Enamel Dial issue

[dnhb]

I picked up for a few pounds a Lancashire Watch Co Ltd pocket watch in poor condition as a 'test' piece: no hands; a mainspring broken near the arbour; and a cracked & chipped enamel dial. I've managed, with the benefit of advice received on here, to remake a rectangular hole in the inner end of the mainspring and reattached & re-barrelled it.  Next, I followed the suggestion I came across on a You Tube video that putting cracked dials in the ultrasound machine can yield a significant improvement in appearance through dispersing the dirt in the cracks. This has certainly worked for me. However, the small seconds sub-dial has also been liberated by the ultrasound treatment and my question now is "how is this best  re-attached to the main dial"?

[tomh207]

Pictures please, we really like pictures here

 

Tom

[dnhb]

1 hour ago, tomh207 said:

Pictures please, we really like pictures here

 

Tom

Thanks for your interest, Tom: here's a back & front......

[tomh207]

Cracks in these dials can be reduced by simply soaking in denture cleaner. For glue around dials I tend towards GS hypo.

hope this helps 

 

Tom

[RichardHarris123]

Heat the main dial in hot water to increase the sixe of the hole for the small seconds dial. 

[dnhb]

1 hour ago, tomh207 said:

Cracks in these dials can be reduced by simply soaking in denture cleaner. For glue around dials I tend towards GS hypo.

hope this helps 

 

Tom

Thanks Tom. Just to be clear: I should put a very small amount of glue around the circumference of the small dial, being careful not to have it 'bleed' through & be visible on the front of the main dial ?

1 hour ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Heat the main dial in hot water to increase the sixe of the hole for the small seconds dial. 

The small seconds dial already fits in the hole but not as snugly as it did before the ultrasound-ing....

[tomh207]

That’s what I would attempt, I would also never again put any dial into th ultrasonic, it really doesn’t do them any good.

 

Tom

[RichardHarris123]

On the one I have the sub dial wouldn't fit.  Use GS hypo and apply a thin gorse to the back of the main dial. 

[nevenbekriev]

The subdials usually are soldered with led. But it is easier to glue it in place with some epoxy (applied on the back side!)

I see some legs are missing - new legs can be soldered in place. This is easier done when the dial is heated to about 160 degr. celsius, for example on elctric stove plate, which has been switched off after reaching this temperature. Than use normal soldering iron to solder the legs with led containing solder. The coper 1mm circle around the leg holes must be cleaned from the enamel first.

The missing pieces in 8 min. position  and aroun center hole can be filled with white UV nail polish and then hardened under UV lamp

[JohnR725]

18 hours ago, dnhb said:

This has certainly worked for me. However, the small seconds sub-dial has also been liberated

in earlier generation watches they were glued in with a variety of substances. So you always want to look at the dial before cleaning to make sure that it's not glued together. later on they switched over to soldering them in place.

[oldhippy]

They were held in with watchmakers shellac.

Edited March 9 by oldhippy

[dnhb]

22 hours ago, dnhb said:

I picked up for a few pounds a Lancashire Watch Co Ltd pocket watch in poor condition as a 'test' piece: no hands; a mainspring broken near the arbour; and a cracked & chipped enamel dial. I've managed, with the benefit of advice received on here, to remake a rectangular hole in the inner end of the mainspring and reattached & re-barrelled it.  Next, I followed the suggestion I came across on a You Tube video that putting cracked dials in the ultrasound machine can yield a significant improvement in appearance through dispersing the dirt in the cracks. This has certainly worked for me. However, the small seconds sub-dial has also been liberated by the ultrasound treatment and my question now is "how is this best  re-attached to the main dial"?

Just to correct & clarify for future reference: it wasn't in a You Tube video that I found the ultrasound idea but in an article on the Carignan Watch Co website entitled "Repairing Enameled Dials"

16 hours ago, nevenbekriev said:

The subdials usually are soldered with led. But it is easier to glue it in place with some epoxy (applied on the back side!)

I see some legs are missing - new legs can be soldered in place. This is easier done when the dial is heated to about 160 degr. celsius, for example on elctric stove plate, which has been switched off after reaching this temperature. Than use normal soldering iron to solder the legs with led containing solder. The coper 1mm circle around the leg holes must be cleaned from the enamel first.

The missing pieces in 8 min. position  and aroun center hole can be filled with white UV nail polish and then hardened under UV lamp

Yes, I know: that's another good thing about this PW, given I bought it to learn/practice with. As it happens, I've been reading another thread on here about re-installing dial feet! I'm particularly intrigued by the electric arc method of soldering, especially because I can see in it a satisfying use of a carbon rod from an old AA battery as the anode!