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Hi Murks there are several options , 1. resolder the dial feet back on 2. use stick on dial feet (available from Cousins) but that requires milling a seat for the head before glueing. 3. use dial dots (little double sided dots ) to secure the dial (also available from Cousins). The dial dots are the quickest solution providing there is enough clearance. Spec sheet enclosed. Miyota 2035 spec sheet.pdf

Unfortunately removing balance wheels there are a lot of variables that can change the outcome from good to bad. The biggest influences going to be the hairspring as to whether it's soft or stiff. Soft hairsprings definitely do not like to be stretched at all their very unforgiving for that. If you look at the video notice when he removes the balance bridge with hairspring it barely stretches at all. The video makes it looks so simple and easy. But there will be balance bridge is where you lift them up and you're getting a lot of stretching of the hairspring which is not good. Then even if they hairspring is stiff you still want to be careful not to yank the bridge off if the balance wheel is staying in place. I wonder how much size influences this? In other words it doesn't seem to be an issue with American pocket watch balance wheels their hairspring's tend to be quite strong. Another caution with balance wheel removal. In his video ask he makes all of this look to simple by the way. When he takes the screw off the balance bridge it's just sitting there what has been pride up. This is where you want to be really careful that the balance bridge doesn't fall usually it falls and leaves the balance behind and hairspring gets very unhappy. The same thing can happen when you're inserting the balance wheel and bridge just be very mindful that the bridge does not fall off. Oftentimes it's helpful to put the screw in With just like half a turn so it's holding a bridge so it doesn't do anything undesirable.

Nice telescope your wife has. I've an 8" dobsonian Skywatcher, love it to bits. If the house went on fire, the scope would be rescued first. Wifey can climb out a window! Anyhoo, I digress. Would you mind telling me the make of Microscope you use, as this will be my next purchase, I think. I need one desperately and I'm struggling with Loupes and tweezers and could do with an extra couple of hands. Ta Frankie All I can think of now is Basil Brush and Dirty Gerty at number 30... Still, what's in a name, eh? Phranquee

Hello forum! Aside from my new member introduction, I've not been able to contribute much of anything yet to the website. I've recently gotten bit by the watch repair bug and am waiting on some tools to arrive that will allow me to get started on my journey. I've been consuming a lot of instructional videos, and thus far have watched and re-watched levels 1-3 of Marks courses on his website. While I'm waiting for various things to come in (mostly lubricants and a couple of odds & ends), my timegrapher arrived in the mail. I put a few of my current watches on it and let them run in for a while, and found that all but one seem to be running pretty well. Oddly enough, my newest watch that I bought on a whim about 6 months ago, a Seiko SRPE37K1 'King Samurai' didn't look so great when I put it on the timegrapher. It has a 4R36 movement and I double checked the lift angle online to make sure I was setting the machine correctly. I bought this watch brand new (I know I paid retail, and thus overpaid!), and you would think that it would run pretty well. I rotate my watches and probably only wear this one once a week, so I'm usually setting the time and date as part of my morning routine. I never noticed that it wasn't keeping very good time, as it was always on point on any given day. Here is the results of the initial reading: It wasn't any better in any other position. While I could certainly return the watch to the dealer and have it looked at for free, this is something that I'm trying to teach myself how to do so I took it as an opportunity to tackle my first project. After a bit of work (they make it look so quick and easy online) I was able to get the beat error adjusted to zero. I then set off to get the rate corrected. The pic below shows the watch showing a really good readout after I got it dialed in (in the face down position), but obviously it would change somewhat when tested in other positions. I tried my best to find a happy medium between face up, face down, and crown forward positions. Sadly I forgot to take a photo when I completed this task, but I got the beat error to between 0 and 0.3 between all three positions, and the rate from -4s/d to +9s/d between the three positions. I think I did pretty well considering I didn't accidentally stab the hairspring or otherwise damage the watch during this work. A question for the more experienced people on here, I understand that this is a 4R36 and not a high-end movement, but do you think that a 240 amplitude is acceptable? I would think for a recently purchased new watch that it would be higher. I also understand that even though I purchased this brand new, it may not necessarily mean that the watch is in perfect working order. I suppose that if the consensus is that the amplitude is low, this watch would be a good candidate for me to service. I have a few movements recently purchased off eBay, and a couple of non-runner Seiko's that I picked up locally very cheap that I am going to be using for my first full rebuilds. Thanks all!

