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SHORT PHOTOGRAPHIC COURSE
IN DENT REMOVAL- FOR YOUR
INFORMATION ONLY- USING
IRON STAKES --BUT-- SAME
RESULTS CAN BE HAD WITH
WOODEN DOWELS WITH
ROUNDED OFF ENDS AND
SANDED SMOOTH, JUST DID
NOT WANT TO MAKE THE
DOWELS. Assortment of tools
that are used to repair pocket
watch cases: LOW BUDGET
INSTEAD- most of what you
need to do to remove dents
can be done with wooden
dowel rods from Home Depot
cut TO SIZE with the ends
rounded off- A formica counter
top- A handkerchief- A used
plastic crystal- A small brass
hammer. Also in thrift stores
are many small wooden bowls
and wood things that make
good punches and some are
shown in the picture I have
found that work on certain jobs
- like rerounding a case back
opening or pendant tube.
Tools in first 2nd picture are
the Traditional Standards:
Heavy steel case stakes,
bow pliers, wood blocks, 3
special inside middle of case
dent removal burnishers, 1
special inside case file with
scraper- the two headed small
tool in the line up, several
regular burnishers, hunting case
spring pliers, Bronze wool- a
secret of the TRADE instead
of steel wool etc. you need
FINE not Medium like HOme
depot sells- but fine, Ruby
inpregnated paper from craft
store- for the finest finish
possible, Pink Dish detergent,
Not Green- Not Yellow Only
Pink from Sams Club or
Industrial Suppliers.
Formica has some give or
bounce to it so the hammer
blow is not to stretch the
metal but to spring it back in
place, Pink dish detergent is
to use with water and the
bronze wool to remove most
of the signs of the hammering
from inside case back after
work is done. Handkerchief is
for cushioning. Some use a
piece of very hard ¼ inch
leather. Plastic watch crystal
is placed between case dent
and punch- Now punch does
not leave marks- The crystal
will break away as time goes
on- but works very nicely leaving
no marks.
Dents are being removed from
a nickel silver 16 size back
with small round deep dents
and general all over ripples,
and a crease in an 18 size nickel
case back. Doing a Gold-filled
Case is the same operation but
some gold filled is hardened
and works just like nickel and
some is soft and stretches
and makes a bump instead of
springing back so for each
hit you get a new bump if you
hit to hard, like later 992b s
tar watch cases. Silver is
similar: Some silver cases are
soft and thick and some are
brittle and can crack if hit to
often, hitting silver hardens it
also and makes it brittle.
The 16 size case back is full
of ripples and deep dents and
took a lot of hits all over and
over and came out pretty good
but I had to use emery paper
to smooth it off and a buffer
with rouge and wax for a
lubricant to smooth it out and
then the fine ruby impregnated
paper to take the swirl marks
out by making finer marks but
in a straight line not swirls or
what is called a butler back f
inish. You have to want a case
to take this much time to do
this- say an hour.
The 18 size back with the
ripple took 4 hits with the
small iron stake, plastic crystal
in between it and back and
plastic crystal broke a few
small pieces off but crease
came out nicely, then rub with
bronze wool inside case back
and remove marks and looks
pretty good. Took say 10
minutes. Chrome cases are
harder: as you cannot buff or
grind out the signs of hitting
dents but can clean the inside
case back up nicely, so be
careful on chrome cases, hit
to hard and it stays that way
unless your thumbs can press
it back a little in place.
Practice makes nice work
and you feel good