One summer between university terms, I worked in a factory where they made engraved metal labels for thread gauges. The engraving was done on a Taylor Hobson pantograph engraving machine and the wax fill was done over an alcohol burner flame: Heat the label up, wax on, wipe off with a wipe on a hard wood block. Then the aluminium label was folded over the handle of the gauge and lacquered with a hard lacquer finish. Some had to be done in two colours red for the tolerance, black for the size. All I remember is burnt fingers.
What a brilliant end result. I wish I had the confidence (and steady hand) to try this. I would never be able to stop myself ruining the finished item by "fiddling" and "just a bit more", "almost there" etc, etc....
It's great to see these marvelous old techniques saved for posterity. I was involved in a trade where most of the old techniques haven't been deemed worthy to be saved. Sad.
Could the wax have been done before sanding off the old silver plating ? As this would have avoided additional sanding of the brass. Just watched the whole series, brilliant.
looks great I've tried this on a couple of platform escapements to get the silver back and its really satisfying. even in modern watchmaking allot of dials are still made essentially with this method just a bit less hands on.
Brilliant, Tommy. You of course make it look easy. I put a pinch of normal kosher salt ground to powder to create a subtle satin finish. That wax sanding, oof.
Tommy, I carve and paint mahjong tiles, so the process is similar to the waxing of the engraving; but I scrape off the paint, so I was wondering if that might be an option on your dials, avoiding much tedious sanding, and less wear on the brass? Disclaimer; I've never done it on brass, but the sinograms on the front panel of mahjong boxes are filled with wax like your dial, and I use the scraping method there too - never had any problem with harming the wood surface of the panels, so it might work for you? Thanks for showing the process.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve tried scraping in the past with mixed results. It’s a bit too easy to introduce a deep scratch or flick a lump of wax out of shallow engraving. I’ve found tentative sanding back to be the least invasive method, for me at least.
There is so much more depth to the finish of the dial slivering this way over plating which I feel smothers the dial too much, this finish has a delightful delicacy to it. It reminds me in tone of shade to my old 19th century sterling silver full hunter English Fusee pocket watch, that old English silver look if you get my meaning.
Tommy, instead of having to "further damage" the brass by sanding the silver plate away, have you tried an Electrolytic Stripper for Silver? If done properly, you won't damage the base metal and will extend the life of the engravings.
I did consider it at the time, but I wanted to protect the rear of the dial and didn’t want to submerge it, also I knew I was doing the waxing anyway so it didn’t make much difference.
This is lovely Tommy. Seeing the finish it makes me think that wrist watch dials and hands were treated like this? I am a hobbyist watchmaker never got the chance to talk to watchmakers in person and dealing with 50-70 years old relatively cheap mechanical watches usually. Tried to save dials and hands where the paint was badly damaged and under the paint I found a very similar finish, I was/am sure it was not a primer but a surface treatment between the paint and the brass. If so, why was this needed? Why cannot the paint directly go on the brass? When do you go back to the musical clock? :)
Pocket watches tend to have solid dials rather than any plating. Wristwatches I think are more of a plating usually or even painted, but it won’t be completely unheard of to have a silvered dial.
One summer between university terms, I worked in a factory where they made engraved metal labels for thread gauges. The engraving was done on a Taylor Hobson pantograph engraving machine and the wax fill was done over an alcohol burner flame: Heat the label up, wax on, wipe off with a wipe on a hard wood block. Then the aluminium label was folded over the handle of the gauge and lacquered with a hard lacquer finish. Some had to be done in two colours red for the tolerance, black for the size. All I remember is burnt fingers.
Great video. Thanks for showing us.
Excellent video. Exactly what is required - thank you. 😊
Fantastic
What a brilliant end result. I wish I had the confidence (and steady hand) to try this. I would never be able to stop myself ruining the finished item by "fiddling" and "just a bit more", "almost there" etc, etc....
Really impressive result Tommy, I haven't tried silvering brass, thanks for the tutorial.
Great to see you back Tommy...
It's great to see these marvelous old techniques saved for posterity. I was involved in a trade where most of the old techniques haven't been deemed worthy to be saved. Sad.
Great transformation Tommy.
Could the wax have been done before sanding off the old silver plating ? As this would have avoided additional sanding of the brass. Just watched the whole series, brilliant.
Thanks for the video
Hello Tommy,
I have never seen that done before... you make it look so easy, which I am sure its not.
Cheers.
Paul,,
looks great I've tried this on a couple of platform escapements to get the silver back and its really satisfying. even in modern watchmaking allot of dials are still made essentially with this method just a bit less hands on.
Brilliant, Tommy. You of course make it look easy. I put a pinch of normal kosher salt ground to powder to create a subtle satin finish. That wax sanding, oof.
Nice. I've still got the silvering compound from years ago when I re-engraved an old clock face for a client.
nice technique and great work!
Tommy, I carve and paint mahjong tiles, so the process is similar to the waxing of the engraving; but I scrape off the paint, so I was wondering if that might be an option on your dials, avoiding much tedious sanding, and less wear on the brass? Disclaimer; I've never done it on brass, but the sinograms on the front panel of mahjong boxes are filled with wax like your dial, and I use the scraping method there too - never had any problem with harming the wood surface of the panels, so it might work for you?
Thanks for showing the process.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve tried scraping in the past with mixed results. It’s a bit too easy to introduce a deep scratch or flick a lump of wax out of shallow engraving. I’ve found tentative sanding back to be the least invasive method, for me at least.
There is so much more depth to the finish of the dial slivering this way over plating which I feel smothers the dial too much, this finish has a delightful delicacy to it. It reminds me in tone of shade to my old 19th century sterling silver full hunter English Fusee pocket watch, that old English silver look if you get my meaning.
Just watched the series on this rebuild. One of the best and most professional jobs I've seen on TH-cam! Thank you.
Tommy, instead of having to "further damage" the brass by sanding the silver plate away, have you tried an Electrolytic Stripper for Silver? If done properly, you won't damage the base metal and will extend the life of the engravings.
I did consider it at the time, but I wanted to protect the rear of the dial and didn’t want to submerge it, also I knew I was doing the waxing anyway so it didn’t make much difference.
Thanks Tommy always a pleasure to watch you work a great job is it not possible to scrape some of the wax first or would that be too invasive.
I’ve tried scraping and I’ve found this method works best for me.
I’ve tried scraping and I’ve found this method works best for me.
New sub ! Liked 👍🙏😀❤️
This is lovely Tommy. Seeing the finish it makes me think that wrist watch dials and hands were treated like this? I am a hobbyist watchmaker never got the chance to talk to watchmakers in person and dealing with 50-70 years old relatively cheap mechanical watches usually. Tried to save dials and hands where the paint was badly damaged and under the paint I found a very similar finish, I was/am sure it was not a primer but a surface treatment between the paint and the brass. If so, why was this needed? Why cannot the paint directly go on the brass? When do you go back to the musical clock? :)
Pocket watches tend to have solid dials rather than any plating. Wristwatches I think are more of a plating usually or even painted, but it won’t be completely unheard of to have a silvered dial.
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I prefer to use a lawyer thinner to wipe of excess black wax
Beautiful! Did you make your own silvering paste?
No, a friend of mine makes it. Best stuff I’ve ever used.
@@TommyJobson I have a recipe from Chris Bessent I’m getting ready to try. Do you know Chris?
thank you.
Great work! Thanks for sharing.