anyone use an airbrush for lume?

[timesofplenty]

Looking at some vintage divers dials, it appears that the lume was not applied by hand, but done with a spray, stamp, or screen, here's an example:



You can see how the alignment is off a bit, suggesting some sort of template was used....?



On this one you can see a sort-of grid pattern, suggesting a screen?


Does anyone have info on how lume was applied back in the 60s and 70s?

I'm wondering about the possibility of making a template, then using an airbrush to apply the lume....has anyone done this?

[GeoffD]

Most volume commercial dial lume work is done by screen printing.
As for airbrush, the pigment particle size makes airbrushing quite difficult although I have got away with using it for full lume dials after much experimenting.

[rfrazier]

An airbrush is okay if applying a luminous base layer. Screen printing works well for luminous material. However, you can't use the finest screens (highest thread count) with standard luminous material, as they will clog.

Although I've not been paying much attention recently, it appears to me that folks have been using/trying to find a luminous ink/paint that can be used with a pad printer. The problem is that the pigment particles are going to be small (< 5 micros), which has as a result that the glow is short lived. (I think that what they are looking for is a way to increase the glow time.)

Overall, the tidiest way to apply luminous material is in a reflective appliqué. It is also the easiest way to mechanize/robotize the process, I think.

(I would have to go and look at my notes, but I think that I had the best results using a mesh of something like 100-120 lpi for luminous material, and 270 lpi for standard dial writing.)

Best wishes,
Bob

[clockworks]

Where can you buy luminous paint for dials and hands these days? There used to be kits on eBay, but I can't find any. Cousins show the Bergeon paint as obsolete.

[skidder]

Where can you buy luminous paint for dials and hands these days? There used to be kits on eBay, but I can't find any. Cousins show the Bergeon paint as obsolete.

I just got some from wiegand watches (Chris who is Lum tec) very bright but quite pricey.

[BryanEbru1512]

Interesting thread......can anyone advise of a good dial relume person apart from Bry1975 as he appears to be very busy at present ?......i have a few that i need doing.