Is there any Jigs for Watch Faces?
- Thread starter tgsean
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bruce119
Member
When I used to make them. I would take a piece of hard, hard (Oak) wood drill it just slightly under the tube size, then cut it half. Now take a punch (from a Harbor Freight center punch set) the next size under the hole you just drilled in the wood. Now take your watch face or part and lay it on the 1/2 drilled opening in the wood now set your part on top and give it a good wack. I had several jigs different sizes for different tubes.
Seer
Member
Check out Chad at Turnerswarehouse.com I think he has a setup for doing this
duncsuss
Member
Check out this one. You might be able to make your own for the specific size pen tube you are targeting: Rio Grande
Thanks Bruce I will try that out. Does it damage the watch face at all? How can we prevent that? Sorry if I am asking too many questions. Thanks so much for your help. Appreciate it mate.
Thank you I did watch some of those videos, but I couldn't replicate his perfect work!! Cheers
Thanks Duncan. Cheers
jschoolcraft
Member
I want to say I saw Barry Gross talking about this at MATE a couple years ago, I want to say it's a U-channel Metal Swage block like: https://www.amazon.com/U-Channel-Jewelry-Making-Forming-Bending/dp/B09VYZQGJN
That and the punches for disassembly. I don't know about marring the watch face, maybe a thin piece of leather or similar?
That and the punches for disassembly. I don't know about marring the watch face, maybe a thin piece of leather or similar?
walshjp17
Member
In addition to those mentioned previously, check out Speakeasy Pen Emporium (https://speakeasypen.com/). They have a jig to hold the tubes/blanks for affixing watch parts as well as bending tools and other items.
Curly
Member
I did basically the same as Bruce did except I used a piece of PVC from water/sewer pipe. Sometimes Marla used the transfer punches I intended but most of the time she used my crosscut file. 
With the hardwoods you have one would last you years before needing another. Some faces don't bend easily and/or the markings pop off. Nature of the beast.
With the hardwoods you have one would last you years before needing another. Some faces don't bend easily and/or the markings pop off. Nature of the beast.
jttheclockman
Member
There are many people here who do watch blanks and I being one. If you plan to get into it and do quite afew I will tell you it is best to get a few tools. Or you can manage to make some crude tools to get by as pointed out if doing only a few. Transfer punches are your friend again. A nice dappler block is your friend. Chad at Turners warehouse has some very good videos on making them and also I believe he sells a nice small dappler block that has just about all the right size half moon indents that work well. I actually have that one and a larger one because I bend other items as well and if you are going to be bending watch gears as well as other watch parts you will need another one as well. I have to go out today but maybe later if someone does not post links to these I will try to find them. This is the starting needs.
Now with this said. Not all watch dials are meant to be bent. Some are too brittle and just will not bend with a sledge hammer. Some are to brittle and crack when bent. Some have plastic watch faces that peel off when bent because they are glued on. Some that have numbers or other dodads to indicate hours and minutes can fall off when bent because they are also glued on. These watch faces look good as a whole but not to be bent. Then some watch dials are very easy to bend with your fingers, using your thumb to bend around the punch. You will notice many times you have to use a much smaller punch than what the tube is because they is always spring back when bending dials.
Now along with these tools I have bought and they work very well various bending pliers that have nylon jaws and they come in various shapes. Again if need be I can find some links to these if someone want or needs me to put up at a later time. I use these most time to get the dial started bending and at times to tweak the bends to fit the tubes. Again these work well but can get expensive but as I said I bend a ton of watch dials and other items for watch blanks.
I can go into a few pointers that I have found work for me but as mentioned there are quite afew videos out there showing how it is done. The couple tips I will share to get an extreme good fit and look just to get started is. First I always make sure I am bending the dial in the center of the dial. It looks terrible if it is off center to me. I do this by drawing a line from the number 6 to 12 on the back side of the dial in sharpie. Now whenver I start bending I do not start in the middle and just place in dappler block. I start on the 2 ends and start rolling those in. Why you ask well it is because if you just start bending in the middle it is very tough to bend those ends inward because the main center is in the way. But if I have to tweak them later this is where the pliers come into play. Now the bigger the tube the easier it is to bend well because the shape is less. For now that is all I have but have fun. There is a dial for all variety of themes. Believe me. But you may have to pay for these on ebay but in the end a finished watch pen is worth far more that the watch. Good luck.
I see a link was provided already for some tools that I was talking about. That is good source for pliers. But I bought off Amazon and other sites. Just one other tip because people are talking about wood as dapler block and other materials, I am not a fan because the dial does not have a chance to roll and grabs into the wood because the edges are sharp. When that happens they bend down the center . maybe these people got their's to work well but the metal ones work great. Now to prevent the dials from getting scratched I use an old handkerchief that is soft cotton under the dial as I bend. never had one scratch and no chance of hanging up as it bends. Just my opinion.
Now with this said. Not all watch dials are meant to be bent. Some are too brittle and just will not bend with a sledge hammer. Some are to brittle and crack when bent. Some have plastic watch faces that peel off when bent because they are glued on. Some that have numbers or other dodads to indicate hours and minutes can fall off when bent because they are also glued on. These watch faces look good as a whole but not to be bent. Then some watch dials are very easy to bend with your fingers, using your thumb to bend around the punch. You will notice many times you have to use a much smaller punch than what the tube is because they is always spring back when bending dials.
Now along with these tools I have bought and they work very well various bending pliers that have nylon jaws and they come in various shapes. Again if need be I can find some links to these if someone want or needs me to put up at a later time. I use these most time to get the dial started bending and at times to tweak the bends to fit the tubes. Again these work well but can get expensive but as I said I bend a ton of watch dials and other items for watch blanks.
I can go into a few pointers that I have found work for me but as mentioned there are quite afew videos out there showing how it is done. The couple tips I will share to get an extreme good fit and look just to get started is. First I always make sure I am bending the dial in the center of the dial. It looks terrible if it is off center to me. I do this by drawing a line from the number 6 to 12 on the back side of the dial in sharpie. Now whenver I start bending I do not start in the middle and just place in dappler block. I start on the 2 ends and start rolling those in. Why you ask well it is because if you just start bending in the middle it is very tough to bend those ends inward because the main center is in the way. But if I have to tweak them later this is where the pliers come into play. Now the bigger the tube the easier it is to bend well because the shape is less. For now that is all I have but have fun. There is a dial for all variety of themes. Believe me. But you may have to pay for these on ebay but in the end a finished watch pen is worth far more that the watch. Good luck.
I see a link was provided already for some tools that I was talking about. That is good source for pliers. But I bought off Amazon and other sites. Just one other tip because people are talking about wood as dapler block and other materials, I am not a fan because the dial does not have a chance to roll and grabs into the wood because the edges are sharp. When that happens they bend down the center . maybe these people got their's to work well but the metal ones work great. Now to prevent the dials from getting scratched I use an old handkerchief that is soft cotton under the dial as I bend. never had one scratch and no chance of hanging up as it bends. Just my opinion.
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jttheclockman
Member
I would also like to throw another tip out there if it interests anyone. That is many times I can tell just by the weight of the dial or the way it feels when I try bending ever so slightly with my hands. If I truely like the dial I will thin it down by running on a small belt sander. being careful not to get it too hot at one time. You will burn your fingers. Have done this many times and then it bends alot easier because it is thinner. just another little tip.
JohnU
Member
Dapping block and steel punch sets do the trick. I lay a small piece of paper between the dial and the steel so I don't scratch it. I use it for bottle caps, military buttons, watch dials and gears. I just match the brass pen tube to the punch rod and groove for the proper size.
Here's links to what I use…
Here's links to what I use…
jttheclockman
Member
Yea that block is the other one I have and use that one more than the one I got from Turner's warehouse beacuse it zeros in on exact curve needed and transfer punches are the best. Now I have also used a press from Harbor Freight to bend items that are tough metals. This works well too.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-59766.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-59766.html
Thanks Pete. Much appreciatedI did basically the same as Bruce did except I used a piece of PVC from water/sewer pipe. Sometimes Marla used the transfer punches I intended but most of the time she used my crosscut file.
Thanks so much I really appreciate all the help, and tips!! That pen is amazing!! Thanks for showing me that. I am inspired. I will certainly try and get better at this. I do like them. Just out of curiosity is there anyone now selling these pen blanks? I used to get them from Marla before. I would be very interested, as I enjoy more of the turning and finishing, and would be happy if I could just buy the blanks to be honest.
Hi John thanks so much. I do have the dapping block and the pen disassembly kit, I have tried it but I didn't try from the edges first and was struggling to get it bend correctly. Thanks for the tip as well about the paper. Much appreciated.
Thank you JT
Tanner
Member
John, that pen is downright amazing. I went through my old stash and found several watch parts blanks. I believe I purchased most from you. I had you make one with the hands at 9 and 11 so as to never forget 9/11. Another you put the hands on at 10 and 13 to represent my fiancés birthday. There's so much a person can do with the watch parts blanks. I want to give this a shot now that I have more time. I've watched several videos. Now it's just assembling everything I need. John U. Even did a video on placing watch parts in the custom finial.
JohnU
Member
Some faces will bend easier than others while older ones may crack and the paint will fall off. They can be frustrating. I always mark the backs where I want to bend them and I start by bending the middle, then work my way to the sides of the dial is big. You may also have to start with a larger sized groove in the block and work your way down, bending in each to get them to the size wanted. Best of luck!
jttheclockman
Member
I believe John U sells them at Exotic Blanks. Chad may sell some at Turners' warehouse also. Half the fun is making yourself. You can customize any way you want. use whatever background materials as well as any gadgets you want to put in them. One of these days I will get back into making a bunch of these in various themes. here is another example of one that I used other parts in it that were not watch related. The Panache pen is a fantastic pen to cast stuff in. It has alot of room on the tubes and makes a cool desk pen in my opinion. Good luck.