I don't know if you can still buy these plates anywhere. I looked but did not find anything. Several of the plates on my machine where in bad condition so I removed them when I repainted the machine. The plate on the vertical spindle casting was just gone, ripped off for whatever reason by the earlier owners. I am planning to remake the plates, or if failing that see if I can get the designs made. I have tried to replicate as closely as possible the old signs, but I don't know what fonts were really used. I used font ID software online to get close.
This is the design for the long reach head, 37 x 74 mm:
Large version
And this one is for the tilting table also 37 x 74 mm:
Large version
The designs also change with the years, these are based on the ones on my 1958 machine. I have noticed on later versions the plates are black and metal colored. On this vintage they instead went with a copper color, looks very nice to me, nicer than the later black ones.
I am not sure how they developed the plates historically, but I think going about it in the same way one makes PCB boards would work, using photo-resist spray and a printed design on OHP paper to develop a pattern that can be developed. I am thinking chemical etching perhaps, I have this solution of copper, sulfuric acid and etchant chemical, if I paint a metal surface with it, it develops a copper layer a few atoms thick, home brew layout fluid...
Might be a quick and easy way.
Other ideas I am contemplating is electroplating or anodizing if using aluminum. There is a process were you plate things using a brush nowadays that looks suitable.
This is a low priority area for me, so don't expect an update too soon. But I thought maybe people here would find it interesting.
This is the design for the long reach head, 37 x 74 mm:
Large version
And this one is for the tilting table also 37 x 74 mm:
Large version
The designs also change with the years, these are based on the ones on my 1958 machine. I have noticed on later versions the plates are black and metal colored. On this vintage they instead went with a copper color, looks very nice to me, nicer than the later black ones.
I am not sure how they developed the plates historically, but I think going about it in the same way one makes PCB boards would work, using photo-resist spray and a printed design on OHP paper to develop a pattern that can be developed. I am thinking chemical etching perhaps, I have this solution of copper, sulfuric acid and etchant chemical, if I paint a metal surface with it, it develops a copper layer a few atoms thick, home brew layout fluid...
Might be a quick and easy way.
Other ideas I am contemplating is electroplating or anodizing if using aluminum. There is a process were you plate things using a brush nowadays that looks suitable.
This is a low priority area for me, so don't expect an update too soon. But I thought maybe people here would find it interesting.
