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Hi all! Thought I’d pop my head by here and introduce myself. I've been reading through these forums for a wee while now and decided to take the plunge and register. I am an amateur watchmaker (please note, by this I mean I bought a bunch of screw drivers and watchmaking tools which I haven't taken out of their packets as yet) and would love to record my process somewhere! chances are I’ll be asking more questions in these forums than answering them, but hopefully the ratio of questions to answers will change with time! for now, here is my watch history: Seiko skx007k (Pepsi mod) Omega seamaster planet ocean (circa 2010) Jaeger LeCoultre Master Chronograph (2012) Unfortunately the omega and JLC have been sold. But the Seiko keeps me happy! It’s my dads birthday in a couple of months so I’ve been sourcing bits to put together a pilot-like watch…. That’s basically the main reason I jumped on to the forums! in the meantime, while crawling through eBay I came across a beat up seiko 5, an skx 171 and a seiko 6139-6012 which I impulsively bought, rather ambitiously. Once these arrive I’m hoping I can find a way to bring them back to life! I mean, watchmaking…. How hard can it be?

I bought this balance holder tool from AliExpress a couple of months ago. I thought that it would be handy for holding the balance while adjusting the hairspring collet to correct beat error. But it turned out to be rubbish. The tack is so short that there isn't enough space to reach the collet. I thought of shortening the height of the table but that would be quite a bit of work to execute it properly. Then it hit me this morning. I simply extended the balance tack with a brass PCB standoff. It also solved the problem of a wobbly tack when the standoff is tightened.

I would definitely add a countershaft to get the Torque at Low Speeds. I have done this on a number of my setups and its great.

I only use my balance tack to hold watch hands when applying lume.

The outside coil of the hairspring should be between the regulator. No matter what position you have the regulator in the hairspring should be able to move giving a sort of bouncing action between the boot and the pin. Make sure the hairspring is level and is not touching the balance or the balance cock.

It all depends upon the particular watch. Not necessarily will all watches go together the exact same way as some other watch. American pocket watches usually have the ability to remove the mainspring barrel with keeping most the rest the gear train in place. But there are some watches certain things have to go together or that not only go in at all and the entire watch left come back apart so just depends on the particular watch.

When I find the bridge tight, I like to put the bridge on without the wheels and work it up and down to loosen it up a bit. My mentor disapproves of this practice. He says it compromises the precision. Whatever.

No that's not what the stud is for. You can cause timekeeping in position if you have an amplitude change but otherwise that's not normally What it's used for. The first link below has a little information on adjusting. Then I have a PDF that you may find interesting the manufacturing information sheet for this watch. Unlike the technical communication which covers how to service the watch this has all the interesting technical specifications including the timing specifications. Then depending upon which grade you have it looks like you are Definitely out of timing specifications Is there any amplitude change in those positions? If for some unknown reason you had a severe amplitude change that might be a reason. Because this is an older watch is possible that somebody has re-staff the watch and you have a poise error. Normally wouldn't have that screwless balance wheel if somebody put the Roller back in a different location that would give you a small poise error. Or if somebody tried the statically poise or even dynamically poise the balance wheel when it really didn't need that to happen that would also give you poise error. But otherwise you should be within the specifications of the information sheet unless there's something else going on? So when you're in the positions on your timing machine of where you're giving the timing problem are there any changes on the timing machine like is that amplitude would do this do the lines still looked nice and clean extra noise etc. otherwise it still keeps coming back to poise error which normally wouldn't exist on a screwless balance wheel unless somebody's played with it. https://www.awci.com/watchmaking-excellen/hairsprings/ http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&ETA_2671 ETA_2671_info.pdf

Hi everyone, It seems that a staking set is a very useful tool to have around. They are easy to find but prices range from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand... It seems that the nicer ones come in a bigger box, and with more "bits"... Second hand ones sometimes have fewer parts but I don't see why you couldn't get extra bits and gizmos (insert technical term) that fit on the brand you got. I'm looking for any advice you might have as to what to look for on a used staking set (it they're worth getting used ?), for a non-professional user. Thanks !

