Date Disc Overlays

[daan]

hey stilty

please advice!!!!

i need 1 date overlay for my mbw 1665 great white but don't know which one....

also send you a pm

cheers,

daan

[stilty]

Thanks everyone for your replies and interest!

The plate is expected this week, so I started to prep my blanks. A slight hiccup. I am good at a lot of things, but need some practice when it comes to painting. I figured I could airbrush the blanks myself. Well, that did not go over so well. I blew through 1/2 of my blanks, and probably only have 10-15 that are good enough printing. I will need to get more blanks to fill everyone's requests. At least there will be a lot of discs to test print with.

Anyway, I've sent an email to order more blanks, and found a couple of airbrush artists on craigslist to give me a quote to paint the blanks. They need to be perfect.

Stay tuned. I hope to have some test printing done this week.

[pauluk]

Thanks everyone for your replies and interest!

The plate is expected this week, so I started to prep my blanks. A slight hiccup. I am good at a lot of things, but need some practice when it comes to painting. I figured I could airbrush the blanks myself. Well, that did not go over so well. I blew through 1/2 of my blanks, and probably only have 10-15 that are good enough printing. I will need to get more blanks to fill everyone's requests. At least there will be a lot of discs to test print with.

Anyway, I've sent an email to order more blanks, and found a couple of airbrush artists on craigslist to give me a quote to paint the blanks. They need to be perfect.

Stay tuned. I hope to have some test printing done this week.

two for me one white and one silver the thinner option and I will be able to model the disc for you in the mbw comex 1665 I am working on, this one is a bit special so it should be a good advert for you, thanks for the effort.

[Dizzy]

I will for sure take TWO of the THIN flat top 3's for my MBW vintages... ETA2846 of course... one in silver if possible if not both

[docblackrock]

I'd be interested in a couple (on white, one silver), still have a couple of Ubi/Archi overlays about plus a gen silver c.1570 flat-top DW, but always interesting to see new attempts.

Good luck with the radial brushed finish on the silver - pull that one off and you'll be a hero

[archibald]

Great Job!!! I'm in for 2 Modern and 2 Vintage if you get the brushing down. BTW, IMO the brushed disks should be plated w/ nickel before printing.

[polexpete]

Nice one Stilty, i'm in for 2 modern 4 vintage (2 silver 2 white)

Cheers

P.

[rolexlover]

Hi,

I'm in for 2 thin silver ones for ETA 2846 and 2836 1665 watches.

Thanks

[kevin300z]

1 silver and one white for my 1680 SIngle red MBW

Edited December 18, 2008 by kevin300z

[yodaddynukka]

in in for one for a 1680 with 2846 (thin) gray or white! thanks!

[milsub5517]

1 flat 3's for 1665 and 1 for 3035 when its ready.

[stilty]

Finally! The Cliche (plate) has arrived.

Here are a couple pics to show the very nice etching they did. I checked it under 10X loupe and it looks very crisp. I should be able to get some nice results.

The fellow who made it, prints dials, so he said this is "swiss" quality. He made it of steel to achieve the best quality.

sorry, I didn't bother to get out the tripod, so they pics are a bit blurry.

[ubiquitous]

Great project, T! Arch, Kruz and I can attest to the sort of difficulty this kind of project demands, so much respect. Looking forward to seeing the finished product (and it may just be what the doctor ordered to rekindle the spark in vintage coronet divers for me).

Cheers!

R

[freddy333]

I agree. Looks good so far. Awaiting the final (cut) version.

Have you considered cutting these with the proper teeth, so it can replace (as opposed to sitting on top of) the ETA datewheel?

[jjfesq]

I'd like 2 please:

a silver for my drsd and a white for my 1680

Thanks

John

[Jimster]

Please include me for one Flat top 3 for a MBW 1665.

Thanks for all the work to get this right!

Jim

[stilty]

Thanks everyone for your interest in this project. I'm very excited about it!

I managed to get a few samples printed on some of the spoiled blanks I had. I must say they look pretty good. Still a few tweaks with the ink mixture to ensure a perfect clean print. ie. no bubbles in print, clean lines, etc. There are a LOT of variables involved in the printing process. The exact amount of thinner and hardener to compensate for humidity, temperature, etc. Anyway, most of you don't need to know about that, but I am enjoying learning something new. And this is the proper way to print genuine looking discs.