The ability of measuring minuscule parts using two hands, that is, spring operated and benchtop. And the anvils are shaped for this purpose, actually there is two sets of them. https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/micrometer-bench-top-kafer-germany

I would not call this "pretty" but it works for me. It was cheap. The lower light is attached to an articulating arm that was in my scrap pile in the garage (previously broken lamp). The LED strips were from ebay or maybe amazon.

"This is where you want to be really careful that the balance bridge doesn't fall usually it falls and leaves the balance behind and hairspring gets very unhappy. " Yep, we've all been there, where the cock drops over the side of the movement but with the balance still in place Until I became more proficient, I did what @Neverenoughwatches suggests - cut some foam to sit around the movement holder up to movement height, so that you can't drop the balance cock over the side. I do a similar thing on the balance tack for "old blue" hairsprings - stick it through some foam so the spring can't be over-stretched. The point made by @Kalanag about the different types of hairspring material is important. Modern "white" springs are much more robust - I'll just let them dangle. But, older blue ones, I lift the balance and cock together. This morning I've been working on a 1940's watch, and the hairspring is soft as a wet noodle - the slightest touch deforms it.

Ok, possible plot thickening. I did not cause this, at least not on disassembly but I just removed the calendar and motion works and everything on the dial side of the movement, turn it over and removed the rotor and saw this loose diashock. Could something like this cause it to jam up? Will be interesting to see if it's even got power, the winding stuff all seems to be working here's also a decent pic of the hairspring. Far as i can tell it looks fine? But what do i know at this point. The regulating pin is visually a good bit more twisted on this watch than on my other. Just thought that might be worth mentioning. EDIT: Ok, i just took a close look at the pallet fork. One of the jewels is tilted up and appears to be sliding out of the shellac. I hadn't even removed it when i saw it so If it was me that caused this it wasn't from the disassembly. That might explain the strange signal in dial left and also explain the total lack of function. IT's tilting up so much it probably jammed against the escapement wheel, my guess is that is also what caused the balance wheel to be stuck!

From the description, it doesn't seem so. Unfortunately many Chinese seller don't really know what they are selling.

I affraid i dont share the same affection for our Gert that i do my mother in law. I actually like Gert

Modern (white) hair springs with screwless balance wheels should easily withstand the hanging. Old blue hair springs with heavy screw type balance wheels might not. I never grab the cock and the wheel as a sandwich. Nevertheless it might be done safely when an antishock jewel setting is present.

I pay about €8 for 250ml in my local pharmacy. Thats about the same as a good lighter fluid.

Even if this has been solved, a next time please post pictures together with your question. That will help others help you.

My last order that used Royal Mail took 8 days from Cousins to the post office airport facility in my country.

Came up in the Spotify liked songs playlist today and was a hit while working on an abused Omega 321 chrono!

Haha, it sure does. That's funny. Thanks again for the info. I'll probably go tinker with that watch once I've got some of the project watches coming in up and running. Being that I'm brand new, that will be a good amount of time still, but by then hopefully by then I'll have 5 or 6 under my belt and will begin to settle in and be little bit more comfortable working on a watch. I'd like to get some old Swiss movements in to add to the list, but I just didn't want to spend the money right now on higher grade project watches until I get a few under my belt. I'm new to the watch repair game and have been reading about what to look for, and what to look out for with regards to buying projects watches off of places like ebay. I'm still a bit nervous buying something for $100 or more without seeing it in person first. I think I'm going to visit some of my local flea markets to see if there is anyone selling old watches. Nevertheless, I'll have my eyes open for potential future projects now.

