The 1016: The Under Appreciated Thread

[369mafia]

This article just dropped from Perezcope. Space Dweller I am just going to read it now

Space Junk – The Reality of the Infamous Rolex ‘Space-Dweller’

Space – the final frontier. These are the tales of the infamous Rolex ‘Space-Dweller’ whose strange existence is shrouded in mystery, whose story boldly went where no other has gone bef…

perezcope.com

 

[Karbon74]

This article just dropped from Perezcope. Space Dweller I am just going to read it now

Space Junk – The Reality of the Infamous Rolex ‘Space-Dweller’

Space – the final frontier. These are the tales of the infamous Rolex ‘Space-Dweller’ whose strange existence is shrouded in mystery, whose story boldly went where no other has gone bef…

perezcope.com

"no two dials are the same"

laughing my way to the Raffles cart

 

[dpd3672]

Ok, Spent the day at work, earning triple time and wasting the company's money designing a jig to engrave watch cases, lol. Tell me what you think, this is the first thing I ever designed in CAD for a 3D printer, and like the 3rd actual thing I'll be printing, lol. It's gonna use a LOT of filament.

The two end pieces will have bolts with wing nuts through the holes for tightening. It's plastic, so I doubt I'll be able to get enough pressure to actually damage anything, lol. The two "Blocks" are for 19mm and 20mm lugs (the 19mm has a relief cut but I marked them with text because I'm prone to mistakes, lol).

There's about 20mm of parallel on each side, plus a notch and groove to keep things aligned. I'm pretty confident it will break before it lets a case get misaligned. I'm not sure what the tolerances are for a 3D print, but I assume there will be sandpaper involved for final fitting of the 3 components. Maybe some butter or spit to make things slide easier...lol.

Will share the STL file as well for anyone who wants it, or thinks they can improve on it...if you do, please share the upgrades so we can all benefit!

Future upgrades will probably include a means to attach it directly to the engraving machine, so an add on vice won't be necessary. Just have to figure out how to center it and where the bolt holes would go. Maybe if I get fancy, I'll add a relief cutout for the actual watch case to sit in, but I doubt that's practical, since there's so many variations. Maybe one for 34mm cases, one for 36mm cases, and one for Subs/GMTs, but I'm geting WAY ahead of myself.

EDIT: FWIW, it's occurred to me that this would probably work without the part marked "20mm." If you print only the 19mm part, it would work as a 20mm by turning it on its side...it would just have a small depression where the case would sit. I guess I could make the entire block 22mm, and have the same block work for 4 different sizes...2 on one end, and 2 on the other. Maybe I'll tweak it to be usable with 19, 20, 21, and 22mm lug width. Could probably do more if I tweak it a bit more...maybe add 18mm and 24mm, although I don't know of any watches of that size that have engraving between the lugs.

3D design Watch Jig for engraving - Tinkercad

3D design Watch Jig for engraving created by David Patterson with Tinkercad

www.tinkercad.com

 

[316lad]

Merry Christmas Brothers Of The 1016.

 

[dpd3672]

Merry Christmas Brothers Of The 1016.

Right back atcha, sir.

 

[Karbon74]

Merry Christmas Brothers

 

[dpd3672]

It's actually a shame we don't know each other in real life...you guys would be so easy to shop for, lol.

 

[Karbon74]

the gifts of brotherly companionship and mutually shared knowledge are worth more than any material object in the world. Because you can't buy them.

 

[369mafia]

It's actually a shame we don't know each other in real life...you guys would be so easy to shop for, lol.

It is, I was going to give everyone the same thing they got last year, just a different colour lol

Merry Christmas to the 369 Crew.

 

[dpd3672]

Jig is printed and seems to be working well…although I didn’t account for the cyclops on my 36mm case. Will probably work better when crystals are removed.

 

[Karbon74]

I am so frustrated right now 🥹
quite a few parts still in transit so I have nothing to tinker today

and also I bought a Brew Metric Max Gold. Not only did I get hit with VAT and duties but Fedex managed to misroute the watch. So I had nothing under my Xmas tree

 

[dpd3672]

I am so frustrated right now 🥹
quite a few parts still in transit so I have nothing to tinker today

and also I bought a Brew Metric Max Gold. Not only did I get hit with VAT and duties but Fedex managed to misroute the watch. So I had nothing under my Xmas tree

Same here. The last few days a few things trickled in, which will allow incremental progress on some of the stalled projects, but mostly it's refreshing 17 track every day to see when I can roll up my sleeves again, lol.