HI I'm KeylessWorks Repaired and restored several pocket watches and men's and women's wrist watches for fun. Particularly enjoy disassembly and repair of Timex mechanical manual and automatic wrist watches. Is there a separate Timex forum where I can post pictures and inquiries? I have a 1960 M22 movement Timex watch in a one piece aluminum case without lugs! DId TImex make pendants for this watch? I have a late 1950's - early 1960's catalog which shows the dial on my movement but in a case WITH LUGS. Was the LUGLESS watch made for a pendant? My watch has a standard length stem. Thanks

Hi all from Nova Scotia. made the mistake of watching Marshall on the watch restoration channel on YouTube. i found it relaxing and fascinating. I am hooked and just starting to look for tools and practice watches. I intend to try for pocket watches on Ebay to start. Good to meet you all.

Afternoon all, my Names Joe as I’m sure you can guess from my username. I’ve always been interested in watches but only recently been able to begin learning and exploring the repair and restoration side of it. I’ve got a few watches in my collection and a few pocket watches. I’m working my way through the issues with the pocket watches and slowly buying the tools and equipment to work on these myself. Hope everyone is having a good week. Looking forward to learning from you all.

Hi everyone, I'm glad to learn some things. I've owned a watch since perhaps I was in the 2nd grade. That first one was a Timex and it only lasted a few years. When I graduated from high school almost 50 years ago, I got a watch and, and I still have it (more on that later. After that first watch I bought or was gifter a Citizen Quartz 5500 which I really liked. That was in the ealry 1990's. One day after maybe 10-15 years of so the watchman I always took it to said it was on its last legs. I bought another and kept that too. the in 2017 I bought an Apple watch Model A1758; Series 2 which bit the dust about a year ago and I bought a Series 7 last fall. All this time I kept the old ones and also had picked up a La Bruyere LOGO watch and a second one from a club I was in. My Dad died a couple years ago and in settling things I took three old watches to a jeweler and $15 each later they were working. I only asked for a battery replacement and I guess that's all it took. My two brothers and I will choose which ones we each will take. But my attention turned back to all my old non-running analog waches - 5 wristwatches and 1 pocket watch. Over the last week I'd gotten the two Citizens and the two La Bruyere's working. They are all sitting here next to me and I am excited. But my oldest watch the graduation watch is not working. Its a Benrus Electronic watch and the reason I set is aside in the early 90's was I was thinking either the battery was no longer available or a simple battry change would not get it going. That's what brings me here, to learn from you all and maybe I can get that watch ticking in time for my 50th reunion. But I don't want to throw good monry after bad. Mark

Hello all. Actually thought I registered for this site back when I took the watch repair course but guess I was wrong. My name is Chris. I am retired military and have been working on clocks for around 8 years. My dad owns a clock shop and taught me everything I know on clocks. I recently just graduated watchmaking at Gem City College in Quincy, IL. Will be moving to Arkansas in a couple months and going to help dad at his store. Guess that's all I have for now. Looking forward to helping and gaining knowledge from fellow horologists.

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new to this as a hobby, and am excited to learn a bunch from your experiences!

Thanks everyone for allowing me into the group. I'm a retired Physician Assistant recently exploring bookbinding, but now jumping into the middle kids pool after receiving a Rotate Watch Kit at Christmas. After screwing up SOMETHING with the stem, keyless works, the escapement (the possibilities are endless. But I've put together mechanical watches from parts from Esslinger, Otto Frei, etc. I'm trying to get enough nerve to join the 1-3 series of lessons through this group. I'm finishing up #1 Lesson Group with TimeZone but I think the Watch Repair Channel courses look better. Anyway thanks for letting me join, this is just simply the most fabulous craft and art - dang. My goal is to work on cool watches and make Christmas Presents for folks that are part of our family. Cheers!

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. My name is Rob. I am currently undertaking Mark's watch repair course and enjoying it immensely. I have an interest in vintage watches (as I am a bit vintage myself) and enjoy the mechanical aspect of the hobby. I am slowly acquiring tools of different shapes and sizes, most recently a lovely old Elma cleaning machine. It needs a couple of new lids and the heater element is blown, but other than that is is nice. I need to buy cleaning fluids at some point once i figure our which ones to use. I am currently working in two movements, one an MST 264 ( trying to find a mainspring), and a J693E (has a very stuck screw on the barrel bridge, In fact just about every screw was really hard to remove). Any way I hope to chat with many of you in the coming years :)

hay i'm a junky WRT addict smart

It may be Italian marble. They have some absolutely incredible colours. Another possibility is Indian. The French would have access to both at that time.

