A dial emerges

I made a dial! A real brass dial blank, designed in LightBurn, cut in the workshop, and held in my hand.

It came out a bit burnt. Lightburn settings will need refining. But with a little sanding, it already feels like a good first effort. I was shooting for 29mm and got pretty close - not sure we are perfectly round but might be able to get there with some finishing effort - let’s see.

For this first attempt, I added some simple diver-style markings mostly to get a sense of placement, proportion, and how the design would translate from screen to metal. The goal was not to make a final design. The goal was to see whether the basic workflow could produce something dial-shaped, dimensionally plausible, and useful enough to learn from.

On that front, its a win.

Paint and printing will come later. Repeatability is its own challenge entirely.

But not today.

Today, there is a brass dial blank on the bench that did not exist before.

Time for a bourbon.