# Restoring Graduated Handwheels



## Snuffy (Jul 27, 2015)

Good morning, Does any one out there have any suggestions on how I might refresh the hand wheels on a Brown & Sharpe 618 surface grinder. the present hand wheels are hard to read and the surface is pitted somewhat. I thought about having them re-chromed but I am concerned about loosing the graduation marks. Any help would be appreciated...Thanks....snuffy


----------



## 4GSR (Jul 27, 2015)

I have a B & S 612 SG with probably the same graduation dials, too.  The rings on mine are engraved pretty deep on the graduations. I believe mine are chromed.  Chroming the dials, the marks will probably disappear or be so faint that you can't see them.  Your best bet would be to fixture up and re cut the marks deeper.  IF you have a dividing head, this would be a easy job, if not, you can still do it buy using the existing marks as a guide for a indexer device to index off of.


----------



## Snuffy (Jul 28, 2015)

4gsr said:


> I have a B & S 612 SG with probably the same graduation dials, too.  The rings on mine are engraved pretty deep on the graduations. I believe mine are chromed.  Chroming the dials, the marks will probably disappear or be so faint that you can't see them.  Your best bet would be to fixture up and re cut the marks deeper.  IF you have a dividing head, this would be a easy job, if not, you can still do it buy using the existing marks as a guide for a indexer device to index off of.


Thanks for the response. These two handwheels were rusted so I had them chemically cleaned. They are pitted and very little contrast between the numbers/lines and the background. Unfortunately  I don't have a dividing head so I can't do it myself. I do appreciate your suggestion.....snuffy


----------



## Robert Bardin (Jul 28, 2015)

Tubalcain has a video on making new dials.   






Might help with an idea.


----------



## Rob (Jul 28, 2015)

Here is a cheap dividing head for doing dials. It is a 200 tooth saw blade from home depot. Around $10.00.


----------



## Navy Chief (Jul 28, 2015)

Maybe you can color in the graduations with a lacquer stick, something like this http://www.amazon.com/Markal-51123-Black-Lacquer-stikfill-in-Pai/dp/B002BYWUMO . They come in different colors if you look around a bit for one that will improve the contrast.


----------



## Snuffy (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks for the input, I will try your suggestion. .....snuffy


----------



## Andre (Aug 14, 2015)

I refurbished the dials on my mill by polishing the OD on the lathe, picking out dirt and junk from the engravings, filling in the index marks with white crayon, wiping off the excess with a clean rag, then spray lacquering the entire dial to prevent rust in my climate. They look beautiful now, and work much better.

If your grinder has satin chrome dials; you'd destroy the satin finish by polishing 'em.


----------



## chips&more (Aug 14, 2015)

Andre said:


> I refurbished the dials on my mill by polishing the OD on the lathe, picking out dirt and junk from the engravings, filling in the index marks with white crayon, wiping off the excess with a clean rag, then spray lacquering the entire dial to prevent rust in my climate. They look beautiful now, and work much better.
> 
> If your grinder has satin chrome dials; you'd destroy the satin finish by polishing 'em.


Just curious, did the lacquer cover/go over the crayon without doing the fish eye thing? If it worked, that’s a good thing to remember…Dave.


----------



## Andre (Aug 14, 2015)

chips&more said:


> Just curious, did the lacquer cover/go over the crayon without doing the fish eye thing? If it worked, that’s a good thing to remember…Dave.


Worked perfectly, covered it nicely with no fish eye or splotching.  (Rustolium rattle can)

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk


----------

