[Vlad95]

All radio receivers, from the very beginning, have been indispensable without a dial. This component was, in principle, required to be present in one form or another in every radio. Of course, we're talking about ordinary household appliances, not radios in general, which could include quite specific devices. The simplest example would be radio receivers with fixed channels.
For us in this topic, we're interested in how to restore or re-fabricate a dial for a radio being restored.
This topic is especially relevant for glass dials. This is because they are one of the most common types of dials. Secondly, in a good third, if not half, of the cases, over the long life of an antique radio, this most fragile and vulnerable part often ends up, at best, simply peeling from age, or at worst, cracked or shattered.
While cutting a glass blank to the required size isn't too difficult, applying a highly detailed, often colorful, design to it is a very challenging task for a homebrew project.
This task is usually accomplished using silkscreen printing, and you can find a specialist to fulfill this request. The problem is that this method is designed for mass production, while a one-off order would be prohibitively expensive.
I'll attempt to describe in detail two manufacturing methods for glass scales here.
The first is simpler, using color inkjet printing on transparent self-adhesive film. The only drawback is the need for this very film.
The second is more complex, based on thermal transfer of a laser-printed image. However, it doesn't require any specific materials.
Both methods, however, require exceptional care and meticulous attention to detail.

For now, I'll describe the first method. The second stalled due to the poor performance (smearing) of my color laser printer. As soon as I get it up and running, I'll return to this topic.