmakers started pad printing watch dials during the 18th Century ...
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Another 6538, new design with sharper serifs...
deadpan
Active Member
Here it is in natural light.
In this case I have blown up all details to print the first layer, so all details had space and the second layer that I added would not suffer from any imperfections at the edges of the font and logo and gilt track. The second layer has all the details a tad less bold, and I have found that this enhances the sharpness of the details a bit, plus add a lot more relief. It also removes any feel of pixellation, there is really virtually none. The layer would be thick enough to polish more flat, but I actually think the orange peely effect makes it look like real lacquer and adds to the vintage vibe of the dial. Nice detail about film free decals is, when you scratch it just mildly, simply heat it again and all scratches will just vanish. So when you have two layers, might be a little harder to do, but it has a few very nice advantages. The black will also be pitchblack.
The lume is a formula my son 'invented' and has some slight variations in color, varying from creamy to more orangy/brown. The 6538 looks more correct with a bit darker lume I think. The powder looks fairly light, but as the binder is added comes to it's full color. This makes it a repeatable color, and really easy to use. This too, is a lume job where I used UV curing binder, making it very convenient as you can take endless time to perfect the shapes, and once cured in a matter of seconds you can't make any mistakes, plus dust won't adhere to it. Also, the first patch and last patch will not suffer from a difference in thickness of the mixture, neither do you need to compensate for that by adding solvents.
In this case I have blown up all details to print the first layer, so all details had space and the second layer that I added would not suffer from any imperfections at the edges of the font and logo and gilt track. The second layer has all the details a tad less bold, and I have found that this enhances the sharpness of the details a bit, plus add a lot more relief. It also removes any feel of pixellation, there is really virtually none. The layer would be thick enough to polish more flat, but I actually think the orange peely effect makes it look like real lacquer and adds to the vintage vibe of the dial. Nice detail about film free decals is, when you scratch it just mildly, simply heat it again and all scratches will just vanish. So when you have two layers, might be a little harder to do, but it has a few very nice advantages. The black will also be pitchblack.
The lume is a formula my son 'invented' and has some slight variations in color, varying from creamy to more orangy/brown. The 6538 looks more correct with a bit darker lume I think. The powder looks fairly light, but as the binder is added comes to it's full color. This makes it a repeatable color, and really easy to use. This too, is a lume job where I used UV curing binder, making it very convenient as you can take endless time to perfect the shapes, and once cured in a matter of seconds you can't make any mistakes, plus dust won't adhere to it. Also, the first patch and last patch will not suffer from a difference in thickness of the mixture, neither do you need to compensate for that by adding solvents.
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I've been looking at this stuff, to make silver depth with. You could apply a first decal as a pilot decal, the use acetone to remove the depth liberally, and then apply this stuff till it is silver, then remove all the decal with acetone and applly two fresh ones, and you will have a silver depth font!
https://www.amazon.de/Silberelektrolyt-500-versilbern-Versilberung-Galvanik/dp/B00D2KUEFQ
https://www.amazon.de/Silberelektrolyt-500-versilbern-Versilberung-Galvanik/dp/B00D2KUEFQ
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- 13/10/16
- 3,917
- 2,391
- 113
Yeah, you could even make a pilot decal design, where just the depth is visible, so the rest of the decal would perfectly mask the rest of the dial from being accidentally silvered.
OK that worked, will print another one to show you guys, as I ran out of the correct decals... but the test is a success.
I used 90%sn/10%s so not too much silver, as it would turn black over time, and sn only turns grey. Applied it wit a solder iron, and removed 99% of it with desoldering braid, so it will just be silver color plating and has no reliëf.
I used 90%sn/10%s so not too much silver, as it would turn black over time, and sn only turns grey. Applied it wit a solder iron, and removed 99% of it with desoldering braid, so it will just be silver color plating and has no reliëf.