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While attempting to make a new ratchet wheel (btw, does anyone please have any suggestions on the steel I should use? O1 perhaps?), I decided to try the other route as well, if only for the learning experience.. So I cut a slot in the wheel and silver soldered in a piece of steel wire that was ground square(ish). The result isn't too bad. But before I go ahead doing some polishing to make it look a bit nicer, should I heat treat it? If it was hardened originally, I imagine the soldering will have made the part softer. Or am I overcomplicating things now?

Got a submission for the club, as previously featured on the what's coming in the post, this Citizen Valiant So price criteria met It's either 1963 or 1973, with the plastic movement ring will probably go for 73, and the movement is the 1802. I've had dealings with this movement before, it's one of those that just will not sit nicely in the movement holder so you end up fiddling around with it until you tighten onto the balance, then you hear the pop and your heart sinks. Learnt my lesson there so made sure the balance was out whilst on the dial side. Only part purchased was the crystal, replaced the crown which I have a bag full, and the strap was a freebie from cousins. Cleaned up the case, didn't go to town on it but now looks a little more respectable. Beat error was really out and took an age to bring back but fluked a 0.0. I do wonder how fixed stud balances get so far out, this one certainly wasn't loose. End result +5/6, 270, 0.0 Believe it or not, that was the time I took the picture, although I did wait a couple of minutes.

Sorry for the question, but, do You know how to replace such jewel? It is rolled one and not pressed like modern jewels. You must not screw up the way the movement looks by deforming the stone seat or leaving any kind of marks there. This is not a movement to learn on.

In the US it’s all dependent on your ‘last mile’ people. Near me the USPS people chomp at the bit at the chance to send your package back to UK or India or China. DHL is usually the expensive preferred carrier for important parcels bit the girls driving the trucks can’t figure out how to get in the gate at the end of the street so they give up… UPS is the usual slow, high cost shipper but suddenly they are the most reliable. Our truck driver is great…

I spent some time today cleaning up the staking set (the jeweling set is in a great condition already, have used it for setting some hands). I gave everything a soak in wd40, then a rub down with some fine scotchbrite. Gave a few bits some 1000-2000 grit wet and dry, and did the stump mounted in a rotary tool. Finally ran everything through an ultrasonic clean/since/IPA, and a final coat of silicone oil. There's still some staining on a few of the punches, but it's all looking much better.

A rough work in progress/first case up... First things first I'm delighted to have an actual/real and working 6105-8000... another dream come true! There's work to do though... Got a (very good) repro bezel insert on the way from yokobies that I suspect will end up being the only non original part on this, unless I go with a repro crystal too. If not the original crystal could do with some more work... But yes, bezel isn't going to be an easy find. Dial is probably going to be switched over to another 'proof' I have - I'll want the crystal nicer for that one. Crown is a stop gap 6105-8110 repro - while not original it is nice enough to have me considering whether to use it on my 8110 if I find another, as it's clearly sealing much better than the almost 50 year old one I have on that. I might attempt a crown rebuild using the washer trick in time... Dial ring, while almost not visible without really looking, will get switched out... It was a decent effort but ultimately will ruin the look of what I hope will end up being a really good looking slim. So yes, early days but it's coming together...

You should be able to get a replacement jewel from a good supplier, the wheel will have to be made. I don't know how things are in the U S A for things like that.

From the Independent : "We’ve got your parcel.” Have any four words in the English language ever had such power to strike fear into the heart of man? In fairness, it’s not the words themselves that spark this thrill of terror – it’s the four letters denoting who’s sent them. When your gaze drifts into the “From” column of your inbox and spots the name “Evri”, you know it’s already too late. Your parcel – and your fate – is in God’s hands now. Or so goes the legend surrounding the courier. It’s not much of a stretch at this point to call Evri, formerly Hermes UK, Britain’s most hated delivery company (the name change is particularly ironic given the suggestion from some quarters that this 2022 rebrand was merely to shake off the bad reputation associated with its previous moniker). A new Ofcom report, published on 28 October, has revealed that, once again, Evri is at the bottom of the customer satisfaction leaderboard when it comes to handling complaints. It's luck as to who is doing your deliveries. The lady who does mine is very good. I have the app on my phone so get notifications of deliveries, and you can set a default 'safe place' to use if you are not in. I wouldn't use them out of choice.

