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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/06/16 in all areas

  1. I have limited work space at home, so I decided to design and make a small watchmaker worktop with folding side panels so the height can be increased when required. Here is my watchmaker prototype worktop and already I have an idea to improve it. The work top started out with a 62cm x 42cm offcut of 18mm mdf. To one side, using a vinyl spray adhesive, I stuck a piece of 5 ply drawing board cover of the self-seal type. I then used hockey stick profile moulding to bead around the edges. The beading was hidden-nailed and glued in place, then three coats of varnish applied. Three coats of varnish was also applied to the underside to seal the mdf. Photo 1. I also made 2 hinged side leaves, 42 cm x suitable height.Like the top, this was beaded all round but with a rounded profile moulding.Then I applied three coats of varnish. Photo 2. A card template was used to decide on the arm rest positions for the worktop. Photo 3. I then removed the top section of the hockey stick beading. Photos 4 and 5. Aluminium angle was used to form a front edge for the arm rest positions, these were coutersunk screwed into place. The position of the arm rest mounting holes were decided, marked out drilled. Photos 6 and 7. To attach the leaves to the top I used 4x 90 degree locking hinges. I removed the locking mechanism for the rear hinges. To attach the hinges I marked out suitable bolt hole positions, then drilled out the mdf to accomodate flush screw-in bolt inserts. The inserts, together with bolts, are better than using ordinary wood screws. Photo 8. For the arm rests I salvaged some leather from an old sofa someone had disposed of. Using the carboard template, I marked out on a piece of 18 gauge aluminium sheet the outline of each arm rest shape and corresponding mounting bolt hole positions. Two of these were made for each side together with the same shape in hardboard for gluing the leather to. The hardboard was then sandwiched between the aluminium profiles and "G" clamped together. Holes corresponding with the worktop bolt holes were then drilled through. This was replicated for each arm rest. For each arm rest, one aluminium plate was used as a base plate. The other I drilled out, countersunk, and fitted with 4 x M5 brass rivet nuts with the nut part to the uppermost of the plate. Two edges of each plate were reduced in size to accomodate the aluminium angle on the worktop. I also drilled out the plates and hardboard for 4mm x 12mm pop rivets as can be seen in the image. 30mm firm foam was then glued to the top of each arm rest top plate covering the rivet nuts. The hardboard profiles were then glued to the the other side whilst aligning the mounting and pop rivet holes. The leather was formed and sewn into shape using the card template for each arm rest, allowing for the depth of the foam and for gluing to the underside of the hardboard. The aluminium base plates were then pop riveted into place to aid clamping the top plate, hardboard, leather and base plate together, as can be seen in the arm rest. Photos 11,12 and 13. The finished watchmaker work top in lowered and raised positions. The rest of the photos. The height of the leaves was determined by the existing bench or table top height.
    2 points
  2. Moebius 9010: balance pivots escape wheel pivots fourth wheel pivots intermediary chrono wheel pivots Master seconds wheel axle Slave chrono wheel axle Slave chrono cardioid HP1300: Barrel arbor Minute wheel third wheel crown wheel click winding stem clutch wheel winding pinion hammer springs hammer shouldered screws sliding operating lever cam column wheel Moebius 9504: minute cardioid master seconds cardioid minute cardioid canon minute recorder hammer Moebius 9415 pallets
    2 points
  3. I've got a movement that I think is magnetized. The hairspring coils are sticking and it makes a compass needle jump when placed over it. Here's a pic of the timer reading: I've watched Mark's videos and so I'm shopping for a demagnetizer. I'm looking at the Etic for about $80 shipped, the similar C&H model for about $30 shipped, the generic clones for $10 or so from China, this bad boy from Amazon (too heavy duity?) and some vintage Vigor demagnetizers. I'm a little (a lot) tool nutty and I hate buying really cheap and then spending again for one that works. Any recommendations? Also, just for fun I was playing with the super slow speed function on my camera last night and made this video. Not great quality, but may be of interest. https://youtu.be/JpLEB0kiHw0 Thanks, Don
    1 point
  4. To many watches are waiting the wonder (somehow getting new pivots or staffs) disassembled in the shelf in small boxes. So i decided to put every other projects aside and make a pivot drill. First, the dimensions of the tool were determined after measuring pictures found on google Damn is it tiny! 50x40x10mm brass was drilled through with 3mm drill on a table drill press. The middle was sawed out to leave 10mm and 12mm wide headstocks. The hole on the 12mm side was reamed to 3.175mm for the carbide microdrill shank diameter. Female cones from 3mm blue steel with 0.4mm hole at the end and from 5mm steel with 0.5mm hole were turned on the Dremel and ER20 "lathe" respectively. These holes are for the current gear staff to be drilled but i will need a series of cones later. Well, its ugly yet, i know But the drill cought right the center. And now you can guess if i have big collets to turn the pulley wheel :/
    1 point
  5. I was going through my watch files today and thought I would post this handy chart of watch movement sizes in lignes, "Lancashire" sizes, millimetres and inches - just for reference if anyone needs it. Watch sizes.rtf
    1 point
  6. So I think we need some funny stories about loosing watch parts. My wife found me on my hands and knees the other day looking for a small gear that is part of a south bend pocket watch keyless system. I had it on the mat, forgot I put it there and it stuck to my forearm and moved itself to the plastic chair mat on the floor. I looked like an ant eater with my loop and a flashlight doing a Search and Rescue pattern on the floor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  7. Found it. Vintage Pennant Motorcycle Chain Splitter WD BSA M20 Triumph AJS Tool Kit Roll
