Jump to content

Brass


Recommended Posts

I have a really nice Hamilton 978 Pocket watch that I have just completed. I needed a new crystal & dial redone,and serviced the movement. The watch has a beautiful solid brass case that was very badly tarnished. I got the case all cleaned and polished to a beautiful shine with a lot of work. What is the best product if any to seal it from tarnishing again. I know they used varnish originally. Here are some before and after photos. Does anyone have suggestions .

Thanks

Capture (Small).JPG

Hamilton 978 (Small).JPG

20160717_152105 (Small).jpg

Hamilton 978 finished (Small).jpg

20160717_152050 (Small).jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Not sure if any of you have seen any of the Clickspring videos on Utube where he builds a clock from scratch but he dips the parts in the lacquer.  Would be one way to avoid brush strokes and insure 100% coverage.  Been awhile but I believe he thinned the lacquer first.  Great looking watch TimFitz.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, lluvitar said:

Not sure if any of you have seen any of the Clickspring videos on Utube where he builds a clock from scratch but he dips the parts in the lacquer.  Would be one way to avoid brush strokes and insure 100% coverage.  Been awhile but I believe he thinned the lacquer first.  Great looking watch TimFitz.

Thanks I'll look for it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TimFitz said:

 

  We can't purchase  horolacq here in the USA's to dangerous, I might hurt my self or others by spraying them  , I can however buy up to four guns a month..Sometimes I cant believe the stupid laws in this country.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, lluvitar said:

Looks like the lacquer is thinned 50/50 before dipping.  Here's a recent video starting just before he dips it.  These videos are every bit as addicting as Mark's and make me wish I had a lathe to play with.

Dipping pendulum in lacquer

 

I can't take on any more interests, there are only so many hours in a day and patience in my wife.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, TimFitz said:

I can't take on any more interests, there are only so many hours in a day and patience in my wife.

Well whether it's fortunate or unfortunate for me, I'm retired and my wife has the patience of Job.  I'll never get a lathe though, but would love to spend an afternoon or two turning some brass.  And the level of blueing he achieves on the steel is phenomenal.  

When you polished your case was it by hand or a buffing wheel.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, lluvitar said:

Well whether it's fortunate or unfortunate for me, I'm retired and my wife has the patience of Job.  I'll never get a lathe though, but would love to spend an afternoon or two turning some brass.  And the level of blueing he achieves on the steel is phenomenal.  

When you polished your case was it by hand or a buffing wheel.  

I am a full time Artist , part time computer repair geek, private Pilot, watch collector. To be honest my wife is a saint.

I got the case all cleaned up with my Dremel and good old Norwegian steam.

combine_images6.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • As with every skill it watchmaking, it takes practice. Notice at the top of the document it says, "Practical work - 40 hours".  I can get the balance wheels 'close enough' to flat, but never seem to get them perfect. Same with gear wheels. Guess I need more practice.
    • Has it got a beat adjustment on the platform or is it a fixed hairspring? in short what you are looking at to get it just about in beat is to get the roller jewel sitting dead centre between the banking pins. So remove the platform and take of the pallet fork and escape wheel to give you clear line of site, sit the platform with the balance in place and with it level look between the banking pins and see if the roller jewel is sitting between them, if it is nice and central its there or there abouts in beat, if its not the the position of the pinned end of the hairspring needs to be adjusted to move the roller jewel into the correct position, thats why I asked if it has an adjustment on the platform or not, if it has its an easier job. 
    • I've managed to adjust it. I'm going to try and explain it as well as I can with my limited horology knowledge but I hope it helps someone in the future. There is a cam to the right of the front plate as shown in the picture. As the clock ticks along, the pin indicated in the gear comes around and slots into one of the silencer cam gaps, turning the cam. The pin completes a full rotation in 2 hours. To adjust the cam to start at the right time set the clock to just before 7. I did 6:45. Then I turned the silencer cam anticlockwise, which spins freely, until it pushed the silencer lever up and was placed just before the drop. Just before the 7AM indicated in the picture. All I then had to do was progress the hands to 7-7:15which made the pin slot into the silencer cam gap and turn the cam so the lever comes down again, unsilencing the clock. That was it. If anyone comes across this issue again I'd be happy to assist. Thanks again to everyone that helped. Hey Transporter! Thanks a lot for the reply. That was a really good explanation and I'm sure it would have made my troubleshooting a lot less painful haha. I'm sure someone will find it useful in the future. Thank you again for taking the time to try and help me out with this.
    • Now I'm completely confused, it would appear that the epilame  is oleophobic  as @Marc states: This oleophobic  behavior can be seen as beading of the droplet (as above) which stops the oil spreading which is supported by what we observe on treated/untreated cap stones (for example), but as @VWatchie states this should make the drops more mobile and is supported by the literature:   A review on control of droplet motion based on wettability modulation principles design strategies recent progress and applications.pdf   However the hole point is that we have less mobile oil so an oleophobic  would see to be the opposite of what we want. In fact this beading and high mobility are desirable properties in things like smart phone covers, see below.  I am fairly sure that epilame doesn't make the droplets more mobile, so maybe its a strange coating with dual properties that are both oleophobic (beading) and cohesive/adhesive resulting in low mobility?? This may explain the high price??  
    • The description there is exactly how it's done, and it's very well written!
×
×
  • Create New...