In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread dial glass under some lightly running water, and watched in horror as all the dial's white lettering collected in a puddle in the sink!
I am now faced with the problem of re-creating the white lettering on the glass, and am looking for suggestions from folks in this group. Here is what I have tried so far, with little success.
Then I put that image into Powerpoint and, by hand, drew lines and tick marks and lettering on top of the image, lining everything up carefully. Finally I removed the original image, leaving just the artwork, which I can then print in any colour I want. http://pcbunn.cacr.caltech.edu/jjb/Hallicrafters/recreated-dial.gif
I was expecting to be able to find clear transparent 8x11 sheets of sticky Avery labels, but the only transparent labels I could find were matte. I experimented printing onto those, but the results are poor, and certainly not see-through on glass. Even worse, printing in "white" on the paper results in a very faint image indeed, essentially useless.
Am I approaching this the wrong way? Is there a better method for recreating the dial lettering?
(I realise that there are people advertising replacement dials for the SX110, but they tend to cost almost as much as I paid for the receiver itself, so wanted to see if I could do it myself.)
Many thanks in advance if you have any suggestions for me.
If the receiver isn't worth much.. Consider doing a white letter print on black paper. Put the dial on the backside of the pointer, instead of on the glass in front of it. I'd bet it would look okay.
Nice job of recreating the dial. How about phoning Kinko's and asking if they have a computer hooked to a printer that can do a color printout onto a sheet of clear acetate? If the original dial is white lettering on clear glass, I guess you would want to replace the black in your image with "transparent." You could also phone around to art shops (T-shirt shops, whatever) and try to find someone who can take a computer image and silk-screen it onto glass, but that might exceed your budget.
On 17 Feb 2005 16:26:38 -0800, "jjbunn" <jul...@cacr.caltech.edu> wrote:
>In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired >Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread >dial glass under some lightly running water, and watched in horror as >all the dial's white lettering collected in a puddle in the sink!
>I am now faced with the problem of re-creating the white lettering on >the glass, and am looking for suggestions from folks in this group. >Here is what I have tried so far, with little success.
Thanks for the suggestion regarding the back plate: I'm sure it would work. However, I would like to recreate the original look as far as possible, which really requires lettering the front glass plate.
Thanks ... yes I was in touch with them. Apparently their SX110 dial isn't yet ready for prime time, and is being re-manufactured. I fancy this will be my fall back solution: to buy one of theirs at $29 once it's available if I get nowhere with a homebrew solution.
In article <1108686398.909405.143...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, jul...@cacr.caltech.edu says...
>In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired >Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread >Many thanks in advance if you have any suggestions for me.
>Julian
Did U call Kinko's yet?....
your local Hobby Store will have the clear acetate paper to print it onto .... reverse it in the computer... have Kinko's print it and stick it onto the back of your glass.
In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread dial glass under some lightly running water, and watched in horror as all the dial's white lettering collected in a puddle in the sink!
snip
No suggestions, but an experience to relate. Years ago, I was repairing marine equipment, and one particular British-made depth sounder had a plastic motor with two mechanical governors inside, switch-selected. One governor was a little erratic, and I sprayed a contact-cleaner-lubricant that I'd used previously on other motors into it. Then, I watched in horror as the whole motor dissolved in front of my eyes, just as if it had been made of sugar and came in contact with water. What a sinking feeling in my stomach, as in the early 60's, ordering a part from a foreign country was an ordeal.
Never did get that fixed, and I don't remember what the outcome was with the (former) customer.
> In article <1108686398.909405.143...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, > jul...@cacr.caltech.edu says...
> >In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired > >Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread > >Many thanks in advance if you have any suggestions for me.
> "John Goller, k9uwa /W4 Snowbird" <k9uwaREM...@THISarrl.netSTUFF> wrote in > message news:E8lRd.99367$JF2.37358@tornado.tampabay.rr.com... > > In article <1108686398.909405.143...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, > > jul...@cacr.caltech.edu says...
> > >In the course of (not) carefully (enough) cleaning a recently acquired > > >Hallicrafters SX110, I made the big mistake of placing the bandspread > > >Many thanks in advance if you have any suggestions for me.
Bill, Does it work as slick and well as advertised? It looks like a "bingo!" for all of us who have been puzzling over the white lettering problem. What do you have to watch out for with this stuff? Nelson
Nelson, I recreated a glass dial scale that came out OK. Got some scrap glass from a glass shop, cut several blanks. Printed the scale as an overhead transparency on a LASER printer for permanence. Laminated the transparancy film to the back side of the glass using clear silicone RTV used for aquariums. The silicone was a small tube from Walmart for $3-4. Start with a line of silicone in the center of the glass, squish the transparency down into the RTV, and work it down to a thin layer while working any bubbles out to the edges. Your scale being all black should work pretty well with this technique.
jjbunn wrote: > I was expecting to be able to find clear transparent 8x11 sheets of > sticky Avery labels, but the only transparent labels I could find were > matte.
Keep looking, and look in the section for HP paper, not Avery. What you want is Vugraph (transparency) stock - 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of clear acetate. Until recently, it was used for making PowerPoint (etc) presentations via an overhead projector. I have several 50-sheet packs in front of me right now, bought at Office Max. It is called "HP Premium Transparency Film", and it is specifically intended for ink-jet printers.
Now, printing white onto it may be a trick. Is white ink available for ink-jet printers?
Bill Miller wrote: > From: "jjbunn" <jul...@cacr.caltech.edu> > Subject: Bandspread Dial lettering - horror! > Date: February 17, 2005 7:26 PM
> No suggestions, but an experience to relate. ... and I sprayed a contact-cleaner-lubricant > that I'd used previously on other motors into it.... Then, I watched in horror > as the whole motor dissolved in front of my eyes,... What a sinking feeling in my > stomach...
> Bill Miller
I hear you Bill. I've had the same experiences with dial scales, lenses, plastic parts, etc. Luckily, I tend not to make the (exact) same mistake twice, or at least a third time. The worst "Oh Noooo" was last summer. I had to pull a Ford Supercab pickup truck into my garage at a sharp angle through the narrow doorway. Not knowing if the fold away mirrors had ever been moved, I grabbed a can of PB Blaster and lubed the pivots and folded them back neatly out of harms way. I went into the house for lunch. When I returned both mirrors were laying on the floor, separated from their mounting bases. In a matter of about 37 nano-seconds my insides turned to jello and I knew exactly what had happened. The Blaster softened and crazed the plastic housings and the spring tension popped them off as pretty as you please. That was a $300 brain cramp. Another mark in the Don't Do This Again column.
> Nelson, > I recreated a glass dial scale that came out OK. Got some scrap glass > from a glass shop, cut several blanks. Printed the scale as an > overhead transparency on a LASER printer for permanence. Laminated the > transparancy film to the back side of the glass using clear silicone > RTV used for aquariums. The silicone was a small tube from Walmart for > $3-4. Start with a line of silicone in the center of the glass, squish > the transparency down into the RTV, and work it down to a thin layer > while working any bubbles out to the edges. Your scale being all black > should work pretty well with this technique.
Dave, I'm gonna put that in my "dail scale" folder. But the problem I have is with a monstrous Northern Electric clear dial, where the lettering in three colours is flaking off. The thing is down the queue, partly because one of the colors is white and the problem is getting that done without going to a silk screener. I even checked with a kiosk T-shirt shop, and they didn't do white either. The suggestion from Bill Morris: "Supercal White Letter Inkjet Decal kits at www.paper-paper.com" ...looks like a solution to achieve white lettering using an inkjet printer. Nelson
Tom Adkins wrote: > Bill Miller wrote: >> No suggestions, but an experience to relate. ... and I sprayed a >> contact-cleaner-lubricant that I'd used previously on other motors >> into it.... Then, I watched in horror as the whole motor dissolved >> in front of my eyes,... What a sinking feeling in my stomach...
