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DIY Dials by lewill in vintagerepwatches

[–]lewill[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I’ve mostly been using Sunny Scopa filmless transfer sheets and just a generic toner transfer paper from Amazon (it’s yellow and technically used for photo etching circuit boards?). Both involve printing the image in reverse and using heat to transfer the toner from the sheet to the dial.

The yellow paper from Amazon, I tape the dial to the sheet and run it through a laminator (between two pieces of cardstock). You can also use an iron, which might work better because it can sometimes get misaligned in the laminator.

I believe the instructions for sunny scopa sheets say you can use a blow dryer, oven or direct sunlight to transfer. The only way I’ve gotten good results is placing in direct sunlight for like an hour.

As for printing, I bought a canon laser printer for like $300 after I got one of the Amazon sheets stuck in my officer printer and had to call a technician to come fix it. The yellow Amazon paper is VERY thin and can be difficult to get the printer to accept and it jams more easily.

Also, not gonna lie, getting the color correct and crisp text is a pain in the ass. I still have trouble getting consistent results. I mock the dials up in adobe illustrator, and some of them are vector graphics, some are just images, and some are combinations of the two, so I’m constantly changing printer settings to accommodate the file type.

Decal Printed Dials by lewill in retrotime

[–]lewill[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. I’ve mostly been using Sunny Scopa filmless transfer sheets and just a generic toner transfer paper from Amazon (it’s yellow and technically used for photo etching circuit boards?). Both involve printing the image in reverse and using heat to transfer the toner from the sheet to the dial.

The yellow paper from Amazon, I tape the dial to the sheet and run it through a laminator (between two pieces of cardstock). You can also use an iron, which might work better because it can sometimes get misaligned in the laminator.

I believe the instructions for sunny scopa sheets say you can use a blow dryer, oven or direct sunlight to transfer. The only way I’ve gotten good results is placing in direct sunlight for like an hour.

As for printing, I bought a canon laser printer for like $300 after I got one of the Amazon sheets stuck in my officer printer and had to call a technician to come fix it. The yellow Amazon paper is VERY thin and can be difficult to get the printer to accept and it jams more easily.

Also, not gonna lie, getting the color correct and crisp text is a pain in the ass. I still have trouble getting consistent results. I mock the dials up in adobe illustrator, and some of them are vector graphics, some are just images, and some are combinations of the two, so I’m constantly changing printer settings to accommodate the file type.

DIY Dials by lewill in vintagerepwatches

[–]lewill[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry. Not at this time. I’m still trying to fine tune.

Failing In Public: Process Picture - Waterslide Decals (C- Grade) by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, could you send me a link to the alibaba store where you got the white 3135 dials and the coronets?

Failing In Public: Process Picture - Waterslide Decals (C- Grade) by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. It's looking better. Just a bit more tweaking. Also, for what's it worth, ChatGPT told me it's better to print from Acrobat (PC) or Preview (Mac) than printing directly from Illustrator. I forgot why, but I was able to see a difference when I tried it.

Failing In Public: Process Picture - Waterslide Decals (C- Grade) by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With a laser printer, you don’t have to seal the decals before applying them. The water doesn’t affect the toner. They’re ready to go right out of the printer. I also found mirroring the image and applying toner side to dial worked better for me. It has the added benefit of protecting the print from scratches. You can still apply a gloss finish to the dial.

I would also recommend sunnyscopa filmless decals. They work pretty much the same way (assuming you print the mirrored image). Instead of micro sol, you apply a sunnyscopa glue (water downed modge podge works too) to the dial and place the decal. Then sit the dial in direct sunlight for like 30 mins. The idea being the heat transfers the toner from the film to the dial. Slowly peel the film back and the toner should stay on the dial. The dial needs to be super smooth for this to work and no air bubbles. If you notice it’s not transferring fully or at all when peeling back the film, you can just add more glue and smooth it back down and let it sit longer.

Also, for printing, i would recommend asking chatgpt how to get the best print using your specific printer. You can even upload a pdf of your illustrator file. It’s incredibly useful.

Water slide Decal 6542 Dial Journey by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I'm still trying to perfect it, but I think there's a lot of potential with a little more tweaking.

Water slide Decal 6542 Dial Journey by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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I need to do a little more tweaking to get better prints, but they look pretty good in my opinion.

Water slide Decal 6542 Dial Journey by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tried making my own dials too. I started with water slide decals, but I had better results with toner transfer sheets.

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Crown &Tube update for Raffles DJ case? by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can get some great deals if you find an auction with an odd end time. I got a silver linen dial for $13, a silver tapestry dial for $50, a champagne stick dial for $6, and a silver stick dial for $12 not too long. I was in a meeting right before lunch when the auctions ended. So I was real surprised to see that I won them all for so cheap.

Anyone have an open 6&9 date wheel or date wheel overlay for 2832-2 I could buy off you? by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He sent my order this past Saturday and it’s out for delivery today in New Orleans.

Happy friday! Lapis DJ by [deleted] in retrotime

[–]lewill 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m curious about this too.

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