marrickvilleboy Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 try Automatico on this forum.He has raffle Tudor casebacks (I sold him mine before) and could potentially get a photo for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Update Gents. I finally fixed my computer which had a crapped out motherboard. Now I can draw the initial layout and then send it to Jorrie to finish the vector. Then as I promised, I will show you how to etch with precision... (provided Jorrie and I can create a satisfactory template..... I'm still wondering if we can find the right font or one close to it at least). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 The trick to doing the Tudor case-backs is to get the engraving nice and deep. I do this with several passes with a rotary engraver at about .001" per pass. The stainless really eats up .1 and .2 mm bits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hologramet Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 10 hours ago, RickFlorida said: Update Gents. I finally fixed my computer which had a crapped out motherboard. Now I can draw the initial layout and then send it to Jorrie to finish the vector. Then as I promised, I will show you how to etch with precision... (provided Jorrie and I can create a satisfactory template..... I'm still wondering if we can find the right font or one close to it at least). I have a Raffles caseback that's collecting dust, send me a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzle1 Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 The trick to doing the Tudor case-backs is to get the engraving nice and deep. I do this with several passes with a rotary engraver at about .001" per pass. The stainless really eats up .1 and .2 mm bits... My Tudor 7928 is with JMB as we speak having some of his beautiful work :thumbsup: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 "the last time I tried, the raffles caseback does not fit the cartel cases" "try Automatico on this forum. He has raffle Tudor casebacks" I finally found one toot case back from marrickvilleboy and it has 30.4mm threads and is 35.9mm od. There is no gasket groove in the case back and it will only fit cartel cases with the gasket mounted in the case. I had it on an old 'Abay' submariner case from about 15 years ago that I am eventually going to make into a tudor of some sort (yeah sure). I have a genuine tudor (no date?) dial but iirc it was too small for the Abay cases (as usual I can not find it). I thought I had more toot backs than just this one but that was all I found. The other Raffles case backs I found are unmarked on the outside and have polished backs like regular 5513 etc. They are all the same sizes as the Raffles toot back and fit my Abay cartel cases. For comparison I have an Abay 'comex 5514' from back then and the '729' case back has 30.4mm threads, same as the others but is 35.4mm in diameter, .5 mm less than the Raffles backs and most other Abay backs. It looks like most of the cartel (Abay was cartel) cases were alike back then. I still see 729 case backs on some watches for sale today but there is no way to tell if they have the same dimensions as the one I have. Guess what else I found while looking for case backs? Six (6) brand new replica submariner hollow mid link bracelets with 'sideways' coronets on the clasps. I will keep them for now and put them in a box marked 'sideways coronets' so I can keep up with them...had no idea I still had them. Also found a few new Abay submariner cases with working oem spec helium valves. I compared a valve from one with a genuine valve and they are the same, keeper spring and all. A trip down the memory lane of damn replicas! Ha! I need to take a picture of all this stuff and post it on VRF. They would form a lynch mob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thank you for sharing everyone. Especially JMB since you do this for $ that's kind of you to share info. I just want to do the precision nitric etch so that people who want to give it a go may have an option. Hopefully, the fellow who has an extra will sell me his to create the template. Thanks again for all the discussion Gents! I will update soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 If you can get decent depth with the acid you will probably be able to create sharper marking than I'm able to. I would love to use, and have tried, a .1mm engraving bit but the tip is too fragile and the SS just eats them up. I compromised on a .2mm tip which makes the corners, etc., a bit soft for my liking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted February 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Yes sir. If you look at my pictures of the sample etch, I get excellent precision by using special transfer foil and paper. As long as nitric acid does not attack the foil any faster than the etchants ive used before, it should look killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted February 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 Just an update. Hologramet has sent me one through the mail from Sweden. So I'm just wanting to get the Tudorcase in the mail so I can finish a template for the etching project. Sorry for the delay but I figured it will be more accurate in the end. (providing that donor caseback is fairly accurate in font and size). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hologramet Posted February 19, 2016 Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 36 minutes ago, RickFlorida said: Just an update. Hologramet has sent me one through the mail from Sweden. So I'm just wanting to get the Tudorcase in the mail so I can finish a template for the etching project. Sorry for the delay but I figured it will be more accurate in the end. (providing that donor caseback is fairly accurate in font and size). I hope it's useful! Looking forward to the results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Yes my friend. It's extremely useful. In fact, I may be able to just make the vector template myself now. I may use Sketchup LayOut or Illustrator. I will start as soon as I'm done with a current project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marrickvilleboy Posted February 29, 2016 Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 good stuff keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorrie Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Just a note, after some absence both by Rick and me we have both returned to the forums and going to give this a follow up. Rick I thought about this perhaps its even possible for you to SCAN the back casing? That way we would have a 1:1 flat reference for extra precision. I would use this scan as a backdrop in illustrator combined with the measurements to get an exact replica. Also the text kerning and other aspects need tweaking probably to get the best results. Also the font in question is important. Perhaps its the "rolex font" but it could well be a older font type modded. Worst case scenario it does not match the rolex font and its not replicatbate in a 95% to 100% range. If you would want to do it really good then one would need to replicate the font also which would be kinda time consuming. But let us look at how things work out with the discussed workflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 We are finally at the next stage of trying to etch a decent engraving of a Tudor caseback. One thing I have noticed.... is that Raffles NAILED the font perfectly. I'm really impressed. If only the Raffles Tudor caseback was not missing a gasket groove, then hands down his caseback is a great candidate to use if you ever find one. But anyways, Raffles and I'm sure Yuki probably found the Roman style font that is used on originals. I have not idea what exactly kind of Roman font it is but I think it's Roman because of the unique "T" in "Oyster". Is anyone friends with Raffles or others who have created this font engraving before? Anyways, we have the diagram done and now am just trying to create a template. My only concern now is that I realized I can't use my method of choice in using an industrial laminator to adhere the template to the caseback before etching. Because of the unflat shape, I will have to try photo etching. But the results should be even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 I forgot to mention JMB nailed the font as well, this goes without speaking. If I were to have someone engrave it, it would be JMB. In fact, even if I finish this experiment up, I may end up having him engrave the whole case for me. I mostly want to see if this works. On 4/16/2016 at 5:02 PM, jorrie said: Just a note, after some absence both by Rick and me we have both returned to the forums and going to give this a follow up. Rick I thought about this perhaps its even possible for you to SCAN the back casing? That way we would have a 1:1 flat reference for extra precision. I would use this scan as a backdrop in illustrator combined with the measurements to get an exact replica. Also the text kerning and other aspects need tweaking probably to get the best results. Also the font in question is important. Perhaps its the "rolex font" but it could well be a older font type modded. Worst case scenario it does not match the rolex font and its not replicatbate in a 95% to 100% range. If you would want to do it really good then one would need to replicate the font also which would be kinda time consuming. But let us look at how things work out with the discussed workflow. Just saw this note about scanning. Yes, I'll send you a scan of the case too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorrie Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Some work issues, I wont be able to look at it tomorrow. And we have our timezone, but ill do my best. Think it will work out fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFlorida Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 (edited) No worries Jorrie. Take your time. I expect you may need more explaining anyways. I don't even have all the materials for photo-etching yet anyways. If you need 2 weeks or even longer before starting, no worries. Edited April 18, 2016 by RickFlorida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 I don't think you are going to find a "stock" font that will work. You are going to have to draw or trace each character. If you really want a "font" you can get a font creator program, draw your letters, and then pull them into the font creator program and create a TT font. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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