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We are thinking of moving as I am unable to sleep at night due to the constant ticking….It turns out it is the neighbourhood watch!

Good for you. I'm sure you will be a great intrest to you. When I started, I took up an apprenticeship back in the early 70's, it was 5 years then another two as an improver. I was very lucky as the workshop was well equipped and everything was at hand. My master was also extremely good in all aspects of horology, which helped me to gain the experience I have today. You will never stop learning.

If you have a good cleaning machine using the right fluids. There should be no need for pegging out and doing all the other stuff. Cleaning the cases and bracelets, I always did this in hot soapy water and dried in a cloth.

Finally finished my Vostok Generalskie extensive overhaul: No other watch have I serviced, cleaned, polished, and lubricated as meticulously as this Vostok Generalskie; the movement, case, dial, hands, and crystal. Case and crown gaskets were of course replaced and silicone greased. I even cleaned and polished all train wheels by hand (a bit over the top, I know, but I just couldn’t help myself). I had many good reasons to be thorough though; This Generalskie was a spontaneous gift to me from someone who made a deep impression on me (I’ll always remember you T). I think it’s one of the most impressive looking Vostoks I’ve seen, and I just love that dolphin case back lid. And, it was my first serious attempt to (somewhat) understand and successfully service a 31 jewel automatic watch. The service spawned some pretty interesting discussions on WUS and watchrepairtalk.com. First, it was established by our "comrade" experts over at WUS in the “Q&A Expertise thread: Is this watch legit or a Franken?” that it is indeed legit. The first and major challenge for me was to understand how to service the automatic mainspring barrel. As I learned, this is not entirely trivial when it comes to automatic watches (thank you all!). Secondly, I was puzzled by the state of the reversing wheels and how to lubricate them. This too was eventually sorted out. For my personal use, I made a "reassembly plan" using pictures from the disassembly. It was only meant for me personally, but for anyone interested click here. I should mention that during the assembly I figured out that it would be most convenient to assemble the parts for the automatic winding as late as possible, so this does not show in my "reassembly plan". The quality of the movement and the entire watch is the best I’ve seen in any Vostok, Raketa, or Poljot so far. The movement contained some surprising details I haven’t seen before. The centre wheel held a very small (micro) brass cylinder right in the centre of the arbor to hold or guide the seconds hand pivot (see the picture below). Let me tell you, it was not easy to handle, not even with my finest tweezers. Most shims, like under the balance cock, were gilded, and so on. I believe this watch was meant for export and made to impress. It was sold in Stockholm, Sweden sometime in the early 90-ties. I wear it with pride!

I've already posted this on another popular watch forum, but I think it better fits here. I'm sorry if this post get too lengthy due to all the images. Hey everyone! I would like to share a project that I've been working on for a while. After a few different variations, I think that this is my final design for the time being. Project background: For many in this hobby, applications like Toolwatch are great because they allow you to determine daily rate, but it doesn't provide anything beyond that. Those of us who enjoy tinkering with watches should have a way to also check the amplitude and beat error. Sure, I could have purchased a timegrapher from China but I thought it would be a fun project to attempt constructing one myself (with the help of several resources). I used these microphone stand plans for reference and made some changes. There are also plans for a DIY pre-amp on the Watch-O-Scope website, but I followed the instructions from my good friend Guido (also posting on this thread) and modified a PYLE pre-amp by removing a capacitor from one channel and replacing the electrolytic capacitor with a ceramic capacitor on the same channel. The first iteration gave promising results but I wasn't entirely pleased with it. It seemed like the audio levels were somewhat inconsistent and I would get a ringing or echoing noise depending on the amount of pressure against the piezo disk (the contact microphone element). After some discussion with a friend, we came to the conclusion that many professional timing stands never have direct pressure against the piezo element - instead, the metal clamp that holds the watch is coupled with the piezo using a different piece of metal that transfers the vibrations. We came up with these sketches for a better design. Completed and polished pin before attaching it to the piezo. Pin installed. Soldered some thin cables from broken earbuds to a 3.5mm connector mounted in the stand. The results are good. Now it's time to add a copper plate to the back to reduce electromagnetic interference. Another good idea is to add some felt so I don't scratch any crystals when testing the dial down position. Finally, the build is complete! I'll admit that this might not be the most beautiful creation, but it's definitely functional and it does exactly what I need it to do. I have ideas for further improvements, but they are not necessary and are really just a challenge to get the cleanest audio signal (there's still quite a bit of static). Waveform from Watch-O-Scope (highly recommended software, made by a fellow WUS user). This is amazing software that I pair this microphone stand with. An alternative is TG Timer, but Watch-O-Scope definitely is the better option. Quick audio recording I made: Test Recording #1 - Mega.nz

Her's a similar one (6 inch wheels) for a bit less: https://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-buffer-94393.html This is the one I was thinking of... I didn't remember the flex shaft attachment, but this would be quite useful on a small bench. https://www.harborfreight.com/bench-grinder-with-flex-shaft-43533.html

Cas-Ker has one that I thought looked interesting. Should mention that I don't have one yet, but it is on the shopping list. https://www.jewelerssupplies.com/benchtop-polisher-470.115.html

Yes I put plain water in the reservoir and it works well. I am just working on a small scale so the small Jam jars are fine for me using Naptha (good grade lighter fuel with no added ingredients) and finish with pure isopropanol. I sometimes use Horosolv for bad cases and that is basically Benzene based. Don't forget to keep the pallet jewels away from the strong stuff as previously mentioned. You can use other cleaners of course - one test to check them is to leave a drop of cleaner on an old mirror or piece of glass and check after evaporation that there is little or no residue Cheers, Vic

I'm almost scared to imagine what is strapped to the side of your glass jar to induce vibration. Cheers, Vic