It may be to do with autism and all round Neurofunkiness, but I hate seeing tatty cases and dials. i get it that most folk seem to like the effect of age showing as it adds character and gives a feeling of having had a life, but if its mine, it gets the shiny. Just one of my many quirks, but I like to see it as its was made and intended to be. I understand that sometimes gold is used for more than aesthetic reasons, but its a very lustrous material and I think its lustre should be celebrated and not covered up by years of sweaty fingerprints and sebum. Tarnished or dirty gold just "gies me the wullies". Frankie I've had a Parkside wired one since Moses was a lad. The actual tool is connected to a plug in power supply by a three pronged micro plug, pretty weird set up, but I've had it for years and still works flawlessly. Wifey can always tell when I've been polishing something as the inside of the shed looks like its been roughcasted. One thing I don't like about the von haus is the collets, i'd rather have a jacobs chuck type holder. As far as I'm aware they are readily available. I do have a special birthday on Saturday, so..... One thing that I really do like is the extension cable. It lets you keep everything else out of the way and lets you concentrate on the job in hand. Quite a bit of thought went into that cheap orange lump of very useful plastic. Frankie

Seikos are known for not having a particularly high amplitude, although this does seem a little under for a new watch. There are some knowledgeable Seiko fans here that will have a better idea than me as i mostly tinker around with old swliss brands. Well done with your adjustments though, and looking at your watch the minute hand over the hour hand makes the two together look likeca little space rocket . funny

For hand motor I have a basic level Proxxon that's seen hourly daily use for 16 years, still running strong. Dremel doesn't hold a candle to it (owned those too). The boutique watchmaker Christophe Claret issues each watchmaker in his employ with a Proxxon, they're 10x cheaper than the real hand motors and they just work. A high end hand motor can cost from 1.5k to almost sky the limit. A bench polishing machine is a very different animal and there are plenty of YT vids of serious case restorers showing how they build back up a case with laser or brazing and then bring it back to original shape. Back in the day you'd lean in and get "everything shiny". Now most vintage watch owners opt out of case polishing . But on your own watch, a combination of perhaps filing and abrasive paper finishing with a hand motor polish can look very good.

I think this happens because the service centers look for profit and labor reduction foremost. The typical Omega owner that brings them his watch(es) has no problem in paying for a barrel complete on top of the already high service cost. I would be just half-curious about the official prices of an Omega mainspring, and barrel complete. On Seiko 7S/4R and their SII counterparts the barrel is easily one half of a complete new mov.t! At the link below all the differences summarized and explained in a single document by myself. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRN2UULQKTfKmhRStZhDdIOIQrqd6sPB-g6x2SKyQQjOvTBjG_7TQXQhAT4f1WqAX5QAPkIimi-3jqd/pubhtml

Just an fyi you can actually buy brand new movements of this for about 45 to 50 bucks without date wheels on ebay pretty regularly which is actually up quite a bit from the last time i looked when they were commonly on there for about 35 bucks. I guess seiko discontinuing them has driven up the price a bit. Regardless you can also get old beat up seiko 5's running it for as cheap as 20 bucks and part those out. One of the reasons i wanted to make this my first project is that worst comes to worst, spare parts are cheap and i can simply buy a new one to have a parts redundancy in storage. I actually literally bought this watch because ti's the cheapest model they make to be my first watch to tinker with with the full expectation that i might cock it up (Which i most certainly have! But that's ok hehe). Just remember if you do work on it there's several versions, 7s26a 7s26b and 7s26c and there's parts compatibility issues between them, not all parts but several. The 7s26 tech sheet from seiko lists every part that's incompatible between the models. I saw another member here learned this the hard way.

