I've designed my own Team Ring

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308GUY
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#21 Post by 308GUY »

Welcome JAFO! :magnum:

Beautiful ring....great post....excellent review!

Looking forward to seeing the end result of the plating/enameling.

Is that a GMT Master in your picture...... 8)


Tony really did a fantastic job on this ring, and your review definitely does it justice!

Again, welcome aboard!
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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JAFO
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#22 Post by JAFO »

308GUY wrote:Welcome JAFO! :magnum:

Beautiful ring....great post....excellent review!

Looking forward to seeing the end result of the plating/enameling.

Is that a GMT Master in your picture...... 8)


Tony really did a fantastic job on this ring, and your review definitely does it justice!

Again, welcome aboard!
Thank you and thanks for the welcome!

And yes, that's a 1675 in the picture :D

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JAFO
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#23 Post by JAFO »

I received a message from one of the members here who wasn't able to get an insert for his ring - shapeways said they couldn't make one. And I just may have a solution for anyone else in that boat OR if you simply want yours painted instead of using the insert. Again - the insert is great, this is just another option.

Take a look at this and then I'll explain how I did it below:

Image

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#24 Post by JAFO »

Ok, see the bezel - the part of the watch surrounding the crystal with the numbers on it is the bezel, which I'm sure most of you already know that :) Anyway, that watch does not have an insert in the bezel like a 1675, for example. It's all one piece. And the bezel was brushed stainless, just like the case, and the numbers weren't painted. So I took a Cape Cod cloth and polished the bezel up to make it shiny and to make it pop compared to the case. Then I used a process I've used on lots of bezels and inserts that actually come out of the bezel - aluminum, stainless, ceramic. What does this have to do with the ring? Well, I believe you could paint it just like I did that watch.

Here's what you need:

Testors enamel paint - I'd use gloss black, same stuff you paint a model airplane or car with
Testors paint thinner - get the larger jar
Several paint brushes - get at least two very fine tip brushes of the same size, this is important
Paint palette - I use one that kinda looks like an egg tray with multiple wells. A bowl will work in a pinch
Paper towels
Beer

Take your ring and clean it really well with thinner. Fingernail polish with acetone will work too. Make sure the recessed area is cleaned well and then let that dry completely.

Now you have to figure out a way to prop up your ring so it sits upright for at least 10 hours without falling over. Once you've got it in a little padded vice or whatever, it's time to mix your paint.

Shake the paint jar really well then take one of your fine pointed brushes and completely submerge the brush in the paint and transfer one drop of paint to your palette or bowl. Do that again so you've got two drops of paint in the palette. Then take your identical brush and dip it in the thinner. This time though you're going to press it against the side of the palette and let the thinner run down the side - you do this so you do not contaminate this brush. You'll need about 8 drops of thinner for two drops of paint. Mix that up really well with a toothpick or whatever. Clean off your black brush and dip it into the mixed paint. You do not want the brush dripping paint, just load it up.

Then go over to your ring and touch it to the bottom of the recessed area. You do not have to "paint" it in, capillary action will draw the paint out. Repeat until you have a thin coat on the bottom of the ring. Now go clean your brushes and palette and leave the ring alone for at least 8 - 10 hours. It has to fully dry and even though it's gonna look dry in 20 minutes or so, because the thinner evaporates really quickly, it ain't gonna be dry. Once it is, repeat the process until you are thrilled or eventually run out of beer.

Now, as far as the inside ridge of the top of the ring, that's going to take some experimenting if you want to paint it. If it was me, I'd probably do that inner ridge first then do the bottom. Or just leave it as is. Again, you're probably gonna have to experiment here but it's really not as hard as it seems. Plus, you'll only spend about 10 or 15 bucks for the supplies.

Of course, I can't guarantee this will work because I've never done it. But I've done enough watch bezels and inserts to know the process works on other materials. Plus it's pretty fun and after you're done you can sit back and stare at it and know you're way cooler than anybody else :)

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TSM308
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#25 Post by TSM308 »

That is so awesome - I'm going to get sized and order one!
"Don't look at the dogs, work the lock."

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#26 Post by JAFO »

Finally got my ring back today. The enamel epoxy turned out great. The plating...not so much. Looks like I'm gonna have to send it off to have it heavy gold electro plated and I'm waiting on an estimate for that. Anyway, here's how it looks now:

Image

Image

I'm really happy with it so far. I'll update the thread once I get the estimate for the plating and then hopefully not long after that I'll be able to post up pics of the finished ring!

