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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/06/19 in all areas

  1. Second vote for the 6497 you can get a Chinese clone for about £30 and if you lose or damage a part you won’t have problem finding a replacement. I suggest you have a look at Marks course it’s tailored around this movement and is a great place to start. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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  2. Personally, my favorite is the Swiss ETA 6497/8 that used to be seen in a lot of pocket watches by companies that didn’t build their own movements, and they can still be found very clean and cheap, I also think they are beautiful. I’ve found them in a lot of old Arnex watches. That way you also have a common movement that is not proprietary to a big company. Just my option. Steve You can also buy parts to turn it into a wristwatch! I’ve done that, plus VIctorinox has made some nice ones. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
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  3. Start with pocket watches, get two or more of the same caliber, advantages are 1- You have spare parts readily avaiable at home and can do without ungodly prices for parts 2- You have exact copy of what you are working on, if you forget what goes where, you can look on the unstripped one. 3- You can assemble the best dial plate, hands, case, crown into one better watch 4- You have extra parts to sell, pays for the hobbly and make some money on it too. 5-You get to know the culprits ...etc 6-Repetition lets you relax of fear of unknown and uncertainties, relaxation makes available more of you attention to details and make sense of them. The list goes on Take picture at each stage of disassembly, helpful at reassembly and to post on the forum for reference if you seek opinion and advice. You have a photo album of your own which you can help others with. Check for similare items on line, you learn the names and terms of the trade of what you have at hand and get to be some appraiser on pricing, plus the market provides useful info to decide the next line that suits you. . Regards joe
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  4. Another piece of info - I turned the roller upside down on the staff and seated that way it doesn’t go all the way down. To me this would indicate that the roller isn’t far away from what it should be. It’s more like it may have become somewhat widened from being pushed onto a staff a few times. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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  5. Good Morning Gentlemen (i.e. @Nucejoe, @rodabod), A quick note to let you know that I apricate your above advise and to let you know I have not abandoned you. Even though I am to the most part retired, I do still occasionally consult for some of my valued customers on specialty drilling projects, mostly overseas. I am, more or less, a fire fighter they contact when things go amuck, requiring me to drop everything and focus on their problem. With things back to normal I picked up a Seiko 6139-6002 that was striped and cleaned, and waiting for reassembly, focusing on something I know before revisiting the Citizen. That said, I found myself re-reading all your comments to solidify it in my fading mind and I again thank you both. PS: the bench is again lit and alive
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  6. If they are different diameters then it will be clear which goes where. If there is a difference of thickness the thick one always goes on top- in the balance cock. Remember the sound a clock makes- tick tock: thick top. You won't forget!
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  7. Well I found reduction wheel ... And then I lost shock absorbing spring for upper balance jewel ...believe it or not I found that also and that is one small piece ... I am a little rusty but my part finding abilities are still great... I have almost a 100% success rate lol
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  8. pointless IMO, everythings big & clear & its not designed to be used with an imaging device (others are) so it wouldn't be a fair representation of what you'd actually be seeing if you used one. I've been using this now for a few months & if it broke tomorrow I'd replace it like for like, it ticks all the boxes for my needs.
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  9. Cant get enough of my scope. its transformed my life!
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  10. Thanks for the review Lee - most informative :) In fact - the problems you pointed out all seem solvable and even forgivable given the price which is excellent. Maybe the lamp will accept an LED bulb which will run cooler? Do they have an attachment available to video through it?
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  11. This week I took delivery of a www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk BM1 long arm microscope. Several of you where interested in this & how I got on so I thought I'd do a review. bear in mind its written after only a couple of uses, by someone who has a few years experience on quartz but only 6 months experience on mechanical watches. Image from brunelmicroscopes Cost (including post & vat at time of writing) £219.60 First impressions where pretty good, for a couple of hundred pounds you get a well made, heavy & positive feeling microscope. you get a nice cover & some additional madnifications You can adjust the eye lenses to suit your eyes & adjust the long arm in various directions. I found three faults with the microscope, the first is if you swing the arm by 90 degrees the base is not weighty enough to support it & the unit tips over this means you have to pretty much use it directly inline with the base which gives a more limited space under which to work, especially if you adjust the eyes to suit a seated position, although once I got going I didn't notice it, it was enough. The second issues was the light got pretty hot & it didn't half make me jump when I touched the back of my hand on it, which being made to jump when your talking watches isn't the greatest of news is it! but I think this is only a matter of getting used to it as a set up The third issue was the quality of the lenses as you can see they look quite cheap & Chinese nasty & I'd like to have perhaps had something to put them in to keep the dust out of them. To work with the microscope is a joy! I mean a serious joy! my hand was a lot steadier, things where more precise. changing lense is a simple case of sliding one out & sliding the next in I found with the angle i'd set the eye lenses to gave me about 10cm of work space, which was more than enough, I didn't foul with the microscope at all. the first job I did with the microscope was to change a date when on a 255.411 from the white it was supplied with to a gold one from the watch I was repairing & I have to say I have never found doing a piece of work on a watch so pleasing. the preciseness So all in all, as a user you can see & feel this is an entry level stereo longarm microscope, but its still a long, long was out in front of an eyeglass/loupe and is a sound investment for an intermediate user & I would throughly recommend one at this price I'd give it about 7.5 out of 10. Lee
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  12. clear the bench, I have something to play with.....
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  13. And with that advice I'll give them a whirl...... Lee
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  14. You people!! Just when I think I have all I need! This time last week I thought a eye glass was fine now I want a microscope as well!
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  15. I just got the standard version but I also bought lower power eyepieces too (x10 is standard and I also bought some X5 eyepieces). The microscope comes with three objectives and I use the lowest power one. It really is an excellent microscope for working on watches !!
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  16. I got my Inspection style microscope from Brunel Microscopes ~ £180 http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk/longarm.html it's excellent and having a longer focal length gives plenty of room for tools. I also bought a USB eyepiece camera to take watch movement photograph's
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  17. Hi Lee, That looks like a nice piece of kit, albeit somewhat over specified. I have been using a Wild Heergrugg M5 now for about 4 years courtesy of an amazing car boot sale find and I wouldn't be without it. For me the advantages are a much better view of proceedings (obviously) and a much more comfortable working position as it allows a more upright seating stance, not so hunched up. Proper stereo is important for judging distance. My setup gives me 6, 12, 25, & 50 times mag as standard but it came with an attachment which allows control over depth of focus and increases mag by a factor of 1.25. I use 6 & 12 for most stuff, 25 for hair spring work, and 50 for inspecting jewels and pivots. More than that is of little or no use. One very important factor is working distance (how much room between the watch and the object lens when in focus) as you have to be able to get your tools in there. Mine varies from 12-15cm if I remember rightly which is fine. The one you're looking at states 10cm but that may well change with different magnification, and if that is the max then it's worth asking exactly how it changes as this may well restrict its usefulness. One other word of warning; cleanliness takes on a whole new meaning under 50x mag. Be prepared to get a bit obsessive about it (not a bad thing in a watchmaker). It's quite a lot of money to shell out though so worth asking about the working distance. And if restricting the mag to 50 - 75x saves money then that's worth considering as you won't miss the higher mag in practice. Have fun.
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