I quite like the look of that tool and may get one to modify. I’m still surprised at the number of people who are paranoid about deforming hairsprings by suspending the balance wheel by the spring. In my experience, there are few balances which are heavy enough to cause damage if you handle them carefully.

There is a prevailing theory that modern mainsprings are stronger for the exact same thickness of a steel mainspring. So the general rule is you would always go with the later spring today. The problem is there a less mainsprings available today. For instance usually when I'm looking for mainsprings all look at the list of unattached to. It is by no means hundred percent perfect but because me a clue as to whether something's going to exist or not. Each of the watch companies helmets and an Elgin for instance had their own alloys for hairsprings and mainsprings. So for instance at the link below you'll find dp stands for "Dura-Power", Elgin's 'unbreakable' mainsprings. http://elginwatches.org/databases/mainspring_info.html Which year you getting? Mainspring - DennisonChart.pdf Mainsprings security American pocket watch.PDF

Ah, I see elsewhere you bought these without glass. If it’s just plane Jane flat glass, buy the sapphire from Cousins. You get them in all sizes and thicknesses. Hopefully the crystal gasket is still there? Else things are going to suck. Why not post a pic of the watch if you don’t mind? Both these watches has Cousins sapphire on them, and both 3mm thick

Before you close the (enlarged?) hole for the barrel arbor, it might be best if you take a picture of the mainplate, and barrel bridge for us all to take a look at first. When there’s wear on the mainplate barrel pivot, the hole can be oval so it might be difficult to broach it to the correct location accurately. Best practice would be to replace the worn hole in the mainplate with a bushing or a jewel, but you need to find a way to accurately determine where the center of the pivot to be. More experienced members on this board should be able to tell you how to do that, but it might require some equipment and more practice first. The barrel lid should fit tightly onto the barrel drum, but the barrel arbor should be able to spin freely in the empty barrel. When the watch is running, the barrel arbor is stationary, and the unwinding of the mainspring in the barrel causes the entire barrel drum to rotate. When the watch is wound by stem, the barrel drum is still rotating slowly as before, but the barrel arbor is being rotated via action of the stem to coil up (wind up) the mainspring. As you can see, the barrel arbor and the barrel drum move independently so they should have minimal friction.

Too True but have enough to cover the funeral

It's purely for diehard aficionados.

That copper thing is the drive coil. The magnet is on the balance wheel itself.

http://www.crazywatches.pl/benrus-electronic-esa9154-1970 Have a look at this movement. It has the same 3 pronged battery contact as your watch. But we won't know for sure until you get the watch open.

Oh and I forgot to mention that my tack is a toothpick stuck in a piece of bluetack. This is the reality of my DIY watch repair make do tool world lol

Hi Rich. I realised my blood sugar level as soon as I went down to hairspring manipulation, it's so obvious there. If you think you have steady hands wait till you get on with that lol. Definitely something you don't want to attemp with a rumbling tummy haha. picked the fruit juice tip up from kalle of chronoglide .

That is the reason for having an adjustable table. It is raised to support the spring so that it doesn't dangle until it distorts. In that same thread that @VWatchie mentioned, I showed the tool that I use on larger movements. For smaller movements, I just stick an old oiler in the collet and turn it.

Like Joe shows above. If the latch part of the "boot" is missing it''s not a problem, it's there on watches to keep the spring in place in event of a shock. On a clock it isn't a problem (in spite of it being out of place on yours- judging by the hairiness of yours it's seen some battles).

Here https://cdn.watchrepairtalk.com/monthly_2016_11/regulatorbuckle6443.jpg.39801714329fc50d460255707ccdfc6e.jpg

Hello everyone, I recently found an old watch of my father's that was crying out to get out of that box and be fixed.I have always been curious so I began to investigate, read and learn everything I could about this wonderful world, including knowing how far I should go with the resources and experience I have (although the latter is more difficult to learn.... ). I have learned many things from this forum and I will continue to learn from all of you. Thanks to everyone who contributes their knowledge and experiences with others, they are a great help. Greetings Miguel.