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308GUY
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#27 Post by 308GUY »

Looks pretty good in those pictures!

What do you find "wrong" with the plating you had done?
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#28 Post by JAFO »

308GUY wrote:Looks pretty good in those pictures!

What do you find "wrong" with the plating you had done?
It just didn't "take" well. Having it electro plated would solve the problem but it would still wear off after a while. But...I have found an option that I'm gonna try before I decide to ship it off. There's a product called everbrite protectaclear that seals all sorts of metals and is virtually invisible, or so I'm told. I'm gonna order it tonight and give it a shot when it comes in. And there will be only two possible outcomes - awesome or complete disaster, lol. Either way, I'm posting up the results here.

And again, I'm only doing this because my skin almost immediately reacts to the brass. The color of polished brass is absolutely beautiful and you can see my pictures - it looks like we would expect it to look. I just need to keep it from turning my skin green.

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#29 Post by JAFO »

Well I finally got around to polishing and dipping my ring tonite in the Everbrite Protectaclear. This should completely seal the brass and hopefully no more black/green finger lol. The stuff has to dry for like an hour before I can dip it a second time and then tomorrow it's going in the oven at 180 for an hour to cure it. It's either gonna be great or horrible and I'm hoping for great.

If this works it's going to be a real plus for anyone who wants one of these rings but has the same skin reaction I do.

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#30 Post by JAFO »

Here's a pic after the first dip. This stuff is invisible:

Image

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#31 Post by JAFO »

Well, here it is after dipping it twice last night. I let it dry about 12 hours and then popped it in the oven at 180 degrees for an hour to speed up the curing process.

Image

Image

Now, this stuff takes about four days to fully cure so even though I did heat it in the oven I'm not going to wear it for a few days. So I won't know if it actually sealed the brass until then. Anyway, this stuff is really easy to use - pour it into a container and dip it and then hang to dry. You do need to take a paper towel and wipe the top of the ring a few times while it's hanging upside down to remove the excess liquid so it doesn't form a glob on the top of your ring. The good thing is this stuff truly is invisible and really is self leveling so it costs the ring perfectly. If I hadn't applied it I wouldn't know it's on there.

One thing you want to do before applying this stuff is highly polish the brass. I used a Cape Cod cloth to polish mine, I keep some on hand to polish my watches and they work really well. Plus you don't have to neutralize the ring or apply any solvent after polishing with a Cape Cod - just wash it in soap and water and let dry. Seriously, this could not have been any easier.

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308GUY
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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#32 Post by 308GUY »

Looks great!

Let us know how the test run goes. Hopefully, you will not end up with a black/green finger!

Where did you get the "everbrite" protectaclear product?

Maybe I missed it, but did you end up sending the ring off to have it "electro plated", or did you just put the clear coat on after the gold plating you had done locally?

Really looks great in your last pic! :magnum:
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#33 Post by JAFO »

I got the Protectaclear from their website. I got a small container for I think 15 dollars. Here's the site: https://www.everbritecoatings.com/jewel ... page&id=17

And no, I didn't send it off for the electroplating. I wore the ring after I got it back from my jeweler and it still turned my finger black/green so I actually polished off whatever gold was on the ring after he dipped it. The polished brass looks right and doesn't need to be gold plated in my opinion. But if anyone's skin reacts badly to brass then this stuff I dipped mine in might just do the trick.

I still can't get over just how good the ring itself is, right out of the box. It's just light years better than any other one I've had.

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#34 Post by JAFO »

Ok so the ring is officially finished now. Here's a couple quick shots:

Image

Image

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Re: I've designed my own Team Ring

#35 Post by JAFO »

Almost forgot - the Protectaclear did completely seal the brass. I've been wearing it almost all day and no skin reaction whatsoever. So there's no need to order a gold plated ring - if your skin reacts to copper it's probably going to react to brass but all you have to do is seal the ring. Once sealed and cured, you'll never have the annoying black/green ring around your finger nor will your ring ever tarnish. I don't know how long this stuff will last but the great part about that is you can simply re-seal it at any time using the leftover Protectaclear.

Everybody should order one of these rings. They're screen accurate (a little better in my opinion), heavy like you'd expect it to be, and it looks close enough to gold once it's polished up. I'd suggest you order one, get the plastic insert, then if you want it to be just a little bit more authentic looking find a jeweler who makes custom jewelry and have it inlaid with enamel epoxy. I can't stress enough just how great this ring is. So if you've ever wanted one - get it now.

If anybody needs any tips on how to dip the ring just shoot me a PM and I'll be glad to help out.

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