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With only 11 days left until the QWAC, a foreboding sense of panic breaches the surface of my thoughts: Will I finish everything in time? In my last post, I was very worried that I wouldn't get the required parts in time to be able to finish them. Well, the powers that be have shined favourably on me this past week and everyone came through for me. By the end of last week I had rough castings of 8 dials in my hands. I was very happy that this was accomplished, but I was feeling not elation but something akin to disappointment. Why? Then it hit me...I can't go to the cottage and enjoy three lazy days beside the lake, I have to stay home while my wife and son go. And so, I lived the life of a bachelor once again for the long weekend and spent a majority of it down in my studio, working on the dials. Here's a photo of what I was missing out on...
And so, back to what I did all weekend, the dials. I really shouldn't complain though, I enjoy working in the studio on my own work. So below are pictured six of the dials in their rough state.
You can't see it from the pictures, but there are jagged cut-off points on the backs of the dials where the sprues for casting are positioned, so the first step is to saw those off. After those are removed, a rough sanding on the front and back of each dial is done to flatten both sides and smooth them out. Here they are pictured after that process on my bench pin and another rough dial with the sanding dust from another.
Next step is to solder on the dial feet which hold the dial to the movement or mechanism of the watch. These have to be precisely positioned on the back of the dial or they won't fit into holes on the movement. This process is difficult at the best of times, even using a jig I hand make for each different type of movement. Needless to say I ended up cutting off a few (or more) dial feet because they were slightly out of alignment, but in the end, I won out. Here's a photo of the dial feet soldered into position on the backs of 2 of the dials.
You might be thinking 'Wow those dial feet are long!' and you would be right! They get trimmed down to different lengths depending on the type of movement used, I just leave them long while soldering because they are easier to hold that way. After trimming I drill the centre hole larger to allow all the posts to stick through and then the process get interesting...it's time to add colour!
For the colour in my dials, I use a resin type of enamel, basically it's a special type of coloured two-part epoxy that you can cure in an oven or allow to cure in the air over a 2 day period. I generally just let them air dry and I have to when using luminous powders. I'm not really sure what would happen to the luminous material if it was heated, so I just play it safe. So I mix up some colour, and apply it to the dials, putting on a generous amount because it shrinks while drying. Here is what the dials look like when they are coated in goo.
And here is the blue one up close and with the lights turned out!
You might be having another thought after seeing those pictures: ' Wow what a sloppy guy, those look horrible!' Let me reassure you, this is only temporary. After the resin has cured, it's very hard, so I sand it down flush with the surface of the dial to give it a more pleasing appearance ;-)
So that's as far as I've got this past long weekend, it definitely was a labourious one..............I know, that was terrible. haha.
I also think this may be the time to address another question some of you may have: 'That seems like a lot of work! Are all watch dials made that way?' And the answer is no! I don't think I've ever seen anyone make watch dials this way. My dials are solid sterling silver. Most dials are made from very thin brass that has all of the details/markings printed onto it by a machine using paint or luminous paint. The only part that's really touched by someone on most watches are the little hour markers. On most watches those are made by a machine that stamps them out of a sheet of metal and then they are glued onto the dial either by machine or by hand. I wanted to make dials in a different and interesting way, so as to give the watch a different look and to let the owner know that this watch was handcrafted. I found a YouTube video of how Frank Muller makes their dials to give you an example of how the dial for a watch that costs tens of thousands of dollars is made. As you can see, my process is completely different, not necessarily better, just different.
I'd love to hear your comments about my blog and also if you have any questions regarding any of my processes. Hope you all had a great long weekend.
11 days till the Queen West Artcrawl!
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