Dial feet...several different attempts...maybe this one will work.

[LittleWatchShop]

I have watched a few videos and read up on this topic.  Since I do not have a dial soldering machine and don't plan to buy one, I pursued some the alternative techniques.  First of all, I bought some dial feet that have a post extruded from a circular base.

- Attach dial feet using sticky pads.  Did not work for me.  The problem is that it is not a firm attachment.  When the dial screw cinches down on the foot, it tilts and the base tilts into the calendar ring causing significant resistance.  Can't have that.

- Attach the original dial feet with glue.  I had no real expectation that this would work because the attachment area is so small.  I was correct...it did not work.

- Solder the foot on using a standard (yet modern) soldering iron.  Cleaning and using flux, I was not able to get solder to flow.  Probably could have with more heat, but I was afraid of damaging the dial front.

- Attach the replacement dial foot with glue.  Here, the problem is alignment.  The dial foot pedestal covers the point where the post must sit.  My solution was to scribe two lines through the center of the point where the post must sit.  That gave me an alignment target.

This last method is curing now, so we will have to wait to see if it worked...a little suspense, no??

[gbyleveldt]

I’m sitting with this very same issue on two dials right now. I was also considering soldering them on using my electronics gear. But I did suspect it wouldn’t work for the reasons you explained above. So I’m curious what you end up with, as my only option now was to buy one of those dial feet mills at Cousins. Which is fine, but shipping to South Africa is expensive so I have to order lots of stuff. But I only need to attach dial feet and I kinda don’t want to wait till my order is big enough to justify the shipping. *sigh*

Edited June 20, 2022 by gbyleveldt

[HectorLooi]

Dial feet soldering is actually not that difficult. I guess after years of electonic component soldering, @LittleWatchShop, you have become accustomed to using your soldering iron to heat the board and component leg, then apply solder to the joint. But this method would definitely destroy the dial.

What I do is to apply a tiny blob of low fusing solder paste to the copper wire and dial with an old oiler, then heat the copper wire. The heat source can be anything that is hot enough. It can be a high wattage soldering iron, the carbon electrode of the dial feet soldering machine or even the flame of a microtorch. I usually use a microtorch. I'll heat the copper wire at about 1 cm above the dial and the moment the solder melts and forms a shiny puddle on the dial, I'll move the flame away. It will happen very quickly, so you have to be alert.

The important thing to note is to heat the copper wire, no heat must be applied to the dial. So you'll need a sufficient length of copper wire for the job. I'm stingy, so I use a length of about 6" and cutoff the length I need for the foot after soldering. The remaining piece can be used again.

I find that copper wire is still the best material for the job. I've tried brass, thinking that it would be stronger, but for some reason it doesn't solder so well.

Try it out on a junk dial first. When you become proficient at it, then work on your actual dial.

[LittleWatchShop]

32 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

Dial feet soldering is actually not that difficult

Interesting method.  Indeed, not the way it is done with electronics.  I have a micro torch and will experiment with this method.  I have lots of scrap dials around.

5 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

This last method is curing now, so we will have to wait to see if it worked...a little suspense, no??

Looks like this is going to work.  I tried three different kinds of glue.  The last one is working.

The key to this method is scoring the dial with a cross so that it is easy to align the post to the center.

[Boz]

@LittleWatchShop I've been experimenting using similar glue-on feet from cousins. If recessed using the mill they can be bonded in to place robustly. I've tried various glues. The superglue supplied with the kit was fragile as was 5 minute epoxy.  3m Scotch Weld worked well. 

@HectorLooi I will try and master the technique you suggest for soldering with the micro torch. Do you do anything to keep the finished side of the dial cool, and do you use a special low melting point solder?

[HectorLooi]

2 hours ago, Boz said:

@LittleWatchShop I've been experimenting using similar glue-on feet from cousins. If recessed using the mill they can be bonded in to place robustly. I've tried various glues. The superglue supplied with the kit was fragile as was 5 minute epoxy.  3m Scotch Weld worked well. 

@HectorLooi I will try and master the technique you suggest for soldering with the micro torch. Do you do anything to keep the finished side of the dial cool, and do you use a special low melting point solder?

I used a regular lead/tin solder. ( 63% Sn/ 37% Pb ) I didn't use the really low temperature tin/bismuth type of solder because I think it has lower strength.

I just clamped the dial in a movement holder and used a "third hand" to position the copper wire. I didn't use any special method to cool the dial side but I was told that some people do use a compressed air stream to blow on the dial.

Practise on some scrap dial first. Speed is of the essence. Don't linger too long and burn the dial.