Great idea using the hair spray!
I wonder if automotive clearcoat would work the same?

Re that PDF:
https://www.kevinchant.com/uploads/7/1/0/8/7108231/mas1108,_mas1108a.pdf

My system: Windows 10, Firefox 128.0 64 bit. Current Adobe reader, no add-ons.

When I downloaded it, I double-clicked it from Explorer and a PDF opened that just had 4 links in it to each of the 4 pages of the manual. Double-clicking on a link opens the selected page as a new PDF.
Odd, but it works for me. It's a fairly complete manual for a 4 pager, reasonably legible circuit diagram, even has the dial stringing.

Really depends on how good you want the dial to be - this one is in better condition than most Philips/Mullard of the period.

The ideal replacent would be silk screened. The totally internally reflected light in the dial glass ideally is only reflected forward when it hits the markings on the dial, and so gives a little better contrast than is obtained with a water slide transfer replacement, which scatters the light more than silk screen.

That said I haven't heard of anyone doing silk screened dials - would be more economical with the all white dial for this radio than for multicoloured dials.

Michael Ranaan makes water slide transfers for dials - he makes some to order if he has the dial on file - others if you can provide an accurate scan and dimensions. Scan it with a ruler next to it. Or send the dial to him to scan. These reproductions are very accurate.
'
PS This is not say that Johnny's idea (Post #15) of mist spraying with hairspray is not a solution, his method certainly maintains very fragile dial markings. (Clear craft spray misted on also works.)

When I downloaded it, I double-clicked it from Explorer and a PDF opened that just had 4 links in it to each of the 4 pages of the manual. Double-clicking on a link opens the selected page as a new PDF.

I just tried it on a Windows 10 machine, current version of Acrobat, and it worked exactly the same as it does for you. My previous comment was for a Windows 7 machine with the exact same version of Acrobat and latest Firefox. Why different? No idea.

When I get back, I'll see if it's possible to recover the other 3 pages and stitch them together.

Re Chant, if I paste that link

https://www.kevinchant.com/uploads/7/1/0/8/7108231/mas1108,_mas1108a.pdf

.... then I get a 1 page Adobe ad in Chrome, Firefox and Brave browsers.

However, if I click the original in the link on the Chant website I get the full 4 page document.

Weird.

But so long as you can get the 4 pages, all is well.

I use Foxit pdf reader and have had no issues with it (yet).

WRT to Mullard dial glass, I can attest to how easily the station markings rub off.

I have a Mullard MAS 1110 which has 90% of the station markings gone (not by me).

A pity because I have fully restored it electrically and physically apart from the dial glass which is unobtanium.

apart from the dial glass which is unobtanium.

Are you a member of the HRSA?

I am a member of the HRSA and I have reached out to them but so far not successful.

I am a member of the HRSA and I have reached out to them but so far not successful.

See bottom of page 5 and top of page 6 of the yellow pages in July edition of Radio Waves.

The only other way I see to do a dial is actually a paint jet. How fine they can go I am not sure & they are not overly common as far as I can see. Biggest issue with the inkjet is it cannot print white.

I managed to get all four pages.

Michael Raanan did a job for me years ago and to achieve a gold finish, I believe he used a special printer that printed white, then he overlaid the yellow/gold.
I hope my memory is correct, but the end effect was great.
Harold

Regarding dials, FWIW, not sure if this any use but I badly damaged the markings on the dial on a much more modern era item (a 70s TenTec Century 21 HF transceiver) when I accidently spilled some alcohol on the dial when cleaning up the tuning mechanism.

I bought some "waterslide" transparency decal paper and made up an image of what the dial should look like on the computer and printed it on the waterslide paper. I then applied it to the old dial and it looks indistinguishable from the original.

It took a little mucking around to get the size just right but not super difficult. You can get both transparent paper or white paper if you need white lettering. The paper was quite cheap.

I have set up some images on a temporary web site - (NB you may have certificate errors in some browsers, sorry, I can fix this if really needed)

see: https://www.kellyavia.com/projects/radio/tentec-c21/
I can give more details or images if interested.

Jon

Hi Jon. Transparency decal paper seems like it may work.

Where did you obtain it from?

The dial glass has most stations rubbed off but if I hold it up to the light on an angle I can just barely see the remnants of the stations.

Cheers.

I got it on ebay - looked for "waterslide decal paper" but sorry, I just realised looking at the dial you have this may not work for your project.

I wasn't thinking - it looks like you need white lettering on a clear background and that can't be done on typical printers (they don't use white ink).

If text is white on a coloured/opaque background it should work (if you use the white backed decal paper) but you have glass

If it is coloured text (not white) on clear background (eg glass) it will work using transparent paper.

When I did mine I took a photo of the dial and used a photo editing program to overlay the photo with better text/numbers etc and then printed that overlay on the decal paper. It is then applied to the dial much like the old transfers on plastic model airfix kits.

Out of interest, I have had a go a silkscreen printing of the lettering on the front panel of a Marconi CR100 receiver and it turned out to be quite good but the job was not as intricate as your dial, not sure how that would go in your case. In my case it wasn't that difficult, easier than I expected, I did have to buy some bits though (easily found at artist supply shops) and the photo emulsion you use to make the silkscreen 'negative' was a bit pricey for a one off job (about $50? I recall)

You could measure the coordinates of all the station IDs (the hardest part), put them in a spreadsheet, re-create the dial in a PCB CAD program such as Altium Designer (fairly easy), output it as gerbers and upload it to a site such as JLCPCB. They can print on clear polycarbonate, Several colours too, create them as separate layers

JLC are fast, cheap and accurate. And you'd get 5 dials for almost the same price.