The wooden boxes of both my staking and jeweling sets have weakened and wobbly joints I've been meaning to repair. I would just assume this was a quick fix for a similar issue.

The Royal Mail left a food mixer on the back step, it was absolutely throwing it down, not good for an electrical appliance. Got home it was gone, complained straight away, got compensated almost immediately, found out one of the neighbours had taken it in but had to rush out and forgot to tell us. We ended up with a free mixer.

I expect I'm going to have the same issue tomorrow with Evri as an item I got off eBay was delivered by them to my works at 2pm on Friday (we finish at 12). Message saying it was left in a safe place which from the photo is behind our bin next to the door so not expecting it to be their tomorrow as the estate is still used by others over the weekend including 2 garages. Even though I bought the item from a charity I'll still be looking for my money back out of principal as I can't understand why people continue to use them!!!

From some very quick research, it seems the Swiss Tiffany company shared the Patek Philippe factory at one time, and used their movements. That serial fits the Patek Philippe movements, and would put it early in the 1905 - 1910 range. Info from here: https://german242.com/en/patek-phillipe-cie-geneve-serial-numbers/ The movement does appear to be similar to Patek Philippe ones from circa 1900, as this one: https://somlo.com/products/18ct-yellow-gold-hunter-case-minute-repeater-pocket-watch

But indeed, the first logical step as Neverenoughwatches suggested should be to get a magnet (bar magnets are great) and do more searching. It won't be in the twilightzone. Only socks go there..

Problem with making one , you really need the missing one as a template. It's possible to work from scratch by taking detailed measurements form the plate and it's part interactions along with the pictures you have...... just more complicated. it's a fairly big piece compared to a shock spring.....good chance you could find it yet

This site lists a donor movement for €25. https://uurwerkonderdelen.nl/producten/Occasion uurwerken/14 On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be a very complicated part. You might be able to make one yourself.

Here are the details for FHF movements.

The the Ebauches shield looks right, but without seeing the whole of the movement you have . Movements over time, different grades will have varying numbers of jewels.

Read all this

I think the last time we discussed vaporizing stearic acid somebody came along and said the vapors were unhealthy for us. I always wondered if vaporized stearic acid was the best way as the coating would be very uniform and very thin. versus people in the field who interpret things and conceivably will have differing concentrations of the liquid. Or specifically as the liquid evaporates out of their precious little bottle the concentration increases and the layer increases possibly to a bad level. Then problems of time and instructions. For instance I'm attaching a PDF a very good guide on cleaning watches for the most part. Omega in 1957 page 9 and for those people aren't going to read the PDF which would be their loss here's an image. Notice I highlighted a few things like the problem of if the coating is too thick. So basically the entire watch with the exception of the balance complete but you do do the pivots and the pallet fork. This of course raises up the problem of technical literature over time changes and typically it's not explained why although here it does tell us why not to do the pallet fork at least in 1957. oh and thinking of Omega 1957 in the middle is a really nice section on where to apply the various lubricants. My favorite here of course is the choice of lubrication. So notice that all the components the keyless and the crown wheel are all lubricated with something called Synt-A-Lube? You will also notice that a different lubrication is used for the balance pivots I don't think I have any specifications for what that is. But my amusement is the keyless lubrication today and I have a link to the manufacture of this nifty keyless lubrication goes by a number of 9010. Which we typically do not think of as a lubrication for keyless. I do find lubrication choices the manufacturers quite amusing especially over time. https://www.moebius-lubricants.ch/en/products/oils Oiling Omega watches 1957.PDF

Testing flycutter and milling setup..

Found it! Thanks! Even so, to make your hand-removing levers you need to purchase the material (silver steel rod, brass bar) and the tools (vice, files, etc.) It would be a fun project so I wouldn't mind the cost but there are so many other things to do and to spend your money on so perhaps some time in the future.

