Leaderboard

Hello to you and welcome you're definatley going to need a bigger wallet, although this wonderful hobby can be done on a budget but there's always something you want or crave Mick

Wot larks! Got this in a charity shop yesterday afternoon for £35. It's a Decca "Crescendo" portable wind-up gramophone from around 1930 or so - came with some rather battered but playable 78s. I must dig out the ones I have in the upstairs cupboard. Works a treat and is unbelievably loud. Beats an iPod hands down. Perfect for annoying the neighbours on a sunny afternoon while sitting out in the garden in my white suit, straw hat, drinking Pimms... don'cha know. Cheers, Will

I quite often attend the local auction houses near where I live, and at the sale this week was quite a few lots from a retired watchmakers workshop, so I went along to the auction the day before to see what was on offer, There where plenty of watches for sale in mixed bags, all of uncollected watch repairs, One lot caught my eye it was a bag which contained a 1973 Hamilton G10 military watch, there was nothing else of note in the bag of around 20 watches so I noted the Lot number and looked at everything else on offer. One lot describe as a Omega watch was a bit of a dog it was a record military watch which had a Omega Geneve dial replacing the original Record, It is a shame because with the original dial and hands it would have been quite a nice watch to have but as it stood it was neither a Omega or a original Record so not worth a great deal IMHO, I noted the lot number out of interest as I would be attending the sale. Other lots included a Kendrick and Davis staking set which I wanted, A Favorite jeweling set which I also wanted , A few mixed Boxes of tools and spare parts some of which I wanted and a couple of lathes. The lathes on offer where a Coronet Diamond lathe from the 1940's and a IME lathe with around a dozen collets but no draw bar on inspection I could not get the pulleys to turn and with no obvious lock, I think it must have been seized. The coronet was in good condition and turned freely and had no play in the bearings and came with a motor I noted the lot numbers and resolved to return the next day for the auction. The auction started at 12:00 o'clock Having attended the auction quite a few times the first lot I wanted was lot 196 at roughly 150 lots a hour I thought I would get there about 1 o'clock and have a short wait for the first lot I wanted. Sadly the auctioneer was working faster than usual and I got there at lot 209. I did get there in time to see the franken Omega/record watch come up it went to a telephone bidder for what i thought was a staggering price of £245.00 before commission. So I waited a hour for my next lots to come up, I got the staking set for £40.00 and the Jeweling set for £40.00 which I was very happy with. The Lathes came up next, I have wanted a lathe for quite sometime but only want one to practice and experiment with at the moment so I thought if I can get the coronet cheap I will give it a go. The bidding started at £10.00 so I thought not much interest I will bid, I got the lathe for £40.00 too, the IME went for £90.00. The next lot I wanted was a box of tool's, on the viewing day I had looked through it contained quite a few small boxed tools, such as a pinion puller roller remover and Bergeon crystal lifter a couple of vices taps and dies, and various other useful tools, so I got that for £60.00. The thing with auctions and boxed lots is you have to be careful because when I collected the box at the end of the auction half of what I had seen in the box the day before was missing, I suspect because there where a number of open boxes someone had taken all the useful tools and placed them into a different box at the viewing to make up one very good box to bid on, ideally with boxed lots you need to view just before the auction starts.The only saving feature of the box I now had is that it contained some Georgian Guinea weights and I should be able to recoup the money for the box just from those. The Coronet lathe I now own came with one solitary collet and a motor, I have bought this just to experiment with and don't intend to throw money at it, I would just like to get used to using a lathe, so I will get the electrician at work to rewire and PAT test the motor although it does work the wire has been wrapped with insulation tape. I do though have a couple of questions that someone I'm sure could answer, What oil should I use for the bearings on the head stock ?. I also intend to buy a few individual collets to get me started, the one that came with the lathe is 35.8 mm long 7.94 mm wide and is stamped on the top with two back to back c's the collet is also stamped 2807, which type of 8 mm collet is this and which ones do I need to look out for to fit this lathe. Wayne

Look what I found Yes, an used Bergeon 5700 for a very interesting price. I only paid 100€. Ok, it was a bit dirty but after giving it a good clean and some oiling it is in very good shape! Needles to says I'm very happy with this purchase. Now I'm thinking of buying the 'suction heads' so I don't have to use the metal pin insert all the time. I've seen that both bergeon & horotec makes these kind of suction heads. Horotec is a it cheaper + you get 1 head extra in the set. Does anyone have experience with either the horotec or bergeon suction heads? Any particular reason to choose one over the other?

Look was waiting for me when I got home from work

Definition : a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant Between working on house and watches, my son asked if I'd like to go to gun range and spend some brass. Mind you, I have not fired a pistol in over 40 years, but I had grown up owning and target shooting long guns. We get to a local indoor range and they require personal information and drivers license for all participants, because we were told, if there were any 'criminal' types utilizing the facility, they could lose their federal firearms license, (to sell). I thought to myself, what a strange idea that criminals would choose to target practice!!! Anyway, we go inside range with our ear and eye protection in place and whoom!, the guy in next booth is shooting some hand cannon, I was a bit take aback by the noise, so we targeted up and sent downrange our first targets. At 7 meters, you can read all the writing and target looks fairly large. Now I wear prescription glasses that I use for computer, watches and really close up work. I didn't need them at this length. We went through first clip of 15 rounds fairly fast, so then I suggested we take it to 10 meters, this time I put on my glasses and while I could see the pistol sight very well, the target was a blurr. Finally, we went to 20 meters and within the half hour rental went through 100 rounds of ammo and off we went. I enjoyed spending time with my son and letting out some aggression. I'm pretty confident that with these results, I could properly defend my realm against a zombie attack. (that's with a Sig Sauer 9mm) BTW First @ 7 meters Then 10 meters Finally, 20 meters

Welcome from Miami, Mike! Cheers, Bob

Tell me about it...