    1 point
  8. It's a tool for removing rivets from motorcycle chain!
    1 point
  9. No picture, no glory!!!
    1 point
  10. To date, I have found all lost parts:) my wife says I need a bench that is not my office desk. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  11. Depending on skill and experience, you can: Experience/skilled: Remove the balance complete, unscrew plate, clean, lube and reassemble. Or, Newbie/not too skilled/experienced: Clean the whole thing, dry, turn over, carefully lift the balance complete if needed and oil. There may be other ways, this is my take on it. Always be careful with the hairspring...very delicate...and positioning it is also an issue. Cheers, Bob
    1 point
  12. Also - did you reinstall the dial washer on the hour wheel?
    1 point
  13. Was the watch cased when you ran it??? If not, are you certain that the keyless work was disengaged?? If the watch is a "negative set", then when out of the case the watch will be in time setting position which will likely cause the watch to stop. Check on the side of the movement, next to where the stem enters - there may be a small catch there that you can pull partially out. This will engage the winding mechanism - and relieving the tension of the keyless work. Make sense?
    1 point
  14. OK, thanks... Anyway I've just read this article which has an interesting stance on service interims; I will just leave it until the watch becomes inaccurate.
    1 point
  15. Hello all! I am doing this because I couldn't find any detailed information on this caliber, except some general photos. So I sort of explored it. Yes, I was an explorer, so please forgive the clumsiness! This is going to be more of a parts list presentation then a proper tutorial. I don't know what the parts are named, but I will try to explain what most of them do, from my understanding. Also this is the first time I opened a chronograph-like mechanism. It is a 24 ligne (55mm!!) russian rattrapante timer Slava 5498. Everything in it is huge comapared to any decent watch. It has 36000bph though so it is able to measure one tenth of a second, like a propper timer. It also has a Breguet hairspring on that huge balance wheel. I will call the two seconds as follows: the master seconds (or the second (2nd) seconds wheel, because it's at the bottom) which runs continously if you start the timer and the slave seconds (or the first seconds wheel, because it is at the top) which stops when you press the left pusher and hurries back after the master seconds when you push it again. Beneath both of these seconds hands lies the minute wheel which records 30 minutes. The middle pusher winds the timer. It also starts and stops the timer. When you press it, it both hacks the balance wheel and also hacks the master seconds wheel - it sort of needs two brakes to stop the beast . The left pusher stops the slave seconds wheel and, if pushed again, it allows it to quickly follow the master seconds wheel. The right pusher works only when the timer is stopped (via the big knob in the middle) and it resets all the hands to 0, except for the slave seconds wheel which, if stopped (from the left pusher), it stays in place. A couple of reference photos of the movement: The following two levers stop and release the slave seconds hand. They are acted by that column wheel (it certainly looks like one, but it has fewer functions then in a column chronograph). Next comes the spring that hold the column wheel in discreet positions, and the one that acts upon the lever that increments the column wheel: Next comes left pusher lever together with its piece that increments the column wheel: Next is the column wheel: I now take out the dial. For the picture purpose I leave two screwdrivers inside the movement to indicate the dial feet screws. I didn't take a photo when I pulled out the hands using a presto tool. Next I take out the slave seconds wheel and its cock. It sure is a long seconds hand axle. Beneath it you can see the lever with its spring which helps it follow the cardioid (heart piece) on the master seconds wheel axle. That lever has a rectangular jewel at it's end to minimise the friction - if you look closely you can see it is damaged. Also the cock jewel isn't hallowed but it is a sort of cap jewel that doesn't even touch the axle. Next I take out the intermediary chrono wheel: Next I take out the master seconds bridge - it is held by three screws. I do not disassemble the whole thing because I don't know how at this moment. To take out the Master seconds together with its bridge you need to stop the chronometer so the balance hack could get out of the way - so you could have access to the Master seconds hack screw to release it a bit so you could take the master seconds hack out of the way (long sentence!): Next I wanted to release the tension from the mainspring