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First Step To In House Dials....

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By DJW
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DJW Super WRT Addict

DJW

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I bought an antique pad printer of the bay yesterday. It was the only such device specific to watch dials for sale, so I made an offer and it was accepted. Hopefully, it will help me do what I want it to do, print my own dials.

I also found a company who makes laser engraved printing plates for pad printers that should work with this setup.

post-90-0-34439500-1411365031_thumb.jpeg

I know it looks pretty beat, but like most tools from this era, it should still have some life in her yet!

The dolly slides from one side to the other allowing the pad to pick up the paint from the etched plate and stamp the dial on the opposing side. The two surfaces are magnetic and are controlled by the 2 mechanical silver colored knobs. I'm thinking a 2 axis clamp on one surface and a rotary table on the other. This way I can fine-tune the position of the printing plate and watch dial. Sounds good in theory!

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Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

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Good morning Don.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with your acquisition, I saw it on Fleabay a few weeks ago and couldn't work out how it operated. If I had thought of you at the time, I would have given you a shout back then. I wish you every success with it!

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Mark Distinguished Member

Mark

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Like Geo I cannot visualise how it works,  but a handy find all the same,  you will be able to find out whether doing your own dials is viable or not.

 

I think I remember seeing a YouTube video showing how these work.

 

It looks really good fun - you are really raising the bar Don!

 

And to start with $1 bills should see you a return on investment  - clever stuff! :)

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DJW Super WRT Addict

DJW

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I have found this video on YouTube which shows exactly what pad printing is and how a watch dial is done,  very clever stuff.

This is a great video! I've watched this one many times before. It gives you a good idea on the amount of work that goes into printing high quality dials.

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DJW Super WRT Addict

DJW

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That video was nice. Anyone know what the pad is made of?

 

 

Don, which file format(s) do they accept for making the laser engraved plate?

The pads are made of silicone. the Pads are shaped in such a way that they act in a rolling fashion when the lever is pulled, kind of like a printing press roller.

All they need is a any type of picture file, jpg, png, etc.

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colinh WRT Addict

colinh

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Oh, that's convenient.

 

I was planning to get a company which makes printed circuit boards to make a laser-cut stencil (which is normally used for squeegying on the solder paste, for those tiny surface mounted devices). But they require Gerber files (I think).

 

In the video, you see the guy filling the plate with paint, which is then transferred by the pad.

 

Is it possible to apply the paint directly to the dial, using the plate (stencil). Ie. by "filling" the plate (with the dial underneath), and then just removing the plate. Wouldn't that work, or would it work, just not as well?

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DJW Super WRT Addict

DJW

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Oh, that's convenient.

 

I was planning to get a company which makes printed circuit boards to make a laser-cut stencil (which is normally used for squeegying on the solder paste, for those tiny surface mounted devices). But they require Gerber files (I think).

 

In the video, you see the guy filling the plate with paint, which is then transferred by the pad.

 

Is it possible to apply the paint directly to the dial, using the plate (stencil). Ie. by "filling" the plate (with the dial underneath), and then just removing the plate. Wouldn't that work, or would it work, just not as well?

There are probably numerous ways to ad paint to a dial, but think of the reasoning behind this process. Even before automation, this was the easiest and cleanest way to print multiple dials in the shortest amount of time. Stenciling would probably work for a couple of dials before getting gummed up. But, them it would require a good cleaning before continuing. Also, pad printing creates very sharp lines. I believe Stencils can have bleeding, even when pressed tightly to the object being painted...

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  • 7 months later...
canwdarose Member

canwdarose

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Hi guys, years ago I worked at a CD manufacturing place that printed using both screen printers and the transfer printing you see in the process. It was a bit fancier with automated ink wells and squeegees, but same process. I recall the biggest challenge with the transfer process was the viscosity of the ink, the volatility of the solvents in the inks, the relative humidity of the air, and absolute cleanliness of everything. The smallest contaminant would wreck the ink wiper, nick the squeegee blade and you'd have a tiny stripe across your image. The magical part, though, was picking enough ink from the printing plate, transferring it on the silicone pad and while it was moving through air, flashing off some of the solvents, so that the ink would stick cleanly to the target surface - a watch dial face for example. Too wet and the ink wouldn't transfer. Too dry and the ink wouldn't transfer. Or it would string (think cotton candy spinning all those pesky threads). Anyway, getting the machine running and stable was an art, and then multiply that by a 3 or 4 color image....

The machine was called a "Tampo-matic", and the silicone pads were tampons. French, or Latin root, for 'pad' is the source of the word tampon. The guys and gal that ran that machine were whiz kids.

The screen printers were easier to use, more reliable, but the images were not near the quality of the pad transfer printer.

I'm sure ink technology has changed in the intervening 30 years, so I hope Don has an easier time than we did. It was a cool job, though.

Keep us in the loop, Don.

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  • 3 weeks later...
mwilkes WRT Addict

mwilkes

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Don - I'm jealous. So jealous, in fact, that I think I'm going to get a dial printing machine...

 

However engraving the plates (clichés?) looks like a black art and frightems me - do you (or does anybody else) know of a UK based company that would be able to make them? 

 

Or if you're US-based, I guess they could post it...

 

M

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