Scratches on brushed titanium

[Jar-Jar Binks]

I have a watch that has a small scratch on the brushed titanium band. The
scratch is superficial and not deep. How can I remove the scratch while
still maintaining the brushed look of the titanium?

Thanks,

Jar-Jar

[Jack Denver]

You can't, at least in a one step process.

The basic method is to polish the scratch out using progressively finer
abrasives (wet/dry sandpaper, polishing compounds, etc.) This will remove
the scratch but also polish the affected area to a smooth finish. You then
restore the brushed finish using unidirectional strokes of a sanding sponge
of the correct grit to match the existing brush scratches. If you get it
wrong, repolish to a smooth finish and try again until you are satisfied
with the match (if ever). IMHO a lot of work for a little scratch - I
would just live with it.

"Jar-Jar Binks" <jar...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:5Ltfj.7851$DR7....@newsfe07.phx...

[John S.]

As long as the bracelet is just titanium then brushing and polishing
will work the scratches down. If there is a Duatect, Brightz or
similar applied coating on the outside then the polishing method won't
remove the contrast between the coating and the underlying material.

[Jar-Jar Binks]

Based upon this response and the response for Jack Denver, this seems like a
really complicated issue!! I believe that one thing that I have learned from
this is to avoid "brushed" watches and watch bands when purchasing new
watches. This is just too much of a hassle.

Is it a good assumption that when I send the watch to an authorized service,
they will buff-out any scratches and restore the watch to the "like new"
brushed finish? Is this too much to expect? If this can be done when I
eventually have the watch services, then I will just ignore the scratch for
now.

Thanks for the advice,

Jar-Jar
(the real star of Star Wars)

"John S." <hjs...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:8fba5d50-bfbd-474d...@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

[miket...@live.com]

Contrary to the instructions from "Jack Denver", you can't sand out a
scratch on titanium without special tools. So get a new band or live
with it.

[Norman M. Schwartz]

<miket...@live.com> wrote in message
news:9c17136b-1176-4cb8...@x69g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

The owner of one of the stores where I shop recommended using a pencil
eraser (from fine to coarse, depending on the depth of a scratch) to buff
out an Omega titanium watch/bracelet which he sold to me. That technique
performed very well for me.

[John S.]

On Jan 5, 3:01 pm, "Jar-Jar Binks" <jar...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Based upon this response and the response for Jack Denver, this seems like a
> really complicated issue!! I believe that one thing that I have learned from
> this is to avoid "brushed" watches and watch bands when purchasing new
> watches. This is just too much of a hassle.

Any finish is subject to wear and scuffing, so the real question is
how easy it is to restore the finish.

Brushed and polished stainless watch cases are probably the easiest
for a watch repairman to bring back to an acceptable condition.

As attractive as Titanium is when new, it can be all but impossible to
restore. From what I understand most titanium watches have some sort
of very hard applied finish that is reasonably resistant to mild
scuffing from cuffs and desktops. But once it is scratched then the
very shiny titanium contrasts with a duller applied finish.

[Jack Denver]

What "special tools" are these? Of course any time you are trying to restore
a factory finish at home you need to improvise materials and techniques that
are different than the factory and you cannot guaranty that you will achieve
100% results. In the case of a brushed finish you need to match the fineness
of the abrasive and the direction of the scratches so that the appearance
will match and this can be hit or miss. But if you hit the right
combination you can come very close to the factory finish, though the amount
of effort involved may not be proportionate to the reward of removing a tiny
scratch.

As John S. mentioned, if the bracelet is coated then you would not be able
to restore the coating at home. But if the bracelet is titanium all the way
thru then the same abrasives and techniques that work on other metals would
work on titanium. Most titanium watches that have the typical dull grey
appearance are NOT coated but I would check w/ the manufacturer before
attempting to work on one.

Titanium metal alloy is not especially hard (which is why it scratches
easily in the first place). It has a Mohs hardness of around 5 or 6. Many
common stainless alloys are harder. So ordinary abrasives with a Mohs
hardness of around 9 would easily be able to polish/scratch the titanium.

Metallic titanium should not be confused with titanium nitride, which is
itself very hard (Mohs 9). This is sometimes used as a coating on drill bits
for that reason. There are a few TiN coated watches:

http://www.pixelp.com/watches/v-matic/

and certainly scratches on these would not be user repairable. The
"Duratect" (not duatect) finish (by Citizen) that John mention is also a
form of TiN that I believe Citizen forms by converting the surface of the
metallic titanium to TiN - the same idea (though not the same method) as
anodizing aluminum. This is different than and generally better than
electroplating a dissimilar coating onto some metal because the coating is
integral with and inseparable from the material. Note that while such a
coating is not easily scratched, any time you put a hard "skin" on a softer
substrate there is always the possibility that a hard blow will dent the
underlying material. I'm not 100% sure what Seiko does for its Brightz
finish which puts a mirror polish on parts of a titanium watch (get it -
bright) - I dunno how they do it since titanium does not usually take a
polish well or if this is in fact a coating at all but I wouldn't mess with
anything that is a mixed polished/dull finish - that's very hard to restore.

I would never buy a watch that was plated/coated with anything (except
perhaps diamond) because scratches are inevitable but with a solid material
they can always be restored.

Titanium metal does require special techniques for machining. Before the
machining of titanium was well understood it was considered difficult to
work with but nowadays the techniques for maching titanium have been worked
out and it is no more difficult than any other material if you know what you
are doing. But this has nothing to do with the techniques for surface
polishing/finishing of solid titanium which are the same as other metals.

<miket...@live.com> wrote in message
news:9c17136b-1176-4cb8...@x69g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

[miket...@live.com]

The special tools are those that were used to create the finish in the
first place. Just using sandpaper, no matter what type or how fine,
is not likely to restore a finish that has been scratched -- it may
remove the scratch, but the treated surface is unlikely to match the
rest of the bracelet. You are better off just living with the scratch
(and there will surely be more for a titanium watch), or else replace
the bracelet.

> <miketod...@live.com> wrote in message

>
> news:9c17136b-1176-4cb8...@x69g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > On Jan 4, 10:09 am, "Jar-Jar Binks" <jar...@nospam.com> wrote:
> >> I have a watch that has a small scratch on the brushed titanium band. The
> >> scratch is superficial and not deep. How can I remove the scratch while
> >> still maintaining the brushed look of the titanium?
>
> >> Thanks,
>
> >> Jar-Jar
>
> > Contrary to the instructions from "Jack Denver", you can't sand out a
> > scratch on titanium without special tools.  So get a new band or live

> > with it.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[SWG]

The more scratched a titanium surface get, the nicer the surface shall
look, over the initial brushing. That's the beauty of that noble
material.