The only hold up right now is getting some more blanks. As mentioned previously, I tried to paint the blanks myself, and ended up ruining what I had. I hope to have some more blanks soon to get the project rolling.

**Very Important Update**

Omega, a very esteemed and knowledgeable member, has informed me that there will be issues with date window alignment with some rep dials! The discs I am working on are being made to genuine dial and date window measurements. The print layout has been designed for a genuine date window. Some rep dials may be off slightly and you may end up with some numbers not being centered perfectly. Also, the "Flat 3 Top" disc I am working on is based on a genuine disc. The numbers are the exact same size as the genuine disc and may be too large for some rep date windows. I took some measurements of a bunch of dials I had tonight and found that the font size I have is perfect for a gen 1570 or 3035 style dials I have, but slightly too wide for a gen 3135 dial I have, and definitely too large for a rep dial I have. So the initial batch will will be for gen dials, and maybe a few rep dials.

Good news is, seeing as my file is in vector, it is fairly easy to scale the numbers to fit a rep dial and move them over slightly for the rep date window.

Anyway, I hope to have some new blanks soon so I can work on printing some great overlays.

[slickdick]

Good news.

I suspect all vintage MBW will perfectly accept the overlays.

[LegendofSpeed]

this is really exciting... i'm in for one or more of the moderns when you get there....

[cht]

Does anyone know if the the noob dial has gen specs on the date window?

If so, I want one!

[Slartibartfast]

**Very Important Update**

Also, the "Flat 3 Top" disc I am working on is based on a genuine disc.

Thanks Stilty, but I am pretty sure that my rep 1655 dial is no where near gen spec. as the overlay on the ETA movement is much smaller to fit the date window.

I will duck out of this for now......but thank you for all your work so far!

Good luck in your venture.

[torresp]

getting some more blanks. As mentioned previously, I tried to paint the blanks myself, and ended up ruining what I had. I hope to have some more blanks soon to get the project rolling.

**Very Important Update**

Omega, a very esteemed and knowledgeable member, has informed me that there will be issues with date window alignment with some rep dials! The discs I am working on are being made to genuine dial and date window measurements. The print layout has been designed for a genuine date window. Some rep dials may be off slightly and you may end up with some numbers not being centered perfectly. Also, the "Flat 3 Top" disc I am working on is based on a genuine disc. The numbers are the exact same size as the genuine disc and may be too large for some rep date windows. I took some measurements of a bunch of dials I had tonight and found that the font size I have is perfect for a gen 1570 or 3035 style dials I have, but slightly too wide for a gen 3135 dial I have, and definitely too large for a rep dial I have. So the initial batch will will be for gen dials, and maybe a few rep dials.

accoding to my experience gen 1570 date wheels don't fit in MBW dials but runs great in Phong or NTD ones. Anyway if you need some measures from a gen dial just let me know...

good luck with your project.

p.s. we just need another project to make a perfect vintage dial.. any takers?

[bklm1234]

just got a gen tropic 127 for my 1680. With stilty's flat top 3 dw overlay, I can finish my 1680 project.

-bk

[freddy333]

accoding to my experience gen 1570 date wheels don't fit in MBW dials but runs great in Phong or NTD ones. Anyway if you need some measures from a gen dial just

Exactly correct. The center point of the date font on an ETA is a mm or so off from the center point for the date font on a Rolex. MBWs & other rep dials cut their date window so that the ETA date is centered. But if you swap the rep dial for a gen dial, the date will be off-center since the gen dial's date window was cut to center a Rolex calibre's date font. At least, that is the problem I ran into with my 1665 & 6542 projects.

[pauluk]

Exactly correct. The center point of the date font on an ETA is a mm or so off from the center point for the date font on a Rolex. MBWs & other rep dials cut their date window so that the ETA date is centered. But if you swap the rep dial for a gen dial, the date will be off-center since the gen dial's date window was cut to center a Rolex calibre's date font. At least, that is the problem I ran into with my 1665 & 6542 projects.

I hope you have got them ready soon Stilty as its the only part I need for my 1665 comex project!