You could download the BHI sample lesson 1 @VWatchie starting page 124 of the pdf is the instructions to make hand levers in lesson format. they look very similar to the ones @Jon showed that his students made. Tom

The endshake of the balance is too much. You need a little, but not too much. I try to imagine the correct amount as being about the pivot thickness. The arbor to barrel end shake - you need a little, but not so much that the barrel can hit anything. To reduce it - It's also important to check the sideshake in the barrel and bridge. These are things I always do. Too much at the bridge, the hole can be closed using a rounded punch as shown below (then use a smoothing broach).

An eBay seller called Watch Parts for Less Every Day in West Newton. https://www.ebay.com.au/str/watchpartsforlesseverday?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=NydvLZU0Ta2&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=8d3Kgpt9QFe&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Probably too old and worn (talking about the machines...) to do any real precision work, but you never know until you try, right? The milling machine is a Rambaudi.

Opinions are worth considering when they are offered with reason. Yours were not; All Chinese made tools are crap. End of story. You are telling us that all of the tools that I and others here have bought and used are garbage. Why? Because you say so. Well, you are wrong and you have shown that you are totally unwilling to listen to other viewpoints that contradict your own, viewpoints that are based in actual hands on experience with the tools mentioned in this thread. If you have actual experience with any of the products mentioned in this thread then please quote the original post and give your feedback. That is what this thread is for. But please don't come in hear and take a huge non-reasoned dump in the middle of the topic and then expect everyone to, for some reason, respect that. That's not how discourse works.

The Bergeon is 25 mm diameter, 5 mm high. The notch starts 5mm from one edge. The overhang is 1mm thick. What is nice about the brass Chinese version is the lower solid base supports the cock. You can easily place the immobilized balance under the microscope to inspect the impulse jewel and extended hairspring, place it into a jar of Hexane etc for cleaning, back under the microscope etc.

Bergeon designed those nylon pushers so that they would split and break so you can buy a new one.

Thought i would just make some members aware of a pitfall with ordering from aliexpress... but not just Ali...but any out of country company that uses EVRI. Two months ago I ordered some tools from Ali , they used Evri parcel delivery at this end to make the final journey in the UK.. Evri's driver dumped my parcel on my door step while I was out, normally I would get three attempts then it would be dropped off at a pick up point for me to collect. I returned home around 4 hours after the delivery to find that some scroat had walked up to my front door and walked off It. The last 2 months i have spent backwards and forwards with Evri and Ali trying to resolve the issue. Evri being extremely unhelpful and unresponsive to my emails and requests to resolve the issue. the deal is that the buyer must approach the seller to handle the situation, which i did, he was also very unhelpful and said i must deal with the delivery company direct. After endless Emails to Evri, their managers and the CEO and promises to fix the situation for me, I eventually received a phone call this morning, most probably due to a huge rant from me in an email yesterday containing all manner of threats. The Evri agent drafted me an email while i was on the phone with him, explaining the driver's cock up, something that ive been asking for 6 weeks. Hopefully Ali will accept this as an " official proof" of lost parcel. Looking forward to a positive outcome in the next few days, I also have my bank contacting me to help as well. . just to add when i first made evri aware of the stolen parcel, there was no offer to remedy the situation only a promise that it would'nt happen again......which it did 3 weeks later left in a plant pot on my front door step......ffs.....I ask you....." THICK AS F__K ! "

Like I said Andy " thick as f--k " their policy is to go through your seller with any issues they've caused, my issue i was dealing with probably some back street warehouse in China, hopefully Aliexpress will step in to help me out. But contacting Evri , all you will get is promises it won't happen again....which it does, my last email to them today was if by chance evri leave a parcel on my doorstep again , i will run through an unsafe delivery and stolen parcel again dispute regardless of wether its stolen or not. I wont post the label I've stuck on my front door addressed to evri drivers. If the same driver as before brings a parcel and i answer, he will have the parcel snatched from his hands and the door slammed in his face. I was furious yesterday. Royal mail do seem a lot better, take blame and responsibility Anything j buy now on Ebay or otherwise, I insist that the supplier does not use Evri to deliver my parcel. You're so lucky to live in an EVRI free country One of my wife's friends ordered an expensive coat from foot locker that use Evri to deliver. The driver took a picture of his empty car boot as proof of delivering to safe place.....wtf ??

Hi caseback, Patience, Large magnet until found. PUW is German made. Good luck pal.