but I didn't know how to. So I cheated! I took the movement out of the case and looked at it from its side (I will show you how to get the movement out too). So there is a cutting on the side of the movement in which you can see a click appear when you wind the watch. You must hold that click with a 0.8mm screw and release the mainspring tension in a controlled manner - at least this is what I did: Now I show you how to get the movement out . It I expected two case screws but I was wrong. Russians used a simpler way: one screw combined with one stud. You can see the one screw that has its head cut in half near the balance - you unscrew it and release the movement. Now you can see the stud, diametrically opposed: I forgot to tell you that I 3D-printed a movement holder for this 24 ligne movement: Now you can better see the click: Now I take the balance out. That is one big balance wheel! And the pallets together with their bridge: Next I take out the intermediary chrono wheel holder (the equivalent of the coupling clutch). Carefull! It is hold only in one screw the one from its right. The bottom one is an excentric. I learned it the hard way - it was a 50/50 chance and I didn't win Next I take out the driding wheel. You can see in the photo that the escape wheel and its cock are missing - I didn't take a photo of those. Next I start on the main timer mechanism. I appreciate that all the springs are secured with a screw. It helps quite a bit! So you can see that it is a cam chrono after all, though the cam is also the balance hack. The column wheel is only for the slave seconds wheel operation. The Master seconds reset hammer has a stud between it and the minute reset hammer on the bottom side - you cand see it right about in the middle of it - I will show it to you later. I take out the sliding operating lever: Then the cam and the reset-blocking lever: Next goes the seconds hand reset hammer and the stud to the other side: I also take out the springs for the sliding operating lever and the master seconds reset hammer - carefully - the screws are not the same! I take out the train bridge. Check out the dirt! If you look closely, the ratchet wheel has two broken teeth - I didn't notice it before - the timer didn't present any problems during winding... russian stuff! Barrel and mainspring: I take out the crown wheel: And the click and its spring. You can see between them a ratchet wheel tooth I didn't tell you but in the mean time, on the bottom side, I had taken out the minute heart. It angages the minute wheel via a spring and it permits the recording of minutes and the reset of the minute recorder. It resembles a canon pinion with a different design and purpose. The bottom side: I take the hammer and lever out: Finally, the parts list: I will let you know how it goes when I will put it back together. Thank you, Bogdan
    1 point
  16. Joe is correct, advertising or self promotion regarding services is not permitted. By the way this us not a DIY forum. It is a forum open to anyone interested in horological pursuits and includes both professionals and amateurs at all levels.
    1 point
  17. Hello Den, @rogart63 is right--this is a BRAC movement the caliber is either 502 or 512. Its not an Incabloc movement but instead uses what is called "contrachoc" to protect the pivots of the hairsping. I've only done a few but they are rather difficult and unforgiving even among the cheaper watch movements of which I've done my share. That top plate is a real gothic nightmare to get over the drive powertrain gears--proceed with caution. Here is a link to some more info: http://www.christophlorenz.de/watch/movements/b/brac/index.php?l=en I might have some pictures of a break down and rebuild somehwere on my computer.... unless I erased them.
    1 point
  18. Hi Rick. Welcome to the forum. I am not a moderator, but I don't think it is allowed to sell services (or items) on the forum. I don't know about the endorsement of outside companies, but I am sure someone will chime in. JC
    1 point
  19. Hi, Recently I posted a question about an issue I was having opening the case of this watch. As I was servicing it today I took a bunch of pictures of the tear down so people could see how the lever set watch is different from the regular pendant set. The last picture is a bit fuzzy but it just shows where I removed three jewels.
    1 point
  20. That is a Brac movement? Can't say right away which model. Can't be that many parts in there? I am sure you can put it together without a manual?
    1 point
  21. You may have already seen these: http://mb.nawcc.org/showwiki.php?title=Bushing_Using_Hand_Tools & http://www.davewestclocks.co.uk/Bushing.clock.plates.htm. Give it a go, after all the way to learn to do something is to actually do it.
    1 point
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