I've been working pretty hard on the project of creating new fired enamel dials for pocket watches and it's taking a lot longer that I initially gauged; if I was independently wealthy and didn't need to split my time between 3-4 different money-making activities then maybe I'd be a successful enamel dial maker by now. But steadily, I am proceeding to that end and I'm very happy with the progress I've been able to achieve. I have been working on the first and most important processes which are composition, imaging and printing. During the course of this discovery, I got the idea of photo-etching thin glass in reverse then loading the image areas with carbon pigment. I'm happy with the results and this is the glass dial I finished this evening. For the first time, I've made a dial that is for the most part, permanent and impervious to normal atmospheric degradation.
The diameter of the dial is 57mm and the glass thickness is 1mm.
Kudos on your work William, I am always impressed with your accomplishments.
UPDATE: A friend was complaining bitterly today about the passage of time and getting older, I may have to order a private label dial that says "THE CRUEL HANDS OF TIME"
Posts: 2093 | Location: British Columbia in Canada | Registered: March 02, 2011
It's a photographic process using a film positive and the image area treated with acid. The resulting etched areas are then filled with a black carbon pigment, then sealed with a white enamel paint which is kiln baked. This photo etching technique is something that will be utilized in the printing process but in the meantime I thought, hey, why not try this on a piece of glass? The positive used for this project was made here with an inkjet photo printer which was good enough for this large dial.
I probably won't make any glass dials to sell, I kind of did this just to see what would happen ....plus this old watch really needed a better dial!
This dial from start to finish probably took 3 hours.
Thanks William for details. Have you grounded edge on this dial, and if yes with what? How did you make a central hole, was it pre-drilled or done after? Im sorry for so many questions but Im really interested
Rafal
Posts: 266 | Location: Wroclaw in Poland | Registered: May 06, 2013
I know that we've talked about these glass dials a few times and even though the results are pretty good, the reality is that there is no substrate beneath the glass that dial feet can be attached to, just a layer of paint. Additionally, if the dial is damaged, you won't just have a crazed, hairlined dial, you'll have a dial in several pieces! In general, this is not a viable product. It's a test. A stepping stone and worth showing off because I like the way it looks. I am moving ahead with proper multi-part vitreous enamel on copper dials. I just wanted to give everyone here a signal that I'm still working on it and if I can swing it, proper enamel dials with exceptional printing will be offered ....eventually. Thanks JMF!
William I was just giving you a hard time because I am absolutely sure that your enamel on copper dials will be as good but probably better knowing you, than the originals were. I just hate to wait while you are putting in all of the very hard work to perfect your process. Please continue to share these incredible advances in the process. I can't wait!!! Thanks again JMF
Posts: 340 | Location: Omaha, Nebraska in the USA | Registered: June 28, 2014
"when making the enamel glaze for the dial, even a slight shift in the composition ratio of the various glass compounds can drastically alter the end result. A rich knowledge of this process is required to produce an enamel glaze best matched to the use of the final product"
Posts: 1119 | Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia in the USA | Registered: February 08, 2015
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