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Sometimes a thanks would be nice Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you should be able to get mineral glasses cheaply enough that its no problem ordering the size you think it is as well as the size above and below that in case your measurement was slightly off. As chopin suggests cousins is a good source, but i imagine if they can offer glasses that cheaply, others can to, even the branded 'sternkreuz' arent that much more expensive. The only issue is the thickness is a little unusual, I imagine either a 1mm or a 1.3 would not be noticeably different. if you have any of the glass left position it and judge whether you'd rather have it a hairsbreadth prouder or shyer.

I would definitely check the balance staff pivots for damage. In that sense, when the watch is dial down, the weight of the balance is on the dial side pivot and can run freely. When you flip it over, the weight of the balance would then be on the possible broken pivot and it would not be able to operate freely. This would also give you an endshake problem. Best place to start is to remove the balance and inspect it carefully. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, SSTEEL, I think you nailed this one. Yesterday I found that this Wittnauer 11SR wouldn't run at all, so I decided to get in there and have another look. I remembered there being a watch that I worked on recently on which I accidentally oiled one of the pallet pivots. This may well have been the one, as there was some notables sluggishness in the escapement. I re-cleaned the train-wheels and their bridges. I did not oil the jewel at the top of the center-wheel bridge, as I figured there might be a gumming up issue there. The train seemed fine. Then I put the pallet-fork in and gave the watch a couple of winds. Well, the pallet-fork still had the slows, as if it was gummed up at the pivots. So I ended up pegging them out until I was sure the point of the wood went all the way through the hole-jewels. I then replaced the fork and gave the watch a couple winds, and the fork snapped to the sides of the banking pins as it should. Success. The watch is running great and keeping excellent time now. This is probably something it hasn't done in many years. Sometimes I just have to walk away from certain watches for a while before getting back in there and doing it right. It's done right now. Thanks for you advice, it was spot-on. Except for the "dried up oil" part. It was new lubrication from moi that messed things up. Live and learn. Cheers.

As a fellow Canadian, thanks for the great advice. I bought 5 rods of O1 and 2 rods of W1. Tonight I made a drill bit with the W1. Ground it down in a lathe. One thing I noticed as I was spinning it in the lathe and using a dremel tool to grind it is that it warped a bit. Anyway, first shot. I then heated it up to bright red for a minute and water quenched it. Then I tried it on a screw just for fun and the tip cracked....so that part worked. I then shaped it into a screwdriver again (very small one) and heated it up to bright red for 10 seconds. Then I let it air cool. Tried it on a screw again and it seemed to work and not twist or crack. The tip looks a bit crappy, however, it works and is my first shot at this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Might need a picture to verify, but usually the stem and crown in American pocket watches are part of the case, not the movement. That being said, there are SOME called positive stems, the movement having a stem protrude from the side, most being square, and the female or negative part of the stem is attached to the crown and resides in the case tube. More than likely the case is simply missing the crown and stem, as they could be pulled out too far if the sleeve inside the case tube was sprung or damaged.

Hi Tiho, Welcomed to the forum. I collect vintage too, got a small collection, mostly Swiss, Russian and Japanese. Attached pic is my first vintage, Seiko Goldfeather.

I'm just venting a bit, after nearly a year of thinking about buying one I finally ordered an Ollie Baker Clock Mainspring winder from the USA to be shipped to me in Australia. I received it a few weeks ago, but due to me spraining my wrist I only went to use it for the first time this week. After mounting it to a board and going to use it I discovered it has several manufacturing defects. 1) The 'tailstock' is several millimeters higher than the headstock, so it holds the mainsprings at an angles. 2)The headstock has been machined off center ever so slightly so it wobbles up and down when turned, this wouldn't be a huge issue if the tailstock wasn't already several mms higher. 3) The pin that holds the click up to stop the winder from turning backwards has not been finished off properly leaving a sharp edge on it which catches and stops you from flicking it over to change the direction when it is under load, although this is only a minor problem that I can easily fix 4) I would not even complain about this if I didn't have the other problems, but the winding handle is just screwed to the arm by an allen screw, which of course unwinds itself when you turn the handle, again this is something I can easily fix, but shouldn't have to. I've contacted the seller who has been around for a while and hopefully they will help resolve the problem, but just annoyed I've waited all this time and got a dud. I can resolve issue 3 and 4 if the seller can resolve atleast issue 1. Of course the big question is it the headstock, or the tailstock that was manufactuered to the incorrect height... If they don't want to come to the party I purchased via paypal so will take it to them and they will resolve it, but would rather go first directly to the seller and hope we can resolve it between ourselves