That said, the next week is about worthless for free time, so might as well take advantage of the overlap and organize my workstation or something that's been put off for too long.

 

[369mafia]

Jig is printed and seems to be working well…although I didn’t account for the cyclops on my 36mm case. Will probably work better when crystals are removed.

nice work on the jig. defiantly remove the crystals, or you could just dremel an divot into the block to accommodate for the cyclops.

So once you have the engraver dialed in. were going to watch you start engraving movement parts , right? lol

 

[369mafia]

I am so frustrated right now 🥹
quite a few parts still in transit so I have nothing to tinker today

and also I bought a Brew Metric Max Gold. Not only did I get hit with VAT and duties but Fedex managed to misroute the watch. So I had nothing under my Xmas tree

Me too waiting for parts orders of movements, crystals and movement parts and some tools .

Santa is late but its his busy time of year at least we can talk about builds lol

 

[Karbon74]

I think the Fedex thing is what is frustrating me the most. I am used to wait for stuff from China. Did not expect Fedex to mess up so much

 

[369mafia]

I think the Fedex thing is what is frustrating me the most. I am used to wait for stuff from China. Did not expect Fedex to mess up so much

a few of my other friends are also disappointed with Fed ex this year.....I think they are having tech or labor issues. Its difficult to get someone on the phone to talk to

 

[dpd3672]

a few of my other friends are also disappointed with Fed ex this year.....I think they are having tech or labor issues. Its difficult to get someone on the phone to talk to

I bought a 5700 case on Ebay, planning to put my gen 5700 dial in a gen 5700 case, rather than a 5500 (because me and like 2 people here would actually care, but it was in decent shape and reasonably priced, so why not?)

Purchased and paid 12/1 from a guy in Canada. He shipped 12/6. Made it to CONUS and cleared customs on 12/7...and it's been sitting in FedEx's warehouse since then...no movement at all.

I could see if this was a shipment of rep watches. Customs delays, or even seizures, are a risk we take. But this is gen, and not something high dollar that would attract attention.

Frustrating, because everything else on this project is just about ready to go.

 

[dpd3672]

nice work on the jig. defiantly remove the crystals, or you could just dremel an divot into the block to accommodate for the cyclops.

So once you have the engraver dialed in. were going to watch you start engraving movement parts , right? lol

Thinking of small improvements, maybe put some thin rubber or foam tape on the side facing the watch case to steady it more and prevent any damage to the watch or fixture (3D printed stuff can very strong, but also can be brittle). Probably down the road I'll add cutouts for the watch case to secure it better, but that's a lot of complication and little return on investment. Some minor tweaks and it should be adaptable for holding cases in the proper position for drilling lug holes, too.

That said, my massive Raffles order should be coming in the next week or so, so I can practice on a lot of cases to refine the technique. By the time I"m through them, I should have the bugs worked out. Some more jigs I'm working on should allow me to do engraving between the lugs, but also possibly caseback engravings on 5517 or even Tudors, and the ones inside the case back as well. A friend at work has a small CNC machine, so I've been collecting pictures of logos and odds and ends to have him make "fonts" for the engraver as well.

What an exciting time to be alive...new technology is constantly improving, and old technology is "obsolete" and available cheap, lol. You can use a laser copier to create a dial, and etch a case on a machine that cost the equivalent of $10,000 new...which you picked up at a flea market for $100, lol.

Eventually, I'll probably offer engraving to members here, although I have a few reservations about that idea...I don't really want to do it for payment, don't consistently have the free time to take on projects, and damn sure don't want the responsibility or hassle of damage to someone else's watch. I'll have to think a bit on how to work this out.

 

[Karbon74]

what you could do is offer engravings on raw mid-cases only, never completed watches. and casebacks in US only.

This eliminates most of custom risks as there are no brand/logos. A piece of metal cannot be damaged in shipping, and weighs less.

 

[Karbon74]

oh man, there is an equivalent of craiglist here in Fr...I just ran a randon search...and several gravographs popped up