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I spent the day literally watching paint dry. I was using black lacquer to fill in the engraving on a pocket watch case to make it stand out. I will send pictures when it is finished. In the mean time I was looking for screwdriver sharpening stone holders on the net. The sticker shock was amazing. So i said to myself, "Self" your only watching paint dry, make your own, you have a sharpening stone and some wood. So I made this from scrap wood while watching paint dry. I'm happy with it & it cost nothing. It is perhaps not as pretty as Bergeon but they have enough money.

Hello everyone. I thought I would upload a few picks of some of the bands I have been making. This started a few years ago when I bought a couple of medium priced bands on line and was not too happy with them. I have been able to make and insert brass sleeves for additional durability and have sourced leather from lots of places. The easiest is to get old handbags, but in Japan there is a shop called Tokyu Hands and some of their cow leather is very fine grained. Overall though and by far and away the best leather to both work with and for feel is kangaroo which is easily available here and on line as well (they aren't endangered at all, poor skippy!). It is very close grained, almost no blemishes and is very strong. One of these will sure last a long time. I get the buckles from eBay and they are cheap and of good quality. From left to right is dark brown roo that is padded, next is crocodile (I like the chunky texture but not everyone's cup of tea), then light roo, not padded and finally crocodile that I stained myself. Japanese fine grained leather and to the right of that a nice blue croc one (scrap croc skins of good quality from Thailand that was cheap) and finally the hardest to make, sting ray, lots of learning making that, but it can be done. i will try to get the photos better next time

Battery finally showed up in the mail. She is a runnin and a hummin! Cleaned up pretty nice. Was planning to resell when I bought it but now....hmmmmmm.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hope this helps you

Hi Guys, I have an interesting newbie problem. I have a vintage acutron case and on trying to remove the spring bar it snapped flush with the lug and now I have to find a way to ream out the scrap. I have a dremel tool with a drill bit that should do the trick but the problem is the other lug gets in the way and I will be approaching at an angle. Any tips/tools to help?

To be honest I have always considered reaming to be a little on the aggressive side when it came to addressing the issue of blocked lug holes. I have always found syringing by my GP to be quite satisfactory...... Sorry, the topic title was just an open invitation and I couldn't resist.

Good for you it looks nice.

And it does the job just as weļl

Thanks, Chris. That's interesting you mention a dentist, I do have a friendly dentist, a relative, but I can't imagine him staying too too friendly at the idea :-) I believe that lug holes are applied in the early stages of case construction and drilled from the outside through and then filled. I might end up having them drilled through as I prefer through lug holes anyway. It's an interesting problem but the dremel hand held just might be enough to loosen out the remaining scrap.

Perhaps by hand is the way to go. Using the small bit that you have gripped in pliers at 90 degrees and tiny amount of lubricant to get it to shift. Its probably only tiny, less than half the width of the lug. Have you got a friendly dentist? They have tiny drills that fit into a 90 degree drive. If only it was a Tissot, Most of the vintage models the hole goes right through. Chris

Wow they look great! Would you make them for others?I like those cangaroo dtarps.

Thanks Bobm12 & Cad101 for your kind compliments I think it's great fun to work on leather, the "right"- veg tanned leather that is. It compliments the watch-repair skills and, like what I've done; making different Vostok modifications, it compliments the modified watches. What I've learned so far is that one has to work very precise; the cutting, the gluing, puching holes, the stitching, finishing-off the edges etc. Any mistake and it will show in the end product. The Nato-straps look in reality much better than in the pictures. Because they were already used, it seems that they are not straight and the holes aren't in line, but all is 100% straight. Slightly out of line, and the strap looks amateuristic. Having made already a great number of mistakes / mishaps, I now know how "hard" it is and hence appriciate Rogart63 straps even better then before. He has done a spendid job on those straps; well done Roger !! Just like with watch repair; you have to be patient and it takes (lots of) time. As with everything else, the more time you give it, the better the end result. My Nato-straps are starting to "break-in", they feel great and are already my favourites. No doubt, they will last me for many years to come

It says they vary from almost flat to slightly convex. Semi lunate as I recall is moon shaped which would come under slightly convex. It all depends on the front of the case shutting, just had another look at the front and it doesn't look very high at all.

Good news, the ETA BRAND NEW 7753 TURNED UP TODAY, THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT.!

That looks like a very nice example, I like the pillow case (if that's what they are officially called!)

I would say that case is anything from 1920's to 1940's. If you unscrew the bell you might find a stamp mark with the name of the maker and it might include a date. That nut for the bell is not the original. Also you should see two sets of numbers I set is for the length of the pendulum it is down in the Pouce & Lignes system it's an old French measurement system. The other set of numbers are for the pendulum, the original pendulum will have the same set of numbers. Your movement is an 8 Day Count wheel strike, the hands are of the spade style.