houndoggie 58 Posted August 7, 2009 Hello, I am houndoggie and this is my Panerai crown guard tutorial. By following these steps you may end up with something nice or a piece of shit. However, I always end up with something nice (gets better every time). THE STUFF I USE (your stuff may be different) Sandpaper in grits 180,220,320,400,600,800,1000,1500 to shape and finish Storage box for screws and parts Scotchbrite pad to impart brushed finish Screw driver for installation and removal Hand pusher to install CG pin tweezer to hold little stuff and pluck nose hairs my freebie "smart tool" from Orient watches to remove the pin from the CG 6 bar polishing compound set and associated dremel tool rag wheels plus one "clean" ragwheel One beer. if you drink more than one beer during this mod, you are a drunk or too damn slow safety glasses Plumbers epoxy. to tighten the lever around the pin. You can use hot glue (works well) or gorilla glue (messy but works), or whatever else you may think will do. my dremel tool mounted on my dremel drill press thing and dremel adjustable drill chuck because I hate changing collets. the victim. this one is just lying around and doesn't have a home. Notice the pin is neither flush nor flat. The polish compound can be purchased from Amazon.com for $12. Everything else should be available at a hobby or hardware store. If you don't have a hand pusher, I think the back end of a bic pen would suffice. The Process: Using these steps will yield 3 common types of CG finishes: all brushed, brushed with polished pin, and all polished. First remove the CG from the watch head. Use the largest blade screwdriver that will cleanly turn in the screw access holes to insure not stripping your screw heads. Once removed, store these screws safely, you will have a bitch of a time finding them if you lose them and replacements are not handy. Push the pin out from the CG and separate the lever, pin, and guard. Store the pin with the screws Now, mix up a little bit of plumbers epoxy per the manufacturers instructions and then fill the hole in the lever with it. Don't be messy. Make a little ball of left over epoxy to used to gauge it's set. After about a minute, reassemble the CG putting it all back together and cleanup any excess epoxy that oozes out. Use the tweezers to hold the pin and the hand pusher (or pen) to push the pin down. Push the pin in until the is is near to flush, but sticking out enough so that the dome is completely above the surface CG. You may have to push hard. Once it is back in, open and close the lever one or two times. You will want to do this every so often as you sand and finish to prevent the epoxy from bonding everything together. Now we sand. Using linear strokes and in one direction, swipe the CG across the sandpaper along its long axis, following the grain of brushed finish. Only about 5-10 swipes per grit is needed. Use all the grits up to 1500, don't forget to open and close the lever once in awhile. At this point the pin will be perfect flush and almost disappear. The finish will have a sheen to it. At this point if you want to have a completely brushed CG, pin and all, use the same technique on the Scotch brite pad (linear, in the direction you want to grain it, uni directional strokes). Then you are done! More Now, we will continue on for the brushed CG/polished pin and all polished CG.... after sanding to 1500grit as above, we will now polish the pin while it is in the crown guard. This insures that we keep the pin flat and also in the same plane as the top of the CG. I start using the dremel and polish compounds, using all 6, starting at black and finishing with the green. Just polish the pin and the area around the pin if you are going for the brushed CG/polished pin look. If you want a completely polished CG and pin, polish the whole damned thing Just load up each ragwheel with compound by holding the bar against the spinning wheel (you want a separate rag wheel for each bar. I drilled a little hole in each bar to hold each rag wheel so I don't get them mixed up-- modded polishing bar!). Buff the pin with each successive grit until it shines nicely (doesn't take long, maybe 10 seconds per bar). Then use the "clean" rag wheel (no compound) to clean up the CG Now the pin is nicely polished (or the whole CG if you went that route-if so you are done!). We need to remove the pin again to get a brushed finish on the CG where is was polished while we were polishing the pin. Store it safely!! Take the pinless CG and swipe it on the Scotchbrite like you did with the sandpaper to restore a nice brushed finish to it. Nice brushed finish!! Nice brushed finish!! Using the tweezers and hand pusher (or pen) re insert the polish pin back into the CG. ***EDIT*** USE A PIECE OF ELECTRICAL TAPE FOLDED STICKY SIDES IN BETWEEN THE PUSHER AND THE PIN TO AVOID MARRING THE FINISH ***EDIT** You might have to push hard. Open and close the lever to ensure it works nicely. Congrats!!! Reinstall the CG on the watch CAREFULLY.. always make sure to turn the screws counter clockwise lightly until you feel the threads drop in. Then tighten down the screws clockwise and enjoy! Addendum for some glamour shots of CGs done with this technique: Here is a photo of how my previous technique of the polished pin/brushed CG looks (achieved by finish the CG to a brushed finish, removing the pin and polishing it by itself and then re inserting it): BEFORE: AFTER: (this poor CG has been modded 3 times now!