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I forgot to mention about cleaning Longcase clocks. You will need a lathe for some of the work; it is possible to do some by hand but can be difficulty. I start with the screws. All the screws should have all the burr removed and polished. Start with a fine needle file and move through the grades of emery sticks finish with the finest I used crocus paper, don’t forget the other ends of the screw if the ends show polish them, if the screws are square a smooth jaw vice or something to hold the screws is needed. All the steel work should be polished not just the wheels also all the striking parts right down to the hammerhead. Do not forget the barrel arbors, clean off any burr and polish the squares and the tips of the arbor and the rear, also the tip of the centre wheel, your emery sticks will do this also one other, pumice powder dipped in petrol and use an old toothbrush or a washing out brush, which you can buy from clock suppliers. Pumice powder and very fine steel wool work well together to clean all the brass, do not forget to brush in between all the teeth of the wheels and don’t forget the bell nut if it is brass. Pivots should be clean, tidy, and burnished. Pallet faces if not too worn should be polished with fine emery stick making sure you polish a flat surface. The weight pulleys and if the pendulum is brass should be cleaned in the same way as other brass work. The suspension spring should be inspected for signs of kinks or other blemishes it should be flat if not replace it. Anything that needs to be pinned should have a new steel pin with the ends tided and rounded off at the thick end. When all the cleaning and polishing has been undertaken all the parts are cleaned out in petrol and dried in sawdust, when dry brush the sawdust away with a clean brush, a blower is also handy, don’t forget the insides of the barrels as well.

Looks very much like a Swiss Favorite model 2 but could be a east German look a likey: http://www.lathes.co.uk/favorite/

You will always get a little bit of oil around the entrance to the hole but oil will end up there anyway once the balance pivots are sat in place, the oil will be sucked out slightly which is what is supposed to happen, that's why the bubble sometimes shrinks a bit when it's been running a while because it's run down/up the pivot.

Make sure oiler is clean, I always dip it in rodico first to get rid of any excess oil already on the end and then just put the end of oiler in the hole keeping oiler straight(90 degrees) and flick the button, job done, pull the oiler straight out. Hold the setting, bridge or cock with tweezers or peg wood to stop it moving as you pull the oiler straight out, this stops the oil from going on the outside of the hole. With most shock settings it's easier to do it with the cap jewel and shell out of the setting which would be out anyway for the cleaner. For Rolex escape wheel endstones it's done whilst endstones are in the watch(take them out for the cleaning machine though), this is because there's no outer shell that comes out with the endstone. The same goes for older Watch's with a balance endstones that doesn't come out. I would always remove the balance from the cock if there's no room to get underneath without touching the hairspring with the oiler though. These oilers take a bit of getting used to but once set up properly you should be able to get the perfect round bubble to cover 2/3rds of the surface area of the jewel which is about perfect. The faster you pull the button the less oil comes out, for a small jewel flick it quickly, for a larger one do it a bit slower or flick it twice.

Depends on the size i think. Measured a 307 ACT crystal and the edge was 0,52 mm thick.

They go on for donkey’s years. As you, say so simple to repair. Not made of good hard brass or steel in fact the steel is soft when it comes to pivot work. All down to good design with springs that do the job well. These are far better than the later floating balance type. Always remove the pendulum if possabe, if unable to move the clock tilting it towards you this stops the pendulum from swinging about.

make an oiler with a hypodermic needle and tubeing. vin

Hello all, My name is Luke. I live about 45min from San Antonio, TX. I’m a full time Narcotics Investigator with the local Sheriff’s Office, but I repair (mostly vintage) watches as a hobby. I’ve been repairing watches for about a year. I’m self taught, read lots of books, watched lots of Mark’s videos and so on. Needless to say in the beginning, I ruined more watches than I care to admit, but these days I’m doing much better! Thanks for the add!! Luke

Just buy an omega seamaster bruv, can't beat it for vintage. Rest are crap