Custom Dial Printing

[one80]

Is there anyone that offers custom dial printing, particularly for vintage Rolex dials (including gilt)?

 

There are some very good quality ones out there, but most seem to have some minor discrepancies...

 

 

[pezzy]

sometimes you can find a rep dial dealer on ebay who does customs. when i was looking to do this, i wanted to do a 1016 dial since all the ones at that time were junk. i ended up not going ahead because i was afraid they could use my drawing and improve on the junk they were selling (and yes i see the irony here lol).

if you are going to draw them, then think about doing the whole process yourself. i had access to a laser etcher/engraver to make print plates so that particular aspect (the most difficult imo) was out of the way. you can buy dial pad printers on aliexpress. the rest is all just trial and error i think. the idea was to burn money perfecting one, then mass produce to sell hopefully breaking even.

[one80]

Thanks.

Are there any good references for the printing process if I was to go down the path myself?

 

[Nanuq]

Use our search function.  We have discussed this thoroughly.  Many people here make their own dials and have detailed the process they use.  Read, read and read some more.

 

[pezzy]

to be honest, i have very little idea lol. i just know the process goes, make print plates using a laser etcher then use a dial pad printer to transfer ink from plate to dial. all the other nits and bits i was going to leg it through trial and error. iirc theres a bible size book just on printing itself. i cant remember the name of it unfortunately.

if you youtube dial pad printing, you can find some videos on what the ink transfer is like. and also alot of sellers of generic and rep dials on aliexpress will do customs. if you dont mind them stealing your drawings then its probably the easiest way to go.

[automatico]

I have a friend who has been in the precision decal printing business 40+ years and he is also well versed in pad printing.  A few years ago I was wanting to print some dials and talked to him about it.  He said first off that it was not easy at all to get precision letters and markers printed almost perfectly on a surface as small as a dial without a high $$ precision pad printer and a lot of practice.  Next, he said a high quality pad printer was needed to produce high quality dials, not a cheap eBay etc model.  When I asked how much $$ it would take to get started, he said three to five thousand dollars USD for a precision manual printer, plus ink, a few printing plates/cliches etc.  Cheapo equipment = cheapo results.

Another difficulty is hand applying the lume on printed markers.  You need a steady hand. 

 

That is as far as I got other than making a few dial blanks out of .4mm thick .925 silver and a few out of brass. 

Here is how I made the blanks:

First, I marked the metal with a scratch awl using a spare brass dial a little bit bigger than needed and rough sawed it out with a jeweler saw. 

Next, I drilled the center hole (marked from the center hole in the dial used for the pattern). 

Then I mounted the plate in a padded arbor (to prevent scratches if it slipped) and cut it to size on a lathe. 

Last, I engine turned the back side just for looks but never got around to having the dial feet soldered on.  Now a friend has a laser welder so I may try it just to see how it goes.

 

The decal guy started out hand cutting brand name and number decals for race boats/ski boats and race cars plus painting gold leaf gilded signs on office windows, door glass etc...in 22K yellow gold.  It is all done in reverse on the back side of the glass.  The gold leaf is stuck to the glass using melted gelatin medicine capsules to hold it in place.  The gold leaf is handled with a very soft brush charged with static electricity, you can not touch it...the gold leaf is about 0.1µm (.0001mm) thick.  One puff of wind and it is gone.

 

I still have a 'Bon Ami' window cleaning bar out in the garage from back then.  The windows had to be spotless.

It was 39 cents back then, now it is $20 to $30 a bar.  Crazy.

"Hasn't scratched yet." was their motto.

 

He also painted some cars that were featured in Car Craft and various Hot Rod magazines in the 1970s/80s along with designing a few trademarks in the drag racing industry.  Almost all of the decal cutting is done on a computer controlled plotter today. 

 

Now he mostly makes headlight decals for round track cars/drag cars, and fake license tags, small signs etc for movies.  You see a movie made in a small town named 'Desire, Alabama' (for example) and chances are it was made in Canada or somewhere and all the cars on the set have fake license tags matching the state where the movie is supposed to take place. 

 

Gold Leaf Techniques On Glass & How To Start — Ray Mawst Lettering & Design 

 

 

[pezzy]

i reckon you can get away with a cheapo pad printer. the most important things that i can think of for detail would be the quality of the print plate, that rubber squishy thing, and to a lesser extent the ink/paint. the contraption itself is just for alignment and transfer of ink so i can't imagine you need something very nice if you're just banging out low volumes. i suspect a lot of the rep dials you find from asia are made using cheap tools as well. especially vintage dials that arent very complex and often arent perfect anyway.

theres also screen printing. i didnt look into it in detail because i couldnt find much info about creating stencils with details as small as the ones you find on watch dials. i just read it was difficult. but if you can create them, then i can see this would be a much easier entry to creating your own dials.