> When I returned both mirrors were laying on the floor, separated from > their mounting bases. In a matter of about 37 nano-seconds my insides > turned to jello and I knew exactly what had happened. The Blaster > softened and crazed the plastic housings and the spring tension popped > them off as pretty as you please. That was a $300 brain cramp. Another > mark in the Don't Do This Again column.
My first experience with "Chemicals that should be avoided." I was a little kid and was playing with the odds and ends on my dad's work bench. "This smells interesting, I'll pour it in here."
Note to self. Lacquer thinner and styrofoam cups don't mix.
Jeff
-- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin "A life lived in fear is a life half lived." Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"
The paper size in the kit is too small, but I see they have other sizes. Just how "clear" is their clear decal paper, I wonder? I'm concerned that it is not matte clear, but glossy clear.
> > I was expecting to be able to find clear transparent 8x11 sheets of > > sticky Avery labels, but the only transparent labels I could find were > > matte.
> Keep looking, and look in the section for HP paper, not Avery. What you > want is Vugraph (transparency) stock - 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of clear > acetate. Until recently, it was used for making PowerPoint (etc) > presentations via an overhead projector. I have several 50-sheet packs > in front of me right now, bought at Office Max. It is called "HP > Premium Transparency Film", and it is specifically intended for ink-jet > printers.
> Now, printing white onto it may be a trick. Is white ink available for > ink-jet printers?
> Bill Jeffrey
??? Just set the font color to WHITE? I would reckon. Photoshop and others deal with printing transparencies.
> > Bill Miller wrote: > >> No suggestions, but an experience to relate. ... and I sprayed a > >> contact-cleaner-lubricant that I'd used previously on other motors > >> into it.... Then, I watched in horror as the whole motor dissolved > >> in front of my eyes,... What a sinking feeling in my stomach...
> > When I returned both mirrors were laying on the floor, separated from > > their mounting bases. In a matter of about 37 nano-seconds my insides > > turned to jello and I knew exactly what had happened. The Blaster > > softened and crazed the plastic housings and the spring tension popped > > them off as pretty as you please. That was a $300 brain cramp. Another > > mark in the Don't Do This Again column.
> My first experience with "Chemicals that should be avoided." > I was a little kid and was playing with the odds and ends on my > dad's work bench. "This smells interesting, I'll pour it in here."
> Note to self. Lacquer thinner and styrofoam cups don't mix.
> Jeff
> -- > "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary > safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin > "A life lived in fear is a life half lived." > Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"
Nor do superglue and Polyester blends, I gathered (they try to combust when glued to a painted surface) HOOBOY...
> > > I was expecting to be able to find clear transparent 8x11 sheets of > > > sticky Avery labels, but the only transparent labels I could find were > > > matte.
> > Keep looking, and look in the section for HP paper, not Avery. What you > > want is Vugraph (transparency) stock - 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of clear > > acetate. Until recently, it was used for making PowerPoint (etc) > > presentations via an overhead projector. I have several 50-sheet packs > > in front of me right now, bought at Office Max. It is called "HP > > Premium Transparency Film", and it is specifically intended for ink-jet > > printers.
> > Now, printing white onto it may be a trick. Is white ink available for > > ink-jet printers?
> > Bill Jeffrey
> ??? Just set the font color to WHITE? I would reckon. Photoshop and others > deal with printing transparencies.
Please tell us all the brand and model of printer you have that uses a white cartridge and where we can all buy one!
-- Beware of those who suffer from delusions of adequacy!
> "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net> wrote in message > news:42175681.F5BA2D58@earthlink.net... > > Please tell us all the brand and model of printer you have that uses > > a white cartridge and where we can all buy one!
> If I can put a black piece of paper in and print white letters on it, > um...EVERY ONE I"VE EVER OWNED...
> You're thinking typewriters or something and so you think too hard...LOL