I am very new to this new study of watches. Just started disassembling some non working pocket watches to get a better understanding of the movement groups. I love the intricacies of the gearing. I hope to learn a lot from those more experienced. Best

I have several timex electric watches, the q models, a Durango and a couple Mickey Mouse watches. They are all perfectly running but my question is: what’s the proper way to maintain them? Specifically should they be kept running at all times or should the crowns be pulled out to prevent unnecessary wear and tear when not being used? I know mechanical watches should be kept running, but don’t know much about electric models.

Hello my name is Tony! I am new to the world of watchmaking, actually I have some limited experience in watch sales, but I am definitely new to the repair side of watchmaking. I currently am studying the courses from Mark‘s educational videos on WatchFix and have purchased all of the necessary tools to get started. In addition, I bought a few other nice additions such as a Bergeon staking set, Horotec oilers and several other vintage tool additions! I am very happy and excited to be here, and cannot wait to contribute in any way possible, and also to absorb as much knowledge as possible surrounding horology, and the wonderful world of watchmaking!

Hi everyone, I just got into watches pretty recently and just decided to “build” my own automatic watch (which I have some questions about. My watch collection consists of a citizen field watch from the Chandler collection which I thought was an amazing coincidence. I also have an old Swiss Army watch my dad gifted me and the aforementioned broken custom automatic.

Right now I have begun collecting Waltham' 18's ,16's and 12's. (Various movements) Started collecting tools , supplies and books Absolutely fascinating........

I'm new to the site, having grown up in Southern California and still there, but closer to the desert, which is dear to me by way of my lifelong love of observing the sky, which is much better seen out there. As a kid, my uncle gave me my first watch, with lume, which fascinated me. Over the years I have acquired, "messed with," and ultimately destroyed more watches than I have now, but gained much in the process I'm an x-ray tech, which I sort of fell into by way of an interest in photography and all things scientific. While that field has changed significantly, I am glad that things are still holding on to the traditional in the world of horology. I was led here by Mark's video on setting Seiko 8f32 perpetual movements. I have a concern which I will express in my first post, thank you.

New member, well, signed up to ask a question. I'm not much of a watch maker, eyes started going bad as I started to learn. I've done some basic Seiko mods, replaced a movement, removed date wheel, cut down a stem, all pretty basic.

Hallo all together, I'm Gerald from Hamburg and on the quest for a new hobby. Maybe looking into old watches could be something? But just trying out with some basic tools and a broken pocketwatch from eBay does not help much. There are already questions. That brought me here. Hopefully you can help? Gerald

I came across this site and wanted to be apart of the community here. I became very much in love with the hobby of watch making after my last deployment as a some what therapy. And this site so knowledgeable I wanted to be apart of it. !!!

I have worked on some ladies movements where it’s quite difficult to slide the barrel in once the train bridge is on… but those tend to be tiny movements?

It is called a Stem Spring Rest. Part number 0997521. It shows as available at Julesborel.com and about $5 US. Probably not the best choice for you due to shipping costs. Adrian at VTA may be able to help. There is an ebay seller from the UK that makes these. Dave-eb. https://www.ebay.com/itm/154289345980?hash=item23ec5c95bc:g:7mMAAOSwGnxbaX~e

The problem is this is a two-way street. What about the newbies showing a little tolerance? I have the vague feeling that last week I got scolded several times and where was the tolerance from the newbie?

Chandler sent his watch to me and I fixed it for him (a free service). I tried the Mark technique but ultimately went in on the dial side to get it done. The problem with his configuration was that the movement did not fit well in the case he bought. The movement fell toward the crystal and as a result there was not a straight shot through the tube into the movement. As a result, the stem tended to go in at an angle...a slight one, but enough to screw up the wonky 2824 keyless works. Once I realized this, I had to slightly lift the movement at the stem side so that I got a straight shot. So, the 2824, as awkward as it is was made worse by this situation. Anybody would have a problem, I imagine.

..... I found my Click .... perseverance is everything !!!!!! ...... and I have no idea how it got to where it got.

Because strong magnification is good only for inspection or ultra-small work, and for these a stereo microscope is better. One can't don't general work with strong magnification, because the focal distance, field depth, and field width are too small. Possibly because you're short-sighted (myopia), and that's a blessing for watchmaking. But a large majority of people, especially at mature age can't focus on nearby objects (presbyopia), and need a vision aid under all conditions.

Check this Keyless work

+1 for the inverto style. I have the Bergeon 5285 D set which allows you to use the punches as stakes and it can be very handy.