Jump to content

Radial Brushed Steel Look

margolisd

By margolisd
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

margolisd WRT Addict

margolisd

Posted
Posted

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?

s-l1600.jpg

IMG_1561.png

IMG_1571.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, rogart63 said:

DSC04517.thumb.JPG.2d1fb4df297fe5521e1d1fcae6f5dedf.JPG

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.
 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rogart63 Distinguished Member

rogart63

Posted
Posted
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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
margolisd WRT Addict

margolisd

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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.

IMG_9138.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saswatch88 WRT Addict

saswatch88

Posted
Posted
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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted (edited)
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. 

Edited by jdm
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted
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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rogart63 Distinguished Member

rogart63

Posted
Posted

 

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 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • ManSkirtBrew
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By ManSkirtBrew · Posted

      Oh nice. I have a similar wedge style stump for my staking tool, so I'll give that a shot. Thanks!
    • joelcarvajal
      Gamblin Gamsol for cleaning?

      By joelcarvajal · Posted

      Thank you all for the replies!  Very informative! True enough, the Gamsol took some time to evaporate and does leave a residue. So not all naphtha are created equal!  Need to find alternatives then. i was able to try Hexane recommended by Alex and it seems great.  I wonder what the cons are?
    • GuyMontag
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By GuyMontag · Posted

      Yeah, I saw that in the tech sheet but I don't see how it can be adequately cleaned with the friction pinion still in place. I've accidentally pulled the arbor right out of the wheel once when I used a presto tool to try and remove it. Mark shows how he does it with the Platax tool. Those are a little too pricey for me so I got one of these from Aliexpress and I just push down on the arbor with the end of my brass tweezers. That usually gets it most of the way out and then I just grab the wheel with one hand the and the friction pinion with the other and gently rotate them until it pops off. Probably not the best way but it's seemed to work for me so far.    
    • Zedster
      Movement inserted from crytal side

      By Zedster · Posted

      Thanks, Jon Sounds like a plan. Obviously I'll have the face on so do you think gripping with the holder will create any problems, but I will check in the morning to see how feasible it is but I assume it only needs to be lightly held. As for holding the movement instead of the holder won't be possible in this scenario as one hand will be puling on the stem while the other pushes the spring down. That was my initial concern is how the hell can I do this with only one pair of hands. All the other times I've had to remove the stem hasn't been a problem, apart from the force required to release the stem from the setting lever, but now I need to fit the face and hands its sent me into panic mode. If it had the screw type release things would be a lot simpler but that's life 😀   Another thing I will need to consider is once the dial and hands are fitted and the movement is sitting in the case I will need to turn it over to put the case screws in. I saw a vid on Wristwatch revival where he lightly fitted the crystal and bezel so he could turn it over, is this the only option or is there another method?      
    • nevenbekriev
      Main spring

      By nevenbekriev · Posted

      Hi Jon, do You think that relation spring torque - amplitude is linear? I would rather guess that the amplitude should be proportional to the square of the torque. I had once idea to check it, but still haven't.
×
×
  • Create New...