Jump to content

Hobby Watch Maker


Recommended Posts

I am very much interested in mechanical watches. I have many seiko automatic watches. Recent past I started exploring the possibilities to start watch repairs as hobby. Got few HMT manual winding watches. Ready to get training on assembling and disassembling movements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum Sandikumar, there are lots of folk on here like yourself as well as professionals. One thing is certain, if you need help there is always someone will to give advice.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Sendikumar. HMT make decent movements, and the great thing about them is that, if parts or spare movements are needed, there are many, many available on places like eBay for very low prices.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome aboard Sendilkumar, I'm sure you'll find all the information and help you need here to become a master hobbyist in horology! HMT are good watches to start with and as Will said, plenty of parts!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two problems.

1.Dial feet broken

2.Winding stem got rust.

 

I have got replacement stem from known watch maker.

Dial feet still needs to be fixed.

 

Whil disassembling from case I pressed the same to remove stem but to insert new stem I am finding it difficult. Stem is not completly going inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the stem, did the whole stem come out? If it was rusty, there is a chance that the tip has broken off and is still in the movement.

To remove the broken dial feet, I think you will have to strip the movement to allow you access with a small punch to push them out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Here in Bangalore, India dealing with professional watch makers are not that easy. They don’t like first of all others learning watch repair. Also most of them are not educated, so understanding of someone’s desire to be a hobby watch maker will be difficult for them.

I have been abused by some of them while trying to buy tools and parts. Asked lot of questions and discouraging me as if I am digging some graveyard.

Finally I found a good man, but expecting lot of money. Only for few parts he charged me almost half a price of good fast-track(Indian brand) watch. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I "think" Caravelle 11dp/Citizen 0241 parts would be an exact replacement for the HMT parts, but I've never gotten around to buying an HMT and trying them. They're pretty inexpensive on eBay and might be a good alternative to getting gouged for the original HMT parts.

 

Here's a pile of parts from two movements I cleaned a while back.

 

11dp-parts.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Finally i assembled them .

But dial feet  i am unable fix since i don't know. I used  cum.

One of my friend said ..since i used bare hand it my lead to rust accumulation ..

so before fix hands i used a muslin to clean.

post-911-0-86943700-1437205707_thumb.jpg

post-911-0-29349400-1437205743_thumb.jpg

Edited by Sendilkumar
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • 🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...