Restoring an Old Dial

[djed]

Bent/warped dial



Worn out dial paint



I drilled a hole in a 2x4 and pounded out the bends with a wood block and a large hammer. I then used wood clamps and clamped the dial down. I got most of it (75%) but it's still not true.

For the dial, I'm thinking of using buffing compound (I think the black tube is the most aggressive color) and a buffing wheel on my grinder to remove the existing paint, recoating with black enamel paint (I saw something online about then baking the paint), and then applying some kind of white model paint to fill in the grooves and numbers on the dial.

Please provide feedback.

Oh - if any of you have any antique dial rings you would consider selling, please PM me - ideally with a picture.

[Squelchtone]

I can share some photos of how I stripped, painted, baked, and renumbered my old Yale dial, *if* I can find the pics this weekend, I think I know the hard drive they are on.

check back later this weekend,
Squelchtone

[Squelchtone]

ok, I finally found the hard drive that had the photos on it. If I find the rest of the photos I took while restoring and painting the safe, I'll make an entire thread dedicated to that project.

Click the pics for bigger images!

I will say that of all the things I did to restore the old Protectall safe (back in 2012), repainting the dial was the biggest pain the ass ever. I painted it and stripped it half a dozen times before I was happy with the way it looked.

Having done it that many times, I learned two things were important, removing as much of the old paint from the numbers and lines, and letting the base black coat be completely dry before rushing to paint the lines and numbers.

Let's start with the safe, as it was when I first brought it home. It's a 1947 Protectall I purchased on craigslist for $100 bucks. (the other locks are for scale



At some point or another I decided it would be a fun project to strip the safe and paint it, and as I was close to finishing, I realized the dial would look very ratty compared to the fresh new paint, so I thought some model paint would do the trick to quickly paint the numbers white again. boy was I wrong.



Without any sanding or removing old paint from grooves, I simply used black Testors model paint for the dial, and white Testors model paint for the numbers and lines, and the results were awful.



Up next I decided to sand and scrape and get as close to the metal as possible. No matter how hard i tried, I was not able to get all of the old original black paint off the dial.
I used dental tools, push pins, and some gun cleaning brushes. It is super important to scrape the lines and numbers as deep and as well as you can, the new white paint needs a place to go and it needs to be thick enough to last for years to come.


As you can see there are plenty of nooks and crannies to scrape clean:


I ended up using Rust-Oleum automotive engine block high heat enamel spray paint to paint the dial black. In order for the paint not to run, I actually hung the dial from the basement ceiling on a string tied to the spindle. The YALE on the dial faced down towards the floor and I sprayed upwards, walking around under neath the dial, waiting a few minutes between coats. One or two of the half dozen times I went to fast and too heavy and paint started dripping and running, which ended in me stripping the dial again back to metal and starting over.

Eventually I figured out to do a handful of coats and be patient and wait for them to air dry, then in the over she went for a couple hours. I don't remember the temperature I used, but 200 F seems to be sticking out to me for some reason.


The dial was allowed to cool off completely before attempting to paint the numbers and lines with white paint.

Here is is out of the oven


another angle, see how deep the lines are? plenty of room for some white paint! all the prep work was well worth it.


so I had that white Testors model paint, and wanted to put it to good use still. Now that the base paint was totally dry I could fill in the letters and numbers and lines and not have everything smear together, which happened on one of the times I redid the dial. After brushing in the paint, I used a little cloth to wipe the flat surface of the dial, as you can see it left smears behind, I later figured out a way to stop that from happening.


other than the smears, it's starting to come together


see how the YALE is starting to look sharper and cleaner? Instead of a dry cloth, I actually used some water on the cloth to pick up more of the surface paint left behind. The black base of the dial was 100% dry from the oven and never smeared or bled during the process of painting the numbers and letters white.


I found that painting about 10 numbers wide on the dial was the ideal speed. As you can see the white paint is runny, and several applications are required to fill the numbers and lines. All that excess paint is from before I wipe it away with the wet cloth.


ok, here we are, the dial is done. It's not perfect but looks a lot better than when we started.


Here is the dial mounted back on the painted safe, I'm very happy with how it came out!
One thing I never did was to five the entire dial a coat of clear coat to seal everything in. After 4 years since painting the dial, and opening the safe about once a week, I have not noticed any wear at all from the time it was painted.


Hope this helps others who want to try repainting the lines and numbers on their old combination safe dial.

Squelchtone

[Jacob Morgan]

For removing paint, any paint remover with methelyne chloride in it will work really well. It can be hazardous to breathe, so when I use it I use it outside and stay upwind. It should not be used on plastics. The paint will come off in strips. Clean up the metal with mineral spirits.

One option for filling in letters is to use a lacquer stick. McMaster-Carr, MSC, etc., carry them. Brownells has them too http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/engraving-tools-supplies/inlay-color-fill-sticks/lacquer-stik-reg--prod7778.aspxThey look sort of like crayons. Come in different colors. Cut the end off with a knife then rub over the item then wipe off the excess. Leaves a nice thick layer of quick-drying paint in the low spots.

The very best paint system I've ever used at home is DuraCoat with a hobby air brush. Hobby stores sell cans of compressed air and really basic air brushes for $30 or so. DuraCoat is a two-part paint. Mainly used for refinishing guns. The beauty of it is that it dries to the touch almost instantly so it is very resistant to runs. It does, however, need to cure for a few days before rough handling. Lots of colors are available.

The dial in the pictures looks professional as-is, just throwing out some options.

[Squelchtone]

One option for filling in letters is to use a lacquer stick. McMaster-Carr, MSC, etc., carry them. Brownells has them too http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/engraving-tools-supplies/inlay-color-fill-sticks/lacquer-stik-reg--prod7778.aspxThey look sort of like crayons. Come in different colors. Cut the end off with a knife then rub over the item then wipe off the excess. Leaves a nice thick layer of quick-drying paint in the low spots.

The dial in the pictures looks professional as-is, just throwing out some options.

Thank you for saying it looks professional, and I'm very glad you mentioned Laquer Stik, I only learned about it AFTER I went through all the trouble of painting the dial by hand.

I think at the time I could have purchased some from Lockmasters but it was too late at the time, here's another lock shop that has the black and white ones as a pair
http://www.safeandlockstore.com/product ... -stik.html

Thanks,
Squelchtone

[billdeserthills]

I usually chuck up the dial in a drill and while slowly spinning it, hold a white paint stick crayon over the numbered area. It will warm up and
you can push it into the depressions of the numbers while spinning the dial in the drill. Carefully wipe off the excess paint and the dial will be much
easier to read. I have also heard the old timers used a black paint stik crayon to do the black part, but I'm not that brave

You can find the paint stik crayons at some hardware stores and of course at Lockmasters too, in black & white colors

[femurat]

There's a video somewhere on the forum that shows how the old S&G locks were made. I remember the dial was painted in a sort of lathe. White paint was spread over it and then wiped off with what looked like a rag. Quite similar to your technique, billdeserthills.

Cheers

[djed]

I suspect I'm going to have to patiently work at it but I was hoping someone had some tricks for flattening a dial. The one I'm working on is out of round.