Two good catalogs that are a must for identification are these two. Most old watches this includes pocket watches can be identified by there keyless work so you need to take of the hands and dial and upload a photo. You never know someone on here might be able to help you out if they have these catalogs which are Flume identification movement catalogue Besrfit identification movement catalogue You see these come up on ebay if you are lucky buy both. I hope this helps.

Yes, thats the easy way. Sadly my movement has no signs just a 419 number under the balance. I have a guess for the caliber but dont want to risk it. Turning a new one must be fun and a great challenge Here is what i have turned @ 0:57. Looking ugly but its carbon powder baked on the surface @around 800 Celsius. Remember, the whole staff is only 3.5 mm long and made it on the Dremel lathe Somehow i need just to finish the pinions. Since the balance wheel is riveted on the staff, it is removed usually by cutting the staff under the wheel not by forcing it out. Hovewer, i forced out mine as well Video 1 for balance staff turning: Video 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6svZzTBIeM

You have to remove it. Its so tiny that simple measurement wont work, you have to try the parts on the working piece while turning. Moreover, if the broken one is available just use that for measurement! Place it next to the working piece. There are a few videos on youtube how to do it. I have the same problem like your friend. Experienced with turning the balance, had 5 tries and the last one is acceptable by size but forget to undercut the balance shoulder. Now i need a lathe to be able to turn between centers to finish the pivots. You can start from HSS material or from mild steel and carburizing it before pinion finishing. Let me informed on Your progress!

Same idea as Mark uses with the washers but I made a couple of "tubes" in my lathe with a small lip to fit my Bergeon mainspring winder - foolproof!

Dial side of a FHF150 showing 15 minutes worth of engraved adjustment minutery. Completed watch movements would come off the production line and be fitted with a test minute hand. The movement would then be regulated by observing the transit of the minute hand over the engraved timing marks through a microscope and timing against a know source. The test hand would then be removed, and the movements put into stock ready to be matched up to any of the various combinations of dial, hand sets, and cases that were in the makers catalogue, or shipped out as bare movements to another maker.

http://www.nawcc-ch149.com/pw_dbresearch.html I would be remiss if I did not disclose source, I use regularly for Hampdens.

0 size, 7 jewel, grade 1, stem wind, pendant setting, made around 1910, ~11,220 total made, if the case is in good shape, as it looks, it should clean up nice, good find, but not great find, like that SBWco 'logo' on bridge, noted different style/material balance screws and does not have huge case screw marks from re-casing, so probably original case, clean dial, no hairlines present. Someone may have stuck pin hanger on to wear, then later a chain on swivel. This watch was not made to hang on pin, otherwise the 12 would be at hinge side, (so you could read it whilst wearing)

My ongoing obsession with Smiths watches continues with a recently purchased, tired, non running & grubby fleabay special. Cant find it in the reference book, but would suspect it was made between 1960-4, with a Calibre 400 15 jewel movement inside. Slightly larger than most of my Smiths, measuring 35mm with 17mm lugs: Back off, balance removed: Now the reason for the lack of movement: The hairspring & the regulating pin are totally mullered. Luckily I have a spare so I can get this one going again, but liking a challenge I see what I can do with that spring: Getting there but it will require more tweaking (to be continued, maybe). Anyway back to the watch. Out of the case the dial looks like it has suffered from either drowning, solvent abuse or Friday afternoon quality control: Dial off, all present, correct & unbroken underneath (click springs are a weak point, generic ones are available), complete with a thick coating of heavy oil: Flip over & into the movement holder, note the bevel has been applied to the barrel bridge over the '15 JEWELS'. Strange: Bridges & pallet removed, luverly filth: The crown wheel lives under the barrel bridge: Centre & ratchet wheels removed: Everything out: Spring out of the barrel: The spring looks good so I will reuse it. While everything is buzzing away in the ultrasonic lets see what can be done with the dial: Its taken a fair bit of abuse & I will have to live with the blurred printing. The dial is degreased with lighter fluid & dipped in HG silver dip: Much better, it has removed the green stuff (not to clear in the before pic) brightened it up somewhat but has removed a little of the print on the R in ASTRAL. The dial is the given a couple of coats of acrylic satin varnish. Case & movement cleaned, pegged, oiled, reassembled & back in the case: New strap & low dome crystal: Cheltenham (English made) Smiths are easy movements to work on as they were designed to be hand assembled, hence the large pivots, screws etc. Shame the dial is not the best on this one, but the movement is running well with an amplitude of 280 after some serious cleaning with lighter fluid & Priory No.1. Also nice to be able to fit a low dome crystal instead of the standard as it give the watch a smoother look. With the poor dial printing & the bevel on the barrel bridge I wonder if this was a reject that someone rescued from the factory bin?

So I found a mainspring winder set from a redditor in denmark. Got it for an amazing deal. Has 10/15 winders, only the large ones are missing, and those are the easiest to hand wind. It's a right hand wind set, so if I need to do a left handed mainspring, I drill a hole in a piece of brass the same size as the winder, wind it, put it in the hole like it's a barrel, flip the brass over, and press it in from the other side! So happy I found a set!

I have done this using a suitable sized collet in my lathe to neatly reduce the diameter of the pipe the pipe. It is also a good way to reduce the outside diameter of small compression springs if required. I've used the technique on chronograph pusher springs with great success.

No affiliation but I've had good results with Wm McCaw co. In Toledo, OH.