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best way to polish watch dial indices/numbers?


hackR

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is there a good simple way to polish up these small items on a dial?...obviously, it would be tough to polish up with cape cod or other polishing methods usually reserved for cases...any suggestions would be appreciated...

happy new year, everyone!

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What I've noticed on a lot of rep (Rollie) dials is the markers have a film or residue on them which makes them sometimes look dull or blotchy. In these cases I've use a bit of Rodico and plastic tweezer to "buff" off the grunge with pretty good results.

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I heard that it works well with a thin piece of wood (like toothpick, for example). The important point is to use something softer than the index, to avoid any scratching.

I must say that I never tried this kind of operation. So, this is an advice without any guaranty ! :innocent:

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I heard that it works well with a thin piece of wood (like toothpick, for example). The important point is to use something softer than the index, to avoid any scratching.

I must say that I never tried this kind of operation. So, this is an advice without any guaranty ! :innocent:

that's what watchmakers use on movement parts. If the wood is soft you will be fine. You might want to buy a specific tool for that.

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A piece of soft chamios wrapped around a flattened round toothpick works pretty good. Clean Rodico is good for removing dust and fingerprints...stretch the Rodico and use the lighter surface created by the stretching as it will be a bit more porous.

Be careful if you use 'Simichrome' polish etc as it will quickly remove the flash plating on markers and hands.

If you find any loose markers...it is best to cement them from the back side where the mounting post comes through the dial. Be careful with 'superglue' as it can travel down the marker post to the front side of the dial.

Bare wood...

'Florida pith wood' is Ok to clean markers etc but it can be dusty. Be careful with the outer 'bark' on Fpw because it can scratch plated surfaces, only the inner part is soft enough for cleaning/polishing. It is basically intended for cleaning tweezer tips, pivots etc.

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