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 309 Posted August 7, 2009 Nice posting Doggie, what about the Dutch/Belgian beer?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 7, 2009 Nice posting Doggie, what about the Dutch/Belgian beer?? I polished that off too!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 309 Posted August 7, 2009 Nice posting Doggie, what about the Dutch/Belgian beer?? I polished that off too!! How much in $$$ is that Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 7, 2009 Nice posting Doggie, what about the Dutch/Belgian beer?? I polished that off too!! How much in $$$ is that I dunno, I think a 6 pack cost $8. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 84 Posted August 7, 2009 Great post, HD. I must work up the courage to re-seat the pin in my Fiddy sometime soon Here, have a sticky! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sconehead 5 Posted August 7, 2009 Been waiting for this one HD... @Greg, sticky time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 84 Posted August 7, 2009 Been waiting for this one HD... @Greg, sticky time? I'm way ahead of you, Sconey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 7, 2009 Thanks!! That CG is perfect for a 217.. which I don't have one of. Anyone here need a nice CG for there 217 Destro?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AustinTech 0 Posted August 7, 2009 Nice friggin' tutorial! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alphakazi 0 Posted August 8, 2009 I had no idea you were so young - either way, great job and an awesome post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 8, 2009 Edit for more pics!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harley357 0 Posted August 8, 2009 Nice Houndoggie! Looks like you turning into a pro... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AustinTech 0 Posted August 8, 2009 HD - you done you Cali dial homage CG yet? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 8, 2009 AT, yes.. it has a full polished CG. Also, add a little tweak edit near the end and a couple more pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sconehead 5 Posted August 28, 2009 First attempt on Tse (military time) $10 cheapy...be brutal... Before, After, EDIT: Added before shot... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
P_Diddy 0 Posted August 30, 2009 How long did that take to do for a novice? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted August 31, 2009 First attempt on Tse (military time) $10 cheapy...be brutal... Before, After, EDIT: Added before shot... Looks good! You are stuck a little because the hole in the JT CG is so sloppy and oblong shaped. You would have to sand the hell out of it to get rid of the defect... otherwise, mission accomplished!! How was doing the procedure? One thing I do know is start of at a much higher grit (like 800). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acharria 0 Posted August 6, 2010 Great thread... Very good pictures.. Warm regards.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wombosi 0 Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) That's a very nice result! Would it be an idea to use waterproof sanding paper with a little water for an even better look? BTW: Could someone fix the last images in the OP please? Thanks in advance Edited January 21, 2011 by wombosi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted January 21, 2011 That's a very nice result! Would it be an idea to use waterproof sanding paper with a little water for an even better look? BTW: Could someone fix the last images in the OP please? Thanks in advance here ya go.... Addendum for some glamour shots of CGs done with this technique: Here is a photo of how my previous technique of the polished pin/brushed CG looks (achieved by finish the CG to a brushed finish, removing the pin and polishing it by itself and then re inserting it): BEFORE: AFTER: (this poor CG has been modded 3 times now!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wombosi 0 Posted January 21, 2011 here ya go.... Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites