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Todays new one. Helm Komodo. Microbrand diver.

I wish I had more projects to report on but things have really bogged down lately as I continue to bite of more than I can chew. I'm in the middle of three long term projects (the Favre Leuba Bivouac going on year three) and am running short of workbench space. I'm in the middle of changing out the engine in my wife's Mini Cooper too (that's another story but if you own a Mini- be sure and replace the timing chain guides!) and that has really eaten into my "fun time". I thought I'd bring this one to the board for comments before I'm underwater- it's an old Gallet from the 60's. Do you think it can be salvaged? We clearly have some water damaged however, the seconds hand will move if the crown is given a little pressure. Water entered in through the chronograph buttons and the pendant tube. I haven't tried depressing the buttons- I think that would just lead to bits snapping and rust moving about. I'll need a new stem for sure... The dial actually looks quite good. I wonder what it looks like underneath though... It's not terrible, but it's not great either. Most of the rust damage is concentrated in the keyless works. There's a bit of damage to the hour recording mechanism... That's as far as I've gotten thus far. The screw for the Operating Lever is rusted tight and is now being treated with a bit of penetrating oil. Once removed I can pull the second pusher button out and remove the movement from the case. I'll know the full extent of the damage once it's in a pile of bits and pieces. This is an Excelsior Park EP40-68 movement. I've wanted to work on one of these for quite a while but couldn't afford a proper working piece. Excelsior Park parts are difficult to source though so I may not be able to bring this one back to life.

It’s a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. As others have said. Depends on available parts, how skilled are you; any part that is eaten with rust must be re-placed. Then it’s the cost. Have you looked for a re-placement movement for parts?

Well I picked up this little piece of machinery the other day. Ive updated the screws to the blue style. The plan is to cut a two peice divers (as my cnc cant cut threads for a screw back) made from bronze and copper. This is gonna be a challenge so group prayers please. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Inspired by fellow forum member. I ordered some 4mm stictching chisels.Paired to a rough looking but good running vostok 2209 ,It is my first attempt at a stitched leather watch band..A bit rough,but so is the watch.Since it only has to fit me,simple snap fastener.

Hi If you are considering resoldering the dial feet/foot back on be careful not to mark the dial face. I should look up re soldering dial feet on the net and how to do it. there are two methods using a small blow torch and transfering the heat down the foot to melt the solder chips, or what is known as cold soldering using a dial foot machine which is in fact a low power arc welder. Both methods are explained on the net. Dial dots are self adhesive pads they are double sided to enable you to place a dial on to the front plate securely, dont work on all watches because of the calender and date work, again this method is explained on the net

vinegar works well on rust.

That's a great vid but this watch has much deeper damage. If the actual going train survived (they do sometimes in these cases, amazingly) it may function with a lot of work and some parts. If the train pinions, staff, and hs are rusted it's probably a goner.

Marks video on sorting out a rusty movement might help

Eye Spy'd with my one enormous eye, on the junk pike that is ebay... another potential member of the somewhat random 404 club. In addition to a full clean and service, It will need a crown and stem at the very least, and most likely the careful removal of some low level radioactive waste (though I will probably leave the stuff still attached to the dial alone, at least for the time being). It is unquestionably more refined than the "sausage watch" and Mr Mao, and for a whopping £3.55 + P&P probably worth it for the scrap value of the case alone. But fear not, I have no intention of melting it down. Now can any of the experts tell me what the caliber is, to save me a heap of head scratching and googling?

As kids we used to drop old pennies in coca cola, leave overnight and have bright clean pennies in the morning.

My Grandmother always told me Coca Cola was not fit for human consumption, and that it was "paint remover" .I never saw her touch it or drink a drop of water. She lived to be 93.

I like a watch where you can tell the time from 50 yards away.

EBay is the obvious suggestion but you'd likely have to buy a complete watch. However, if you plan to continue this hobby, get yourself some dial dots and use one or two on the side where the pin came off. They'll come in handy for future watches. You could also try to solder the dial foot back on.

If it is fully working then (depending on the price) it is a very good machine. This style of cleaner is manually operated so little to go wrong. The L&R vari-matic is a superior machine as it ultra sonic cleans and it runs automatically. BUT they are substantially more expensive and can go wrong as I found to my cost.

All watches are salvageable if you can source replacement parts. Removing rust is OK but the rusted part has been corroded so the part is damaged.

Yes it is, providing you don,t make fun of me. Remove balance and its jewels. Drop the rest in a jar full of cocacola, close the lid. Next day, hold under faucet tap water and brush with a scrap tooth brush. You will be astonished, but that is Ok. If you like to repeat. Try to unscrew the screws, no force, chances of you getting astonished again are better than 99%. You may like to continue with paint thinnner or carburator cleaner. If you are not satisfied, we go to next process. Regards

Hi, I guess anything can be salvaged, but at a reasonable cost?....these watches seem quite popular at the moment so I certainly think it is worth a good try. I think this type of thing can be very rewarding as well. Its hard to tell what components have rusted too far as to be usable, but I think you are on the right track with using a small amount of penetrol etc. The dial might clean up nicely with a light touch of Rodico (take care). Personally I would also clean any springs carefully and rub down to a flatter finish to avoid stress risers which lead to breakage over time. Nice project

A more comprehensible ASCO product data sheet : http://www.schurch-asco.com/e-shop/catalog/pdf/english/90_loupes.pdf

The really expensive Asco loupes are achromats, the next level down (140 bucks) are aplanatic. As I've always understood, achromats are usually also aplanatic, so they deliver accurate color and an undistorted view across the lens. Aplanatic might have some color error. The color gets important when dealing with precious stones but isn't an issue for us watchmakers. I have several of both, and honestly can't tell which is in my hand without looking at the loupe body to see. In lower powers, the aplanatic issue is sort of a non-issue, as the simple single double convex lens delivers a good image. In higher powers it's almost a necessity that the loupe