Dial with no feet ....

[Krispee]

I've been reading this, very informative. There is talk of actually gluing the spacer, not just the feet. Is that needed or just an option?

[horologist]

Can I suggest!!

 

I have had my pain and grief with this very problem for some 15 years!!!! Different permutations and combinations of trials were ok until fatigue settled in on upon the dial with the many times of setting the time in pulling out the stem.

 

I found that the best remedy that worked for me was to epoxy  (strongest possible epoxy you can find) dial feet with a broader bases.  This will minimize your shearing forces upon the dial lateral movement when setting the time in addition to a good case ring and tightly fastened screws.

 

Ok,  all seems easy but you may need to find a soft object where you can press in a dud dial with feet still on the back for the dial positioning to be pressed into.  I bought a florists sponge and pressed in the dummy dial with some dabbled ink on the bottom of the dial feet, marking out the positioning of the dial feet.  I also marked the position of the center of the stem with a fine pen for better centering.   While leaving the dial still in place I poked a round tooth pick into the center of the dial opening for the hour wheel and positioned another tightly into the date window, giving an accurate stencil of where to position the new dial without feet.  

 

I then gently pulled off the dial keeping the toothpicks still in place and firmly pushed them in further to avoid any lateral movement, keeping them perfectly orthogonal to the sponge.  Repositioning the dummy dial for a final check may help.   I then positioned the new dial feet in the marked positions with their bases facing up  and dabbed some 50kg strength epoxy on them,.  I then gently placed the new dial with cropped dial feet (also nicely clean sanded back ) onto the sponge base while slowly feeding it through the toothpicks and then pressed down making sure it lined up with the stem centre marked with the fine pen.  Left it for some 40 hours and it was dead straight centered.

 

Catch is ;

 

You need the right brass feet with wider bases.   I bought mine from Walter (Carbinet) on ebay some years ago and they were the only ones that worked.  The Bergeon dial feet bases that are too thin and will not work as well!!!!!  You may also need to sand the base down so that it is as flush with the dial back as possible.  You may also need to sand down the tips a bit to tailor them for the movement hole to clamp the movement clamps.  You will find that you may also have to mark out on the back of the new dial where to make a small recess with a broches to accommodate the new bases of the dial feet you are going to epoxy .

 

Most importantly.  DO NOT RUSH !!!!   BE Patient!!!!!  it sounds long winded but the dial came out as strong as new!!!!!  I have removed it from my movement several times when doing repairs to the movement and servicing and feet are still holding.  Forget your dial dots and double sided tape.  Good for Quartz throw aways but not for something that has the type of tension as these sturdy replicas!!!!

 

Lastly,  Good LUCK!!!!!

 

 

[Krispee]

I bought my dial feet from Cousins here in the UK. They are the type that are as 'horologist' suggested above, have a wider base that is 0.1mm thick and 2.5mm in diameter. What I did was machine a recess in the back of my dial to accept the larger dial diameter so it would sit (somewhat) flush with the rear of the dial. I have glued mine in with two part epoxy, pretty strong stuff, but not enough to keep them there if you try and adjust the perpendicularity of the pin. Mine were slightly leaning and I tried to move them, the whole dial pin broke away. I've create a fixture now that accepts the dial pins as they are in position. I put the dial and glued pins in this fixture and it keeps them upright, in theory.

 

Still wondering about the dial spacer.

[horologist]

On 3/18/2021 at 7:55 PM, Krispee said:

I have glued mine in with two part epoxy, pretty strong stuff, but not enough to keep them there if you try and adjust the perpendicularity of the pin. Mine were slightly leaning and I tried to move them, the whole dial pin broke away. I've create a fixture now that accepts the dial pins as they are in position. I put the dial and glued pins in this fixture and it keeps them upright, in theory.

 

Still wondering about the dial spacer.

if you have a premade template  from a soft solid object when you press in the dummy dial, the holes will be a carbon copy of when you position in your new dial feet for the intended dial to sit on orthogonal to the plane of the dial! This way you will get to press it down firmly and get it dead straight!  Machining a shallow indent under your dial helps a lot but must also be flush otherwise you will experience the resulting feet to be offline!

 

there should be no issues with the dial spacer as everything would then be level and straight

[Krispee]

7 hours ago, horologist said:

if you have a premade template  from a soft solid object when you press in the dummy dial, the holes will be a carbon copy of when you position in your new dial feet for the intended dial to sit on orthogonal to the plane of the dial! This way you will get to press it down firmly and get it dead straight!  Machining a shallow indent under your dial helps a lot but must also be flush otherwise you will experience the resulting feet to be offline!

 

there should be no issues with the dial spacer as everything would then be level and straight

I figured out the dial spacer, there are indents inside that fit over the dial pins and then sit down against the back of the dial. Unfortunately my spacer seems to have developed some slight distortion, it won't sit flush on a flat surface but wobbles. How that happened I can't say but I have bought another to replace it. I did machine a 'dummy' as you call it, and it did work, helped keep the pins pretty straight and aligned enough to sit in the movement, unfortunately one of the dial feet popped out when I was experimenting so I have bought some better glue to attach them with. You are right about machining the recesses flush (mine are just about there, could be a tad deeper), and also when you glue some escapes and you have to remove that also. I'm getting there.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Krispee