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Radial Brushed Steel Look

margolisd

By margolisd
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margolisd WRT Addict

margolisd

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Hi guys. I have a cosmetic question. This 1970s Omega Dynamic has a kind of radial sunburst brushed metal looks around its edge. I've been trying to restore it today. I polished it down to get rid of all the nastiness. But I've really struggled to find a good technique to get the brushed effect back onto the polished surface.

I ended up hot gluing the case to a platform that fitted into my jeweling tool. And after centring it I used thin strips of sandpaper to try and create consistent strokes and rotating the case a tiny bit at a time. It looks better with the the worst nicks and scratches gone. But the brush lines aren't as good as they were originally. How might this look have been achieved in the factory? And is there a less hacky way I can improve this?

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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2 hours ago, rogart63 said:

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Very well done. On the Unimat 3 right? I suppose you left the toolpost lose and slid by hand?
I'm awaiting delivery of a lathe like that, for casework. Can't wait and I become a bit fixated about.
 

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rogart63 Distinguished Member

rogart63

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5 hours ago, jdm said:

Very well done. On the Unimat 3 right? I suppose you left the toolpost lose and slid by hand?
I'm awaiting delivery of a lathe like that, for casework. Can't wait and I become a bit fixated about.
 

I adjusted the tool post in the right angle and just slide the wooden piece back an forth a few times and moved the case a little until i had done a full circle . Maybe a harder  wood or an aluminium stick would have worked better. But it was a lot better then the polished case that was before. I left the 2 screws loose  so i could slide the stick. And yes it's a Unimat 3.  Probably 30 years old or more.  have done a lot of things on that.  On this picture i have it loose but now it's on a big piece of wood. And i have cleaned it up a bit. Had been in a garage for some years without much use.  So looks a little rusty. Buts' in pretty good condition . They are  real workhorses this lathes. 

I am after a watchmakers lathe-. But so far i haven't found anything that is good and have an okay price. 

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margolisd WRT Addict

margolisd

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That's a great approach Rogart. I spent a bit more time using my technique. It looks fainter than the original but I'm relatively happy with it now. I could probably get it better with coarser sandpaper. But then that might just highlight the imperfect lines. I really need a lathe.

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saswatch88 WRT Addict

saswatch88

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9 hours ago, rogart63 said:

Have done a few in my lathe. This is a Omega f300 cone i did.  About the same as you did. Had to laser weld the case as it had some large marks. 

anyway you can upload a video? I been wanting to know how to do this myself, ive tried different methods, however i dont have a lathe. There is no videos out there on lapping.

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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53 minutes ago, saswatch88 said:

anyway you can upload a video? I been wanting to know how to do this myself, ive tried different methods, however i dont have a lathe. There is no videos out there on lapping.

What Rogart has done is not lapping, he ingeniously used the geometry of the lathe to keep filing at the right angle. The same setup could be replicated with a fixture all made of wood. 

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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28 minutes ago, saswatch88 said:

yea i get that but would be nice to see a how to video

When you search watch case refurbish on YouTube there are so many videos. For brushed parts the fundamental is always the same, straight action with the right grit. 

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rogart63 Distinguished Member

rogart63

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6 hours ago, saswatch88 said:

i dont have a lathe 

You can do a simple fixture  out of  wood and something to hold the case in. So it can be turned around in the same way as in a lathe. See if i can find anything 

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