Dial for old scales

[RussellT]

I've been restoring some old scales that came from my mother-in-laws shed. They were rather rusty so they've been dismantled, de-rusted, re-assembled, and painted in close to original colours.

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All I have to do now is make a legible dial, which the original isn't.

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I have redrawn the dial using a scan of the original to trace over.

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 My original idea was to get someone to cut this out in vinyl for me and then use that to etch a brass dial.  However, after having redrawn the dial I think some of the detail is too fine for a vinyl cutter so I am wondering what to do.

I've thought of a number of options:

Print it on paper and cut an acrylic face to go over it.
Get it printed on sticky vinyl and stick it to the old face.
Get it laser engraved on brass deep enough to add paint and then clean up the brass leaving the markings visible.

I have no experience with laser engraving or cutting so I've no idea if the last option is even feasible, where to go or how much it would cost.

Does anyone have any other ideas, or advice on any of these?

Russell

[awemawson]

Think of it as a printed circuit board. Photo print it onto transparent sheet, apply photo-resist to a nice clean brass disk and expose it through the transparency.

Then etch the brass disc - you may want to make a negative version of your artwork.

[philf]

Russell,

I printed mine on card, cut round the outside, cut a bigger centre hole, encapsulated it and then trimmed around the outside and punched a centre hole so that it was completely sealed against moisture. I then stuck that to the old dial.

I wasn't bothered about it looking authentic - and I drew a scale calibrated in kgs.

Why have you missed out SALTER above HOUSEHOLD SCALE?

Phil.

[russ57]

what is the original?

[SwarfnStuff]

Hi Russ,
     Perhaps you simply missed the brand "SALTER" on the original brass face you put a scan of in you post?
John B

[RussellT]

Phil, John - SALTER got left behind while I was moving it all to the middle of the page - thanks for pointing it out - I'd have been annoyed if I hadn't noticed it before I'd finished.

Phil, I could do something like yours - but I'm trying to make it fancy.  I have thought about doing a metric dial on the back of the imperial one.  Interestingly I found a picture of an original metric scale which was calibrated to 15 kilos (about 33 pounds) - I think they would just have adjusted the bar that goes through the spring to make the spring shorter.

Russ, the original was white paint on tin plate, with the design printed or stencilled on.

Andrew, that is a very good idea.  I had actually thought of that but dismissed it because I thought it would be difficult to get a printout without pinholes in the large white areas, but you prompted me to look again, and I discovered negative photoresist.  I've never done circuit boards like that - I generally use press'n'peel.  I will investigate further.

Russell

[RussellT]

Hi All

Happy New Year!

It's amazing how projects can drag on isn't it.

Sometimes there are legitimate reasons, like waiting for materials, practicing a new technique, cleaning up previous attempts to try again, watching YouTube videos to learn the technique, avoiding exposing photosensitive stuff to brilliant sunshine, attempts to refine the UV exposure time, building a UV exposure platform, watching the YouTube videos again as you've forgotten what they said or it didn't work like they said .

Then there are the other reasons too, like having more important things to do, getting distracted by watching irrelevant YouTube videos, holidays, decorating, grass cutting and other family stuff.

However, I have at last finished this project.  I used dry photosensitive film intended for making circuit boards as Andrew suggested and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

Thanks again to Andrew for the suggestion.

Here are some pictures.

Russell

[BillTodd]

Beautiful job 

[awemawson]

Excellent result

[RussellT]

Thank you both.

Having worked out how to do it I'm now thinking about the possibilities for custom panels and labels.

Russell

[AdeV]

Happy New Year! That is, indeed, a beautiful result & well worth waiting for.

As for projects that drag on...

Then there are the other reasons too, like having more important things to do, getting distracted by watching irrelevant YouTube videos, holidays, decorating, grass cutting and other family stuff.

Nothing you watch on YouTube is irrelevant. Not even the funny cat videos: they let your brain rest, & come up with new and innovative ideas that won't work, rinse & repeat!

Pretty much all of my major projects get stuck at the cat video stage...

[Muzzerboy]

Excellent result - as good as the original if not better! Have you got some sort of protective lacquer on it to protect against tarnishing? I wouldn't know what to use.

[AdeV]

Have you got some sort of protective lacquer on it to protect against tarnishing? I wouldn't know what to use.

Automotive clearcoat would probably do the trick

[RussellT]

Thank you both.

I haven't done anything to prevent tarnish - but I have used spray on clearcoat on a letter box which worked well.  A bit of tarnish on the scales will add some patina and increase their value.

Pretty much all of my major projects get stuck at the cat video stage...

I can understand that.

Russell

[vtsteam]

Really beautiful job on that, Russell!     

[RussellT]

Thanks Steve.