The simplest way to tell if it's a sealed barrel is to look in the parts list. If there is no separate components listed it sealed. Just because you can take it apart and disassemble it doesn't really change the definition of it's a sealed. That as noted by JDM as this is come up before the replacement barrels don't have the same characteristic as the original springs do. Then that would be the original springs that you can't get because are not available. One of the amusing contradictions to this rule is Omega has a working instruction on how to recycle a mainspring barrel. It explains how to disassemble a barrel clean everything check that everything is perfect and put it all back together again. Yet from conversations with people work in their service centers they just replace the entire barrel. So it is somewhat amusing that Omega would go to the trouble of doing a document on something that they never do. Then for a lot of the sealed barrels the lids are on much much tighter. Or they go on in such a way that if you attempt to disassemble you'll basically destroy it.

Good lighter fluid is clean. I use medicinal grade Benzinum, which is mainly the same. Put a drop on a well cleaned hand mirror and let it evaporate. It should not leave a visible trace to be good for watch cleaning incl. hairsprings.

I just finished servicing this great old Waltham Crescent Street watch made in 1908. It is a sidewinder and is lever set. The handsetting did not work when I began the service but it it did work when I was done. Whoever serviced it before had screwed up the assembly of the keyless works. It definitely works well now. The mainspring barrel in this one really had me confused, but after some research I found out that the arbor was made of two pieces that unscrew. It was necessary to screw the crown wheel back onto the barrel and rotate it counterclockwise until the arbor began to unscrew itself. That's one to remember for the future. I don't have too many pictures of the actual disassembly and re-assembly, so here is a shot of the finished movement and watch. The only thing I could not clean well were the crown and ratchet wheels. It looks for all the world like they received electric shocks. Some discoloration and pitting in two very precise locations. Also, I like the distressed hands on a pretty nice dial. Rod

Hey Gary, Theres a lot of traditional watchmakers that scoff at the idea of a stereo microscope but as you’ve just realised, it’s a pleasure to use and more comfortable than dealing with the frustration of eye glasses or loupes. And as you stated, you now have depth perception as well, which isn’t possible with eye glasses. Sure, you need to have a lower bench to use it, and viewing/working on things at an angle is less convenient, but in those cases you can still use your traditional eye glass / high bench arrangement. I work on a stereo microscope every day for hours on end for my day job, so I was pretty used to it when I started messing with watches. It probably the reason I never really bothered with eye glasses to begin with, hence my bias against using them. Anyway, getting back to the thread. I must admit I didn’t follow this from the start but, as you found out, IPA is a risk with Shellac; there was a thread on it just the other day. As you’ve seen, it ruined your pallet fork but you did receive another so all is good. As far as impulse jewels in a balance, I’ve seen many that appear to be press fit rather than being held in with Shellac. Your balance might be such a case and if it feels sturdy enough without signs of shellac then I would just run with it. The worst that can happen is the impulse jewel can come loose and you can fix it. Or it will be perfect for years to come. I wouldn’t stress about it too much as this is your watch, not a customer’s. Ah toys, and the creative ways men have found to acquire them inconspicuously. The idea is to have so much random stuff that the SO doesn’t realise it when you get something new. All they see is a wall of gear which they don’t care to understand, so they don’t realise when the collection grows. The big trick is to keep a stash of old packaging packed somewhere, so they also don’t realise that that there’s a new parcel haha

The scope will make life so much easier for you. Great viewing ability and working room capacity. Breakfast in bed for your good lady, a lovely bunch of flowers and a nice evening meal at her favorite restaurant tomorrow and she will forget all about your new toy. Then just keep a cover over it and use it when she goes out with her friends.

Don's lamp inspired me so I created my own.

I've just bought one on eBay, cost me close to £200 so I hope it's worth it. As you can see, think it needs some of this treatment!

Your post is assuming, opinioned and of no help. If anyone will find it amusing, at least will have served a purpose.