Hi everyone, here's the latest on this project:
1. I believe that the most efficient way to create a custom dial using fordite is to do the following: (a) lathe flat pieces of fordite into a short cylinder of the correct diameter; (b) use the Buehler to make perfectly flat 0.2mm slices of that cylinder; (c) attach the thin slice to a 0.2mm brass dial template for a total height of 0.4mm; (d) drill a 1.75mm central hole in the fordite for the watch hands, using the brass dial template as a guide; (e) attach the chapter ring; and (f) personalize the dial using carefully-positioned film free decal paper. Thankfully, half-height (0.2mm) blank brass dials are readily available for certain movement brands.
2. I've obtained quite a few pieces of fordite in appropriate sizes to work with.
3. I've connected with a local jewelry/lapidary studio, for guidance, instruction, and access to a lathe.
4. My archaeologist buddy reiterated that I have full access to his Buehler IsoMet Low Speed Precision Cutter. Out of respect for him and his tools, I'll be buying a blade specifically for the fordite cutting.
Here is a list of available blades, and I'd greatly appreciate anyone's insight as to which specific blade I should buy. Given what I know about fordite (fairly hard, easy to work with, potentially brittle), I'm leaning toward the option I've put in
bold below. The blades themselves are quite pricey ("price on request" and a recollection that they were $150-200/blade), so I'm not going to be able to determine the best empirically. What do y'all think my best bet would be?
- IsoMet 30HC - Polymers Rubber, Soft Gummy Materials
- IsoMet 20HC - Aggressive Sectioning of Metals
- IsoMet 15HC - Metal Matrix Composite, PCBs, Bone, Ti, TSC
- IsoMet 20LC - Hard tough Materials, Structural Ceramics
- IsoMet 15LC - Hard Brittle Materials, Glass, Al2O3, ZrO3, Concrete
- IsoMet 10LC - Medium to Soft Ceramics, Glass Fiber Reinforced Composites
- IsoMet 5LC - Soft, Friable Ceramics, Composites with Fine Reinforcing, CaF2, MgF2, Carbon Composites
- IsoCut CBN - Fe, Co, Ni based alloys and super alloys
Again, thank you everyone who has helped me think through this process. I still really want to get in contact with @Craigab, and I'm also still working on the details. With luck, however, I'll have some thin dial sections cut with the Buehler to show off in a few weeks. I'll update the thread here when there's more progress to report.