I thought it might be of interest to post some shots of my Speedmaster's bracelet following my first refinishing attempts using Garryflex abrasive blocks. I bought my 2007 Speedy second hand and while I had it fully serviced, I didn't have the bracelet touched as I planned to wear it on leather. However the lure of the bracelet won me over, having sized it perfectly by fitting a Seamaster's half link (115ST1610) I felt it would then benefit from a refinish. I've previously used 3M Scotch scourers on my fully brushed bracelets to good effect but I wasn't satisfied with the finish on the Speedy, despite having given the brushed parts a standard work out. This was because there were 6 years of comparatively hard wear showing and the 3M could literally not cut it. After finding positive references to Garryflex abrasive blocks, I purchased two grits; the grey medium 120grit and the pink, fine 240grit. These come as above, in large blocks but they can be cut into smaller pieces for delicate work. The idea was to use the medium grit to prepare the surface and then use the fine grit for hopefully as Omega-like a finish as possible. The centre polished segments meant careful and repeated taping, I used black electrical tape as it stood up well to the abrasion from the blocks. I didn't expect the Garryflex to crumble quite as much as it did on being brushed against the links and my work desk was soon quite messy. I used canned air to blow the Garryflex crumbs off the links, so as to keep the grain from scratching should I have brushed them off the links. After brushing the links with both grits and washing the bracelet to remove ant remnants between the links, I was very pleased with the results. As you can see, it no longer looks like it's six years old. The next thing I may try is smartening up the polished parts. Cheers David
Looks pretty good. I am not usually a fan of the manual style of brushing with a soft pad, as I have seen too many bracelets that have had uneven surfaces result after too much if this (uneven pressure from fingers I suspect), but I've never used one of these blocks, so maybe they are less prone to uneven sanding. If you want really good tape for masking, most watchmakers use Kapton tape - it works very well. I have it in several widths from 1 mm to 10 mm. Cheers, Al
Thank you very much for your comments and for the recommendation about Kapton tape. I haven't got a dremel or similar with which to polish the polished segments but may well invest in one in the near future. I see that Kapton tape has high heat resistance, so as to resist the buffing action, so it looks like the answer. In terms of applying pressure, I used the medium garryflex just enough to mask any scratches and then gave three or four firm passes with the fine, to achieve the finish you see in the shot. I do appreciate your point about over use, and suspect that an annual refresh will be the most this bracelet sees. Thanks once again, and BTW you're my favourite Captain and T'Pol my favourite SO.
Dude! Nice job. When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was going to be about body building.
Great job!!! I'd love to do this to my SMP bracelets, but I know I don't have the patience to tape out those polished links.
Thank you very much, even though my name's not Garry and I rarely flex.... Thanks Matt, sadly no before shots but it was definitely well used. My usual Scotch Brite scourer treatment, which has worked well on my Sub did not fully refresh the Speedy's bracelet. Thank you. I think the job took me just over 30 minutes. As you surmise, making sure the tape was just so, took longer than the brushing with garryflex. I refreshed each side as follows; middle links first, re-tape, then the top edge, then a wash, re-tape, then the bottom edge, another wash, then repeat for the other half of the bracelet. I'm only moderately manually adept so I can do it, anyone can - but clearly if you're not sure, wait until your SMP requires a visit to the service centre. As Archer says above, removing too much metal is not a good look. Cheers David