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I figure if I can make one or two in my life it will go some way toward making up for the many I have mangled so far.

Hi, Just wanted to share my experience of radial brushing on a Seiko 7005-8160P. I built a little jig using a block of wood, plastic case press, and Wood screw. I think the pictures are quite explanatory. The red tape was used just take up the slack. Using a junior Jigsaw blade with some 600 grit paper wrapped around it and short 5mm strokes back and forward as the case is rotated slowly. Using the long slot I made in the screw head as a guide. The height of the screw is adjusted so that the Jigsaw blade is flat against the case and not at an angle. It's working pretty well. Will post a picture of the finished case.

I have a link to a video that explains what the problem could be. Then when you're watching the video he shows explains basically a test which you're supposed to be doing on all your watches to verify the safety features are working. But typically on wristwatches no one ever does this because typically they work. When you look at the video typically when all the safety features are in place that should never happen. If they guard pin is not functioning and you receive an external influence like a bump the pallet fork will move. In setting the watch it's possible to put enough pressure on the gear train stop to gear train which would allow the pallet fork to free float and move. Of course this is not a setting problem this is a safety problem. It would be nice to see a picture of your pallet fork because looking at the parts list I can guess on something. Another thing that can happen to the guard pin on older watches are the guard pin is adjustable. They even make a tool so you can push it in and out as it's a separate round pin. It's possible that it has relocated to someplace it's not supposed to be. It would be really nice to have a picture of the balance wheel out of the watch and the pallet fork still in the watch but a good picture the pallet fork aimed at the guard pin area as that's more than likely were your problem is. https://youtu.be/DxeM85XRTbU

Definitely not a common fault. What you seem to be describing is called "overbanking" or "out of action". One possible cause is a bent guard finger. Another is an out of place safety roller. Yet another is worn balance- or pallet-jewels (or worn or bent pivots) which affect the interaction between finger and roller. What is puzzling is why the problem only occurs when you are setting the time, and why the watch otherwise funtions OK.

In this video, the presenter makes a replacement hairspring for his verge escapement pocket watch entirely by hand. I found this in my late night YouTube trawling recently and thought it didn't have nearly enough views. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7tsGYNAPc

Just got this after Christmas... Needs some love but it works.

Hi Mike Looks a handsome clock and I am sure you will get great pleasure in working on it. Take care and take your time, the pivots are hard like French clocks but they are a delight to work on. a read through the book and all will be well. all the best and good luck.

WWI

Arrived today from Japan: A lovely Hamilton Jazzmaster Automatic. Nice clean lines, and is currently ticking away on the TimeGrapher: +13 s/day, Amplitude: 258 deg., Beat Error: 0.4 ms. in face up.

