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Hi Guys.
A quick question please If I may.
I've decided to I need to re lume one of my simple ex-dive watches, it not an expensive watch but I would like to fix it up, clean a couple of spots of rust from the hands and re lume them and the dial.
So what can you recommend and where do I but it from please ?
The Bergeon kits are good, but a bit expensive
https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/lu...-compound-kits
Otherwise there are cheaper re-lume kits available from various sellers on eBay. I think the Bergeon stuff mixes together better than the cheaper kits, not that i have tried them all of course...
Ok , just ordered some premixed in a syringe off E-bay for about twenty quid.
This should be fun, what could possibly go wrong with hands like shovels and a nervous twitch that only large quantities of strong booze can stifle.
:eagerness:
Good luck!
Please post the results :eagerness:Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulM
What is the dial like? Does it have physical markers to fill with lume? If it’s a flat marker that’s lume only straight into the dial, good luck learning on that. Hands are very easy to do, only concern I’d have is the pre-mix side. When you mix it yourself it’s nice to be able to get the consistency just right, as you’ll find out when doing he hands the lume’s own surface tension at the right consistency is your best friend.
Get some magnification and take extreme care removing old lume.
Oh and sounds silly (but I’ve had watches like it to fix) make sure you lume the hands from the back side!
Ok so I've had a bit of a bash at stuffing some lume into a watch.
It was a very tedious process .
Firstly I dug out an old quartz diver for messing about with, I machined out the old lume from the 12 dot on the bezel with a 1.5mm slot drill.
Next I filled it with the E-bay sourced lume stuff , supplied in a small syringe.
After I'd squirted it all over the bench, down the front of my shirt and all over the crotch of my trousers, I retrieved some from my crotch and put it in a small dish for applying to the bloody watch.
Getting it into the 1.5mm hole was quite difficult as it would not flow nicely, slightly too viscous just as the good folk of the fora had indeed warned me.
Within 3 hours the lume had drastically dried out, It took me five re- applications of the lume before it filled the 1.5 x 2mm hole sufficiently leaving a slightly raised surface that could be cut back with a sharp knife.
Anyhow I've had a great time so here are some photos. ( no crotch pic's , promise )
You'll notice bits of fluff and fibers in the lume, they are unfortunately from the crotch of my trousers .
Another pic.
The next job is to pull it apart and carefully splodge some on the dial.
This is great fun.
why don't you practice on something crap 1st that's a nice tag
Source some s/crap dials with markers similar to the TH and practice varying lume mix viscosity.
this is how you ruin a good watch sirQuote:
Originally Posted by PaulM
I’ve always used the Bergeon lume, expensive but gives the flexibility in terms of mixing/consistency that’s essential in my opinion. Luming’s a tricky job, I’m no expert, I need all the help I can get and there’s no way I’d use pre-mixed stuff.
Luming hands isn’t too difficult once you’ve got the hang of it, and if it goes wrong you can always strip it off and start again. Luming a dial is far more challenging with v. little scope for error, that’s why it’s vital to be confident of your technique before starting.
I’m all in favour of encouraging people to develop their skills, but I think it’s unwise to start on something that’s got value. Practice on a scrapper first and be prepared to pay the money for the better lume kit if you have to.
Paul
Thank you for the advice.
Please excuse my adolescent humour, the pre made lume did squirt all over the place though, If anyone is going to use it treat this as a lesson on what not to do.
I'll buy in some mix it yourself stuff and give that a whirl on some old watch faces.
First though I'll need to mark out the lume shapes from the quartz Tag and see If I can accurately re-create the shape in lume as a test then compare it to the original Tag lume.
The most difficult bit I think will be creating the shapes on a flat watch face, I would love to know how the manufacturers do it.
I've been considering making a mould for each lume shape out of wax, filling it up with lume and then gently heating the wax until it melts away.
Maybe I just have to carefully draw the shape by hand with a pin, gently depositing the lume as i go.
The Bergeon kit comes with a tiny spatula, a bit like a large watch oiler, and that’s ideal for applying lume. Also includes a nice mixing dish. It’s expensive but it’s the best way to go IMO. It was easier for me to justify the outlay because I was fixing enough watches to get the money back, although I often forgot to charge for reluming hands or charged a very modest figure. I needed the capability and I needed to learn how to do it.
Paul
the bergeon stuff is plain luminova , not superluminova if that matters to the op . for a good job you need a black oiler , the very thin one , not the yellow one that comes in the bergeon kit . The only usable thing in the bergeon kit is the ceramic dishQuote:
Originally Posted by walkerwek1958
Disagree.......the yellow tool is ideal, I’ve done plenty of hands with it. Nothing wrong with the lume either in my opnion. To say the dish is the only usable item is completely untrue.Quote:
Originally Posted by DimGR
Mixing the lume correctly is important, getting just the right consistency is crucial. Took me a couple of goes to get it right but after that I’ve never had a problem. I dry mix green, white and yellow to give the shade I want, add a little lacquer, mix thoroughly and on it goes. V. important to have the hands totally clean, and not to apply too much in one go.
Paul
Thanks for the advice guys.
I'm currently waiting for some of the non pre mixed stuff to turn up.
Whilst using the pre mixed stuff I found I could leave it out in a dish for half an hour or so, the mixture would start to stiffen up a little and you can actually draw shapes quite accurately with the tip of a needle.
Though final evaporation is still quite high leaving only a light coating of lume, four or five re-coats are required to get any decent depth to the stuff.
At last the new stuff has arrived, so some more watch wrecking to be done.
The first picture is what is left of the pre mixed syringe stuff and the second is the new stuff.
This stuff is the mix it up yourself stuff, I'll post up some results once I've had a proper play with it. :smug:
I've had a little play now and it seems the pre made stuff was slightly lacking the actual lume stuff, it's made up of mostly fluid which evaporates away and leaves a tiny smattering of lume behind.
I mixed in a load more lume powder 50/50 with the pre made stuff, this has worked much better.
https://s20.postimg.org/w4vm2it8p/IMAG0408.jpg
I put plenty on to start with and carefully cut it back, trimming the edges up with a little wooden stick filed to a point and the black Bergeon oiler.
It looks very rough at this point.
https://s20.postimg.org/fh43zzvw9/S20180306_0001.jpg
A little bit more lume added.
https://s20.postimg.org/li1sx2xy1/S20180306_0002.jpg
Here is the 1 mm wide strip of lume.
https://s20.postimg.org/ksj0kqs9l/IMAG0409.jpg
I used a little bit of clear nail varnish to finish it off.
https://s20.postimg.org/sl9ocovnt/S20180306_0003.jpg
That looks like a good job done to me!
Paul,
With markers often 2 or 3 thin coats are applied with a fine oiler, it obvs does take some practise getting the lume flowing just right and sufficient lume strength.
Looks like youre having fun which is a good sign.