Graduated dials

[george wilson]

You could try Aluminum black,a chemical,not a paint. Abrade it off the surface. It will stay in the grads. Then,gun blue for the steel ones. If you can,get some that makes a black finish. Personally,I like the dials untreated. They came that way,mostly,from the factories(except the delrin Hardinge dials,which HAD to be blacked or you could not see the grads.)

I still agree that 1/16" numbers tapped with a small hammer aren't harmful even in steel(which is still rather soft stuff). Turning a square steel bar of tool steel would be a lot more forceful.

Be sure to stone your numbers FLAT. They look cheap when left with the displaced metal sticking up around their perimeters. Only a cheap rifle,like a J.C. Higgins .22 from the 50's(still have mine),and the like left their letters un flattened. Wait,did Winchester on recent guns? Well,things aren't what they USED to be!! They SHOULDA flatted them. Actually,quite a few modern made guns have pooched up lettering. Some people have NO ART in their souls. You know,even my 1986 Grizzly lathe has nicely flatted numbers on the dials(But,I could do WITHOUT that ugly hard chrome. Smooth steel looks better. Yeah,I know.... corrosion. Well,keep them up and don't LET them rust or discolor!!

 

[iron man]

For coloring the grads and numbers. I have tried the lacquer paint, didn’t work well enough. I have tried the colored sticks from the engravers, didn’t work. I have tried various flavors of spray paint, forget it! And all the different paints and wax sticks over the years, forget it! None of the stuff produces a lasting, professional, perfect 10 result. But then I found a product that gives fantastic results. And it’s a product called “Dyken Staining” and it is NOT Dyken layout fluid, that’s different stuff. It comes in a few color choices, but I have only used the black color….Good Luck.

A friend of mine has some of the black dykem stain I can try I did have some good results with black lacquer wiped in with a cloth then remove the excess with a wood stick i suppose i could do the same with stain. I also thought about gun blueing.. Ray

 

[chips&more]

With gun bluing and especially hot bluing, it will color everything and then you will have to remove the unwanted. Maybe not so fun. I’m very finicky about details. When I inspect high grade machinery the dial grads and #’s are “filled” in with color and not blued. The Dykem Staining also fills in the voids and does not come off like paint does. And don’t know why they call it a stain when it has the viscosity of house paint? Depending on your engraving depth, maybe 2 or 3 coats and then emery stick off the unwanted and then enjoy…Good Luck.

 

[chips&more]

Not trying to hijack the thread. Just want to show the results when using Dykem Staining (DS). I have a Sanford surface grinder that needed handwheels. Figured finding an original set was next to impossible. I procured rough castings on-line and finished them at home. The counter balance weights between the spokes/webbing was made from plate and screwed ( not welded) to its adjoining spoke, then filled in with Bondo. I used a Gorton pantograph for the grads and #’s and then filled that stuff in with the DS. I did this about 8 years ago and the DS looks as good as day one. I wish I could have plated the handwheels to prevent rusting, but getting that process done in my neighborhood nowadays is very hard to do, find and pricey. And I noted that some generations of SG handwheels were not plated. So, I just give them a light coat of Starrett instrument oil and all is good.

 

[iron man]

Nice work it would be so nice to have dials that large the lines are so much easier to read I will try the black dykem on the next one, How about that new spray on chrome plating? I know it is probably just a form of plastic but it sure looks nice.. thanks Ray

 

[Bishop]

I need to touch these up yet but I am partial to white lines. I found that fine steel wool does a good job of removing the lacquer paint without pulling it out of the lines.

 

[chuckorlando]

I think the problem with most paints is the thickness in relation to the depth of the ticks and numbers. It sits high enough that it gets pulled when sanding. I like the dye idea my self. I gave up on my bridgeport cause the paint kept pulling. I'll try the dykem

 

[iron man]

I need to touch these up yet but I am partial to white lines. I found that fine steel wool does a good job of removing the lacquer paint without pulling it out of the lines.

The white does stand out nice. Ray

 

[Falcon67]

Very nice work.

You can get laquer paint at michales or any art supply store. You can also get it at auto paint supplyers but have to buy at lest a pint.

For some reason the auto parts stores claim it is restricted around here all though I have seen it in spray cans I may just do that or check the art supply houses. Thanks Ray

Likely because EPA will be auditing automotive paint sellers and "professional" paint stores for compliance with VOC regs, among other things. Seems art stores are outside that radar system. And being a racer, I agree on the bearings. 500 HP, wheels in the air a few feet before landing, riding the brakes at 100 MPH across the finish line - same wheel bearings in the car since 1992. Not gonna hurt spindle bearings much with number strikes.

 

[Isberg]

A comment regarding on the possible problem caused by hammering roller bearings, I think everybody here has a point. It is very bad practice to hammer on any rolling bearing in a way that transmitts the impulse through the rollers or balls. This practice should always raise a red warning flag. The reason as explained to me by the SKF people is that the impulse force very easily dents the ball/roller races. The damage is usually not immediately obvious, but typically shows up in a couple of hundred hours of running. Been there , done that mounting axle couplings on a number of largish electric generators... expensive.

The basic problem is that if you pound a pulley on to a motor or a wheel bearing in place, the mass You pound on is very small between the hammer and the bearing so the resulting force on the bearing races gets very high, enough to cause damage. BUT: if you have a massive chuck... or a wheel assembly on a vehicle, the situation is very different. Due to the impulse law of physics it is then possible to pound quite heavily on it without causing damage to the bearing races. It is a bit similar to being on the right side of a gun (the heavy side)....

I would not be concerned to hit something in my lathe with a small hammer if I use a massive chuck. But I would NEVER do that using the integral 5c collet holder. And if possible use the softest mallet that will do the job.

Anybody here tried to restore the black graduations on matte chromed dials?
The ones on my Weiler Condor VS2 lathe have lost all black in the groves and become quite hard to read. My concern is that getting the excess paint of the matte surface may be a problem.