Leaderboard

The only jewels removed are cap jewels. All other jewels remain in place unless changed because of damage.

You could theoretically repair that spring by letting down the temper on the inner coil and punching a new hole in it. However it is most likely that the rest of the spring is at the end of its useful life. You should ask yourself the question of what is the "correct" spring for this watch, rather than trying to match what you found. Just as today you can't easily buy every permutation, it will have been that way in the past and the nearest available will have been used. If this watch has had 3 or 4 mainsprings in its life then you could find the one fitted is far from ideal. I would refer to the calculators on this page: http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/blogmainsprings.php Assuming that your barrel arbor is 1/3 the diameter of the barrel, then your old spring would only have been able to fit 5 winding turns. Assuming you have a going barrel, not a fusee, then ideally you would have room for 6 1/2 turns, which should give you 35 to 40 hours running. The calculators on the above page suggest that you should have a spring which is 0.19 thick and 480mm long. Cousins has GR6561 which is 0.19 x 500. A spring which is too strong (thick) will cause the escapement to bank whereas one too weak will cause a low amplitude which may affect accuracy. Strength is a factor of the cube of the thickness so a small change will have a large effect, but personally on an old watch I would err on the weaker side. Stuart

It's Back to the Future with this Vintage Elgin....

Update on seized staking set. Took out the locking screw and loosened the cam shaft and then knocked out the shaft with a small hammer (scratched the nickel plating on the side a bit, but it needed convincing). Then I removed the table by knocking it with a punch from the bottom. The complete lot fell out. Then I took 1200 grit sandpaper and sanded the hole where the locking cam fits . Did a bit of this as there always some corrosion. Lastly I cleaned the table in lighter fluid and then alcohol and then I re-oiled once dry. Reassembled it and it works like a charm. Loose until I turn the back dial and then tight. Then turn the dial again and the table is once again loose. Thanks guys for the help and suggestions. I am operational and will be knocking on the balance and roller table once I get the right jewel for a 21 J Illinois PW I have been working on. I am in deep now and have a jeweling set coming in the mail next week. Seitz full set.https://vimeo.com/183234528 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I can totally agree with this now. Before I started buying tools I kept on reading 'don't buy cheap stuff, you'll end up buying twice replacing will quality' etc etc I bought a basic set of tools and all the Chinese stuff was terrible so I was so annoyed I'd not just bought decent stuff in the first place as advised. Now I think I've gone too far the other way. Hopefully I'll find a happy middle ground. I guess if I look after them they'll last forever or there's always eBay for the ones I don't need.

The friction fitted jewels will clean perfectly well left in place, just remember to clean them out with peg wood before going thru the cleaning cycle. Brian

Removing any of the friction fitted jewels from the mainplate or bridges is just monkey business madness..........you'd have to fix all of the endshakes!!

100% agree with previous comments, only remove the cap and hole jewel assembly's, usually just the balance but occasionally the escape wheel too.

Can you point to the "views" that says to remove pressed in jewels? That makes zero sense.

You're correct George, I should have put on my Optivisor when reading the inscription on the back. I know the movement is completely different, it is incredibly well made.

Hi, my name is Dave and I am a complete novice, I love watches and am fascinated by the little engines that work them so I want to have a go at trying my hand at a service and maybe one day fixing something and breathing new life into it, that would give me such a feeling of achievement. Anyway I have a collection of a few broken pocket watches and wrist watches and a couple of working seiko including a working seiko 5 with a 7s26 movement and was going to try and service that following along Marks wonderful videos. I have a few tools gathered together but I expect I will be pestering your good selves with questions. I am avidly waiting for new videos from the watch repair course. I hope I'm not too much of a pain. Cheers!

They only work when setting the day/date, I don't oil them.

Is the mainspring binding in the barrel, take a look at the barrel cap to see if its marked. Pallet stones are firm and not loose. Impulse pin tight and not loose and clean not chipped, pallet fork smooth, no rough edges, balance staff good in every way, end shake right. No bad teeth in the train, no bad teeth on the barrel, barrel arbor smooth no rough edges, no wear in the barrel or the bridge or bottom plate. I see the center wheel is not jeweled, what are the pivots like? The escape wheel is brass any wear on the teeth, any rough edges. I take it all the pinions are good no sign of wear, pivots all good no wear. Have you tried running the movement out of the case. If all of this has been checked with no problems then I think the fault lies with the balance and escapement.

I'll add my warm welcome to the many you have already. The typehelp you get here is well demonstrated by what you have received already.

Welcome Dave, Loads of information and help here from what I have found to be very nice people indeed, ask many questions, we are all learning new things every day. Keep on enjoying your watches. Brian

Hello Dave and Welcome, As you can see from the responses we are generally a friendly bunch and luckily there are those amongst us that are really well skilled in the art (myself excluded). i am a happy tinkerer and can claim some success with repairs and service but some failings along the way but whatever I thoroughly enjoy it and the forum provides me with solutions and advice. I think you have come to the right place if you wish to pursue the hobby. Cheers, Vic

it has been posted here, an interesting test. " let the main spring down, remove balance and pallet fork, wind a couple turns." check for a smooth running gear train. "observe and see". vinn

Are all jewel holes spotless is there any bent pivots is the main spring original does it need a new one is the hairspring catching.

Auto oilers take a little practice to get comfortable with them, I only use two, one with 9010 and the other HP1300, if I was to use D5 I'd apply that the old fashioned way with an oiler, I do find it a bit thin tho and it can be a little messy looking if it spreads, I tend to use a Rolex grease MR4 in its place. Be real careful with amounts of oil on your needle, important to be in control of this, you can vary the oil amount by limiting the travel of the needle into the reservoir by adjusting the eccentric screw, also by the speed you do it, slowly will give you lots and fast will give you less, once you get the hang of them they do increase your oiling and servicing speed as you can lubricate numerous oiling points at one go, takes a little practice tho so take your time and begin slowly and carefully. Remember at all times to work cleanly, this is probably the best advice I could give you as your overhaul has your signature on it, be proud of it! Good luck and I hope this helps you a little, let me know how you get on.

Sorry AP, I don't use auto oilers. The regular ones (I use Bergeon all right), are all I need for that size and even smaller size movements. Since I observe carefully and under the lens the amount of oil I am taking in the oiler, an automatic one seems to be in my way. Of course, they are supposed to be more consistent but I can't simply get myself to "trust" them....or spend that kind of money... Cheers, Bob PS. It is said that one single drop of oil should be enough for the whole watch!