Graduated dials

I like the idea of making my own larger dials .
But not having to stand there for ages with a slightly bent back /neck as I have disabilities in my legs arms back shoulders & neck .

I've come up with the e idea of turning rings to slide over the existing dials then fix them in place with super glue and a couple of set screws .

It's the marking of the graduations that's the problem for me.

Have any of you dipped any spirit based cleaned metal rings in an etch resist paint , let it dry well and then used tiny chisels in a guide as shown earlier and chopped the graduations through the paint along with the numbers , then etched the dials deeply ?

If so do you have any tips or thoughts on this idea .
 
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Eat your heart out guys, this thread got me thinking and looking ... my turn has come.
I won a 7 & 1/4" dia 100 tooth circular saw blade with a 16 mm bore off eBay UK for 99 pence ( a dollar forty ) packing & postage cost me nearly three dollars . The Postie delivered it yesterday afternoon ..it's never been used.

I've had a re-look at the drive stepper motor & stepper motor control unit taken off a working variable speed vibrating exercise machine & an old fire damaged workshop small table top drill press that has the wrecked motor & electrics removed .

I think that in a few weeks , if it ever warms up enough , I should be able to make precision 90volt 1 hp lathe mounted milling device to fit on the cross slide then use the saw blade on the lathe cross shaft as my calibration/ setting wheel so I can make my own engraved dials .

It certainly beats the idea of deep acid etching bees waxed turned steel or aluminium blanks & finding it fails to work well in nine out of ten cases.
 
If you are worried about your headstock bearing put some steel across the ways and place a machinist jack between it and the work piece. Force on bearings eliminated.

I am sort of torn because the forces are low. However i have seen precision bearings damage by straightening shafts in the lathe as the op stated

Excellent work though. Stamping evenly is hard to do!
 
I tried the chemical blueing on this dial for my shaper. A light buffing with fine emery paper on the lathe left the lines and poorly stamped numbers standing out.
IMG_1934.jpg

Greg
 
Thanks guys I have made several dials since this one they have all turned out great. No damage to the bearings at all Intermittent cuts are 100% harder on the bearings than a little hammer tap the bearings in this machine are about 70 years old and where abused far worse than you can imagine and they are still working fine everyday. Ray
 
Ray
That looks like wonderful workmanship on the dials. I really like the out-of-the-box thinking on the saw blade indexing! As long as you don't mind, I may have to steal that idea for future use.
Thanks for sharing your solution with us!
 
Iron Man
Beautiful work! I may solicit your services one day! As to the bearing damage debate- I am a professional mechanic. These precision bearings will disperse the blow over 60 degrees or so of the bearing assembly, so that no one single bearing element bears the whole impact, I believe. Personally, I would not be afraid to strike them with a MUCH larger hammer.
 
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