Hey everyone, here's a fun and affordable 3D photography side project. I really owe Andy Hull for giving me the inspiration and information I needed to pull this off! In addition to horology, I'm an avid photographer. I've been studying and practicing photography seriously for 20 years now, having bought my first real camera in 2000. If anyone is curious, the camera was a Canon Canonet QL17 GIII. Some of my work has been in galleries, and I'm a couple of classes away from completing a photography degree. When I became fascinated by photography, I wanted but couldn't afford a digital camera. I could afford a film camera, however, and I had free access to a nice darkroom between my law school classes at UC Davis. I learned how to process film and make silver-gelatin prints. Over the years, I've become a film snob. I embraced digital for macrophotography, but insisted on using real film when shooting people. Thanks to Andy, I've now embraced digital photography for 3D. For several years, I had been fascinated by 3D photography. I hadn't experimented with 3D photography much myself, because high quality 3D film cameras are expensive, require expensive slide film, and require a huge time investment to mount properly for viewing. I've shot a couple of rolls through Stereo Realist, ViewMaster, and Nishika cameras, but the cost and hassle were too much for me to fully embrace. Enter @AndyHull, who mentioned the "Canon Hack Development Kit" (CHDK) project to me. This is a super cool open source effort to significantly expand the capabilities of Canon point and shoot cameras. By using the CHDK, one can force old point and shoot cameras to shoot RAW files, show real-time over- and under-exposure, and execute scripts allowing for the cameras to take pictures on a programmed schedule or only after they detect movement, etc. I've barely scratched the surface of what CHDK can do -- It provides an incredible amount of power and flexibility. I purchased two new-old-stock Canon Powershot A4000IS cameras for $25/each from eBay. These cameras were released in 2012, but they work really well. Through the magic of CHDK, one can use a USB cable and a 5v power supply as a remote shutter release. In under 15 minutes, I used some LEGO bricks, a simple push button electrical switch, a couple of old USB-mini cables, and a battery to build a twin USB shutter release. CHDK does some additional magic to ensure that both cameras fire in a completely synchronized manner, within 1/1000s of each other. Here's my original rig. Please note that a 9V battery wasn't an ideal choice, and I've switched to a 5V battery. I mounted my two Powershot A4000IS cameras close to each other on a "stereo bar," but I got even better results by using epoxy to glue these two cameras together. Here's v2 of my rig. It produces better results, although I do need to rotate all of the left shots 180 degrees while processing. Combined with Adobe Lightroom and some really powerful free software called "Stereo Photo Maker" (SDM), it's trivially easy to produce 3D stereo pairs that look great. It's possible to see the 3D effect in these stereo pairs with one's naked eyes through the "crosseyed" or "parallel" viewing techniques. These methods give me a headache and are really hard to teach others to do, but the good news is that there are inexpensive and effective 3D viewers available. I'm using the "OWL" and "Lite OWL" designed by Brian May. My wife was really blown away by the 3D effect. My total cost was well under $100 and a couple of hours of time to build a super high quality 3D stereophotography rig: Canon A4000IS #1: $25 Canon A4000IS #2: $25 Battery, USB cables, and electronic switch: ~$10 OWL Viewer: $20 CHDK and Stereo Photo Maker: $0 Total: ~$80 I shot a model last Friday, and am really happy with how well my 3D rig performed! Thanks @AndyHull! First good stereo pair (Parallel Eye). I've since improved my processing technique to ensure that the colors match better. Here's a Parallel-Eye shot from my recent photoshoot. I'm really happy with these results! If anyone would like to see the full (uncensored) photoshoot, please send me a DM and I'll send the link.

Just post pictures of the parts you have, and how you have assembled them. It's amazing what the experienced eye can make of a few images! Help us to help you!

According to the link is "1/17 jewels" I'm not sure by the way it's worded whether that's in the either or? It's hard to believe that a pin-lever escapement Can be a 21 jewel version. Then googling and searching on eBay for completed sales reveals the link below. I would say it's not the same watch as the one above as it indicates it's an automatic. But of course this comes from an eBay seller that never opened the watch up and as we know dials can be miss leading. Of course none of this is helpful in identifying the watch because it just tells us what it's not. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trafalgar-Swiss-Made-21-Jewels-Automatic-Gents-Watch-Spares-Repairs-D5-/303795408391?hash=item46bb9e0e07%3Ag%3ArusAAOSwEvhfyLcw&nma=true&si=CLxrUdlKhPCFqLU9r9HLyATjL1I%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

that's a nice thought but is there any way to implement it? It's my understanding that Rolex will restore the watch in whatever fashion they deem is required and you don't have an input on this. As you want to keep certain aspects of your watch I would make sure that you communicate with them in writing ahead of time. No phone calls so you have or could have misunderstandings it has to be in writing. Because that then might be considered a written contract and if they violate the contract you could take legal action not that that's going to be as nice as getting them to do what they're supposed to do. Then of course if you get a go-ahead that they will do it your way make sure that's included with the watch do not assume they'll remember whatever it is there supposed to be doing.

Finished case. Still has a few minor marks but. I think if I went further then I would start losing the case lines and sweeps. In any case this watch is 50 years old so I don't want it absolutely pristine. VID_20201231_183617828.mp4

Does it look like this? This is a Ronda 7115. http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&a2&2uswk&Ronda_7115 If not, you need to help us to identify the manufacturer. As already mentioned, photos are always useful.

I've decided to do this right and save up and send to Rolex. Whatever it costs is worth it for peace of mind alone. I feel like I'm "there" as far as having the skill to do the work, but it's the little things--like I don't have a cleaning machine, I will NOT clean all Rolex parts by hand, and more minutiae such as lubricating the reversing wheels. Finally, I'd need at least one part. I'm fairly sure the oscillating weight's axle is broken. By the time I acquire the replacement parts, epilame, and the tool to properly open the watch; I'd probably be about $500 shy of what the repair cost would be. Better to transfer the liability for $500.

I think that if the reset procedure outlined above consistently returns the hand to the same (eroneous) position every time then that suggests that the hand has been off and not put back in the right place, in which case yes, just lift the hand and reseat it in the right position.

Here it comes.... I must confess: it was me. Me, who lost the battle. After so many hours, and I was so close at least twice. My advise first of all: RTFM. I got this beauty not long time ago, it is the brother of another one I almost received at the same time, but this one was a non runner. Quickly turned out that one of the pallet fork pin was bent, tried to get the fork out without completely stripping down the movement without reading the manual, but in a similar manner by unscrew some of the screws. I failed.. wheels were everywhere out of the pivot holes, had no choice but to do a full strip down. My first time ever for a TIMEX. Then it took me about 6 hours to clean it and to put the plate back... without the keyless work. I had no idea how could be this done with the keyless work... I have not read the manual.. started with the wrong plate... for various reasons i had to put that plate back again and again and at the end I managed to put all of the weels, fork, keyless work and the plate in 5 minutes compared to the initial ~ 4 hours. I was probably a bit lucky too. Anyway it was cleaned and lubricated and was ticking away nicely. BUT! One of the oil cup opposite of the balance screw had no oil in it, as I washed the movement again and again. - So I tried to oil it. M23 HINT says: Oiling. When oiling the dial plate balance cup, to facilitate the precise entry of the oil to the bottom of the cup, undertake this operation through the balance screw hole before the balance screw is assembled. I ignored the "before the balance screw is assembled." - note that this point i was aware of the service manual content - and I tried to move the balance out of the way a little bit hoping that I can oil that cup with the balance still in place. I failed. What I managed to do is my nightmare: I BENT the HS! (i call it HS from now on, just like Voldemort could not be called Voldemort but "you know how" except Harry Potter). So I unbent it, but it was not completely ok so the watch performance was also not ok. I took the balance out (without taking the whole thing apart) and i worked on the HS again. I put it back again but it was out of beat. Decided to take the whole thing apart and play with the HS collet to bring it back to beat. When I removed the plate I dont know how, but I BENT the HS again! So I worked on the HS again. I put it back and started to work on the beat by rotating the collet, did it a several times when my screwdriwer slipped and badly damaged the HS again. I could not bring it back into shape again... I gave up. I was devastated.... I must have worked on it ~ 20 hours. Additionally I lost the dust seal for the stem, no idea how and when I tried to push the crystal out to clean the crystal and the case separately it did not came out, but I managed to chip the crystal at 12 and 1 oclock position. Later I asked @AndyHull how he does oil that oil cup for the balance, I hope he would not mind to share his method here: "I use my smallest oiler, and clamp the movement firmly in a movement holder, then with lots of light and some good magnification, I aim the oiler in from whatever angle I can while trying to avoid getting oil on the hairspring. It takes patience, and even then can be a little hit or miss. As to adding exactly 3/4 of the cup full of oil, who are we kidding? If I can get in what I feel is an adequate amount of oil, I'm happy. This is a Timex, after all, so near enough is usually good enough. " How do you people do it? What I wanted to say is that: I love this watch! ? ? And again, this love will stay here forever! ? 21-22-23-26-29.pdf

Hi everyone, I have amassed a small collection of watches, some inherited and some bought. I am a Audio Visual engineer and have always been fascinated by watches. Inspired by Mark's youtube channel, I tried to strip and rebuild a watch movement. To my amazement I found it very therapeutic and was capable of handling all the small parts, (except the power train). I put the mainspring in back to front, and when I realised my error, I started to disassemble it again and bam!!!!!! I never did find the cover. To date, that is the only thing I have lost. Dropped loads of screws etc but always found them eventually. Well and truly got the bug (and a lathe) now. Stay safe everyone Vince

If only it was that simple. Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_spring

Found this late last night.. theres not much else around.. OBITUARIES from the Regimental Association Handbook 5172373 Sergt. J. Farmiloe, MM, died at Bristol 19th June 1932, 3 months after being invalided from Regt. Enlisted 1st August 1914, 28th Regt. Awarded MM. Invalided from France to 8th Bn. Posted to 61st in 1919. Regimental Depot 1927. Rejoined 28th in 1929. Invalided from Egypt 1932. MM, 1914-15 star trio.

Depends on how many people (civilians included) did the he kill in egypt. ?

I do so with the question " Should I worry about radium? " and the guy always buys a gieger counter on ebay, handy for checking neighbours blood pressure with. Another one, " which watch are you wearing today" how about yesterday? and always a timex shown which someone else has already throw up on.

Well here I go. Weasol the 400 day clock book arrived and so did the clock. I'm going for it.

as it would be astronomically expensive to dip your clock plates in you could brush it on. Brush it on both sides of where the pivot goes. Then follow up with a piece of peg wood to clear out the hole and may be just a tiny bit of the countersink. I think that would work it would keep your oil word supposed to be.

If your interested in reading more about the subject, here's a link to an article I found: https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/mainsprings.php

I've always had trouble with solvent based lume. I think it has something to do with the climate. I live in Singapore which is usually hot and humid. (32°C, 80% RH) I discovered that UV cured nail varnish works really well here. Just mix lume powder to the desired consistency and use the biggest oiler. It has unlimited working time. If you make a mistake, just wipe it off and start again. And there is minimal wastage, any unused lume can be stored in a light proof container and reused. When you are happy with the results, just pop it into the UV curing unit and cure it for a minute or two.

Hi Keith Some pictures would help, maybe we can give you some tips on where to put the part. Next time you disassemble a movement, i would suggest you take some photos unless you know the movement by the back of the your hand! as for the schematic, caliber no alone is not going to help, what is the manufacturer. xxx cal 7115. Thanks J

Hey I wouldn't want to rush into things and blow a shed load of cash on just one watch. ? Admittedly I appear to be going slowly bankrupt in two quid increments... ? but I'm having fun doing so.

Scored my first Hamilton Khaki used for a decent price ! Should receive it sometime next week. Not the best pictures but looks in decent enough condition and will serve as a "plug and go" watch for me that I won't have to baby !

I've been away for a while and thought I'd ease myself back into the watch world but... ended up jumping in with both feet for this one- I've wanted one of these for ages and figured the market had passed me by but now I get to do the happy dance! Can't wait to get started on this one.

Indeed ... and it's humbling to hear that they're neither aluminum nor particularly thin. I've damaged three movements trying to swap out an aftermarket day and date ring onto an NH36A. I have a devil of a time aligning the plates and getting the four screws back in without deforming the plates. My best effort has resulted in day- and date-wheels that turn correctly when the crown is in the second position, but which don't advance correctly when I'm advancing the hands in the third crown position. I am planning on disassembling that movement and reassembling it again over the weekend. I haven't given up. I do have a neurological condition that makes me shaky and reduced the feeling in my dominant hand's fingertips, so maybe I'm not the best candidate to learn watch repair. I haven't given up yet, though. Practice practice practice!

So, here's kind of a fun story: A few weeks ago, I purchased a Gruen Verithin Pentagon pocket watch in filled white gold. It had a distinctive engraving inside of its caseback that read "Leland S. Offer, Los Angeles, Calif." Based on the serial number of its case and movement, and with the assistance of some Gruen experts, I was able to date this watch to 1922 or 1923. Because I was curious and like a good story, I researched the original owner, one Leland Stanford Offer, who was a successful salesman living near Los Angeles at the time he purchased the Pentagon. Using Ancestry.com, I was able to learn the names of Leland S. Offer's living descendants. With the help of Google and some paid people searches, I was able to get in contact with Leland S. Offer's living grandson and one of Leland S. Offer's living great-grandnephews. I mailed the great-grandnephew Leland S. Offer's Gruen Pentagon, and the current plan is for the great-grandnephew and I to surprise Leland S. Offer's living grandson with his grandfather's watch on a Zoom videoconference later this week. I was happy to reunite this family with the pocketwatch free of charge, but the great-grandnephew insisted on covering my expenses. Because of this, I've been on the lookout for a nice replacement Gruen Pentagon pocketwatch. I had been lusting after a 14k or filled green gold Pentagon, but earlier today I found a really nice solid 14k white gold specimen that was nicely engraved and featured pretty black enamel painting on its case. Here's the replacement Gruen Pentagon that is on its way to me now: I plan on polishing and heat bluing the hands from this watch. I would like to overhaul it myself, but I don't know if I have the skills to attempt this yet. I've been practicing on Seiko NH36A movements and the experience has, to say the least, been humbling. There's something about the super thin and delicate layers of aluminum in the NH36A movement that I can't help but destroy.

Just bought this one and it stumps me. Lady I bought it from says her grandfather worked for the factory and made this watch. I can find the vulcain cricket models but not any reference to the vulcain remind-o-date. I do find the Lejour remind-o-date tho which looks identical... Any info on it would be helpful.. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I just received a Gruen VeriThin Pentagon pocket watch in the mail. I'm in love: The dial is gorgeous and in beautiful condition, and the movement is stunning. I didn't expect the mirror polish in some of the movement components. This is probably the most beautiful movement I've ever seen in person. This may just be a white gold filled case, but it's my first non-SS cased watch. Next steps: Figure out if this is a good candidate for me to overhaul. My current thinking is that this is far too "fine" a movement to practice with, and I don't know about parts availability. It's running okay right now, with a healthy amplitude but losing 3m/day.

Seiko Goldfeather 18k gold filled tank circa 1960's. Excited to check out this super-thin vintage movement.

My Tissot chronograph, which I got for a song at a local Pawn shop, has been sold as I wasn't wearing it much. It was bulky and needed a link in the bracelet to fit more comfortably. I was seriously considering building a 7750 clone from eBay parts when I chanced across this Accurist chrono. It is powered by a Landeron 248. It looks to be of a late 60's vintage, but have no idea how to date them. Coming from the UK so it will be a couple weeks. It was sold as running, which is a plus, looks like it'll need a crystal polish for sure. I absolutely ADORE the complexity of mechanical chronographs!

Today I received this beautiful Omega Genève from 1968 with blue dial. Iit was sold as not running, but with the optical condition and the ridiculously low price I just couldn't say no When I opened it a screw fell right out the movement. I noticed that it should hold one of the caseclamps in place, which was missing. I guessed that the caseclamp made its way into the train of wheels, causing the watch to stop. So I carefully shaked the watch and volià, the clamp fell out and the movement began to run. I resecured the clamp with the screw. The movement looks really dirty though, so it will definitly benefit from a service. The results on the timegrapher confirmed that, so there is still work to do I also fittet an original Omega buckle to the strap.

I just grabbed this vintage Citizen Bullhead with the panda dial. It's powered by the venerable Citizen, 23 Jewel, 8110A. It looks to be quite a disaster, but since I'm itching for a challenge and I've always wanted a Bullhead, this will be my chance. Initial shopping list of parts includes: New crystal as I'm quite certain faceted crystals were never available from the factory New replacement or vintage dial in good shape as this one is a wreck. complete set of hands stem possibly a new balance as the hairspring looks to be wound tight, hopefully that is just a lack of perspective proper bracelet as this one is sans anything As always, I will post updates and photos as I go through it. It seems Mark has yet to cover one of these on YouTube. Would love to see him go through one himself. If anyone here has gone through one of these or has any spares available, please let me know, I may need guidance. Hopefully I can manage it without one of those Bergeon 3rd wheel pullers as it costs nearly as much as this did. Addendum: for those Quentin Tarantino fans, I just learned Brad Pitt's character, "Cliff Booth" in "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" wore a gold tone one of these on a leather cuff band.

Well, its not coming it arrived and I am elated! A 1958 CK2990 Ranchero case with its original box! Although not technically a Ranchero, collectors call this particular 2990 a 'Seachero' due to the fact that they share the same case as the Ranchero. It sports a 267 Cal. And is 36mm wide. The watch is virtually untouched - all but the band. Original polish and movement. To have the box is extremely rare as they were only made for 2 years. The previous owner's DNA and grime is still on the caseback and lugs. Timed it and it's running slow. Will service the movement.

Just won an auction for this sexy beast, another Art Deco watch. It's a Gotham, probably from the mid 30's but I still have yet to identify the movement. I thought at first glance it was an FHF movement, but I'm beginning to think it's an in-house movement. If anyone knows, please let me know. Love the 2 tone case with enamel inlay and the swinging "Drivers" lugs. Only thing it seems to need is a seconds hand. Flawless otherwise.

Hamilton 992 with a salesman case. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

It probably needs a good clean. I would try putting a little lighter fluid on the balance and those pivots and see if it spring to life. The nice thing about pocket watches is that the parts are quite large in comparison to a lot of other watches.

I just acquired this Antique H Samuel, English Lever pocket watch. My goal in getting this watch was to educated myself on the unique mechanism inside and to help a fellow WRT member with his dilemma (Discussed here). Plus I am attracted to odd, quirky and unique watches, and this one fits the bill. On the surface it seems like any Antique English lever of the time, but the "Climax Trip Action" feature has me intrigued.

rolex oil chart 3135.PDF Rolex-3135-tech.pdf

Just seen the price of moebius fixodrop... oh my Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk