Freshly Baked Chapter Ring

The dial after waxing

Wax/shellac filling the numerals.

The wax is left a little bit rough after silvering.

I made a chapter ring today. The pics above show the brass after being filled with wax.

After the silvering process, the numerals are left with a rough surface; a remnant from the last stage of sanding. So typically one of the last steps after silvering, is to gently heat the wax to melting point, to make the surface of the numerals shiny.

I have tended to do this by heating the underside of the dial with a butane torch, but it can be a little tricky if you care about the surface finish on the other side. 

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I want to keep this silvered surface unmarked.

Apply too much heat, and it will leave a mark. It is possible to avoid it, but its also very easy to make a mistake, and leave an unsightly burn mark.

If this side is to be polished, no problem. But if it is to be left silvered, the work is pretty much ruined.

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Ready to go in the oven.

So today I thought I'd try the kitchen oven, instead of the butane torch. It can heat up to 250°C which is more than enough to melt the wax, and it should be a uniform heat right? No scorch marks from an electric oven. What could possibly go wrong...

I finished the dial, and then applied a single coat of thin lacquer as usual. I decided to do this mainly because I was concerned about the silvered surface oxidising/discoloring in the oven. Of course, there was then the possibility that the lacquer might do something unpleasant while heated, but it had to be one or the other.

Nice shiny numerals.

Well it worked a treat. In less than 5 minutes, there was a beautiful sheen on the wax, and I think the lacquer even benefited a little too. It looked to be a little smoother than before it went in.

The completed chapter ring.

Masterchef, here I come...

Thanks for stopping by,
Chris.