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Lets make a decent flat top overlay!


dieselpower

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Dear esteemed vintage Rolex fans, I have come to the end of my tether. I have waited, I have prayed, I have hoped (in vain), I have wished, I have put my faith in the Lord. All to no avail.

 

The challenge is simple. Can a competent individual who is good with computers and printing stuff  produce a flat top 3 open 6 & 9 DWO that actually lines up correctly with the date window on a rep dial? I mean - does that sound like the greatest challenge we have ever faced? I think not. Considering the amazing and ingenious solutions our brethren have come up with in the past, some of which leaves me speechless with admiration I can not believe that producing a printed datewheel to the correct radius is beyond our collective abilities. I have even got a hi-res vector (whatever one of those is!?!) that a skilled member posted some time ago - free for all use (thankyou) and yet, still no decent DWO. So I say it here and now, come on chaps - knuckle down use your skills (PM me for the vector) lets solve this once and for all then all us vintage 1665 and 1680 owners with rep dials and ETA engines can finally complete the picture and actually look at our watches without having to work out independently if it is the 7th of the month of the 17th!

 

Anybody up to the challenge? Consider the gauntlet well and truly thrown down....

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Bomber22 Should see this he does amazing work of all sorts he makes cases from The Bottom friendly guy if there is enough interest im sure he Would make it if not it shouldnt be that hard to make know some guys who Should be able to manage it but it Would come with a cost

Lets wait and see

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Somewhere the artwork on this has already been done and is in this forum - people were making waterslide decals with them.  I have a couple of these in my parts bin, but never used them as once they were under magnification, the injet printing was too obvious.

 

A closed 6, hooked 7 version would be cool too.

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Here is the thread with the vectorized open 6, flat top 3 DWO. I used this to make the roulette red/black used on the 6542. The water slide decals are far too difficult to work with when that small. It's like trying to center an egg noodle. http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/150660-vintage-dwos/page-2?hl=%20overlay

 

So, I took another member's idea, I don't remember who it was, and I print on clear, self sticking address labels Avery #18660. I size the numbers to 2.04978cm, and print 2 on the label. I know for certain I will mess up one. I print at the photo setting for highest resolution, and size it using a Photo Shop program. Any basic photo program will do. The attached pic is saved in my computer at 3000dpi, which is why it is so big here. Obviously, when sized it becomes more crisp. I paint the blank overlay to the color I want, white, aged, etc., and then the fun begins!

 

Centering the label on the overlay is a pain, but you can gently pull it off and reposition a few times for correct positioning. I try to apply about half way and judge the position from there. Once centered, the next bit of fun begins. Positioning the finished overlay on the date wheel may take a few attempts before you get it right. I use a spare dial so that the on and off isn't being done with a good dial. Too many things can go wrong, broken dial feet, or messing up the dial face itself. Be certain to secure the dial feet to the movement, clamps on ETA, screws on DG, as that will make the dial move. Been there, done that. 

 

Once you have it set, triple check it! I have experienced 'magical wandering' of date wheels with an overlay. Quickset all around, but then use the hand set a few times to make certain it has not shifted. It's a real pain to think it's all lined up, and find that you have to tear the whole thing down because it is off a bit. Done that too. 

 

In regards to the problem of the date showing "if it is the 7th of the month of the 17th", that is an issue with the dial. The rep manufacturers have done a good thing finally positioning the date window in the correct place for Rolex crystal magnifiers, but they make the window a tad too small. I think it's about 1mm too narrow, and needs to be enlarged to the inside - towards the pinion - using a small file and large testicles. Making my own dials with the decals makes this easier. 

 

As always, better ideas and methods are not only welcome, but garner eternal gratitude! 

 

post-16926-0-29485100-1424467325_thumb.j

 

post-16926-0-58979300-1424466131_thumb.j

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Vector sent to Bomber22. Lets hope he's not a member of ISIS or I'm toast :blowup:

Not isis mate im Taliban has a better ring to it ;)

Received The vector Will look at tonight to see if its to use or total garbage if its good im sending it to my guy over In The netherlands to see if he Can produce Them to use on a ETA movement

And as Said earlier In The thread please give a shout if you have interest as we Would have to order alot so The more The better just a word here In The thread is fine for now

Will return with Update but probably first after The weekend :)

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The whole point of producing these datewheels is so that they will align with the window in a rep dial without having to go to the trouble of filing the window larger as JoeyB has had to do. Therefore some clever clogs needs to inform us of the correct radius length for the centre of the date window on a rep dial. When I say rep dial, in my case it is an Ingod44 but this also prompts another question - are the date windows in exactly the same place on the other popular rep dials ie MBW (both first and second generation) etc do they all use the same blanks or do they differ?

 

This vital radius measurement then needs to be compared (again by somebody far more skilled than I) to the radius that the provided vector would produce when printed - is this adjustable in a computer before the 'print' button is pressed (I am assuming yes but I don't know sh*t).

 

So, surely, the above needs answering and confirming before any printing takes place because if we just end up reproducing a load of datewheels like the ones Ubi produced years ago we will still end up with the same problem - is it the 7th or the 17th of the month and where is a modder who is prepared to file the edge of a window!

 

Hope this all makes sense and that clever clogses will chime in with those vital statistics  :)

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I have a polex pete silver DWO behind my Ingod rail dial in an old mbw case. The dates line up really well with the window.

 

photo6_zps87666685.jpg

 

 

I'd also be interested in a couple of DWO's with a white background or if its possible a light silver with the flash as per the gen would be even better :)  Either way i'm in. 

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@ Boxsash Very useful and informative input. Cheers. I have an old MBW 1665 with an Ingod rail dial and also a polexpete dw in my parts bin. Nice to know that it will all line up properly. The only reason I've not used it is I prefer a white background. So, basically what we are trying to produce is a white polexpete dwo! I have asked polexpete if he could produce his overlays in white but I got no reply. (I PM'd him through this forum). Maybe he doesn't visit here any more who knows. Anyways, onwards and upwards.

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...the correct radius length for the centre of the date window on a rep dial. 

 

This vital radius measurement then needs to be compared (again by somebody far more skilled than I) to the radius that the provided vector would produce when printed - is this adjustable in a computer before the 'print' button is pressed (I am assuming yes but I don't know sh*t).

 

 When I size the numbers to 2.04978cm, that is to the outside diameter of the numbers. The best I can measure is on an Ingod dial I have, and a gen dial I have. Both measure from the center of the pinion to the center of the date window at 10mm. The Ingod date window and the genuine measures 6mm wide. That works out to be correct, by my measurement. 

I didn't need to widen the Ingod dial. The windows I've had to widen are the dials that came with the cartel 1655 and 16750 Explorers that i refinish. (pictured above) I hope that helps. 

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