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Thread: Bronze, Titanium and Carbon Fibre. A 'Case' Study ;) (Photo heavy)

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  1. #1
    Craftsman
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    Bronze, Titanium and Carbon Fibre. A 'Case' Study ;) (Photo heavy)

    Evening All,
    I've got to a scratch head, think about it stage with my Porsche Engine - Specifically how to get it back out of the garage when its fully assembled.
    Because of this I have allowed myself a diversion.

    Some of you will remember the Lumaholic watch http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...m-a-Lumeaholic.
    In that thread I said it was an idea for a case, and the plastic one was a prototype.
    Well, I was happy with how it turned out, with a few minor alterations.
    As a result I made the small changes and printed a pattern.
    I then sent these off to a guy I know who does lost wax bronze castings for a living.


    I've wanted to make a Carbon Fibre dial for a while, and so I dug out some thin CF sheet that I have.


    Marked a circle and made with the Saw. Carbon Fibre is horrible to cut,and thin Carbon Fibre is really yuck. A lot of little itchy bits.


    Still, a blank for the dial, a blank for the case, and a piece of Ti for the back.
    Looks like a start :)

    A blank dial would be beautiful - I'll polish the carbon to really show it off, but I need to practice applied indices.

    So I grabbed another piece of Ti, and some files.
    Made a Trapizoid, and filed the pins into it:





    A 12 marker:




    The casting needs a little work.
    I thought Id see how it would polish up on the case edges.
    Quite nicely it turns out:





    The back will be a snap on, made from Titanium.
    first make the square round:


    Thats about the right size:


    I have a soft jaw chuck, which is great for holding thin things. First you load the jaw, and then bore a shallow hole to hold the part.


    Then you can grip the part for turning


    If you look carefully you can see the 'snap' angle on the back piece. there is a matching bevel inside the case


    It needs the outside profiling, another soft jaw job



    Of course I need a crystal as well.
    I started with some crystal plate:


    And I bored the Case on my Unimat.


    Cut a blank for the Crystal:




    Profiled the outside to a nice bevel:


    and cut the inside


    I beveled a chapter ring into the case. Its going to look nice:



    More to come at some point - I stil have to fit the movement to the dial, make a few more markers, some hands, and drill the case for the stem.
    Then I probably need to make a stem and soem incidental bits and bobs.

    Of course I also have to get the Porsche engine done and back in the car...

    Dave

  2. #2
    Craftsman
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    Love that! It's great you've got the tools and materials to hand. Is the carbon bare? If you lacquer it with a few coats you can really polish it up to a high finish. A friend of mine who's in the bodywork trade has made some really nice carbon skinned car parts, both for interior and exterior.

    Have you cut the profile into the crystal or was it bought like that? What plans do you have for a strap?

    Can't wait to see the next instalments.
    Mark

  3. #3
    Master Marco-T's Avatar
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    Amazing job!

    Looking forward to more info/pics of the next steps

  4. #4
    Craftsman
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    Yes the Carbon needs lacquer and polish.
    The Crystal was cut from the sheet and profiled / turned / finished to the shape it is now.
    Strap - I'm not sure, brown leather I think - I've got 2/3rds of a skin in a light brown almost orange colour.
    Leatherwork will be a new thing to learn...

    Dave

  5. #5
    Master .olli.'s Avatar
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    That is really impressive, I look forward to the updates!

  6. #6
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by .olli. View Post
    That is really impressive, I look forward to the updates!

    +1, great stuff!
    F.T.F.A.

  7. #7
    I'm glad you're back with an update, I enjoyed your earlier work.

    It's obvious, to me, that you are a man of precision, technology, and good taste... you use .177 Air Rifle pellets, not .22 (2 slow) slugs like the knuckle draggers do ;-)

  8. #8
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    Going to look very nice.

  9. #9
    Craftsman
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    Keep it going mate, Faster faster

  10. #10
    Journeyman
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    Wonderful job, keep up the good work!

  11. #11
    Craftsman
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    For the initial shaping a pin vise and some blue - so I can see where I'm filing



    Starting to get more Hand Shaped



    Once it gets reasonably close then a different support is required.



    Hard to photograph with my phone camera, but you can start to see the faceted shape




    Once I got the top reasonably close I needed to thin the hand somewhat.
    I should probably make and actual jig for this at somepoint - it will be needed to black polish. For now however a piece of HSS, and a scrap of the same thickness will do



    Rub on various stones to reduce the thickness evenly



    Next time I have to make some thin material I'm going to make it closer to the thinness I actually need...

    Hour hand next

    Dave

  12. #12
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update, more great work there! What's the state of play with the engine?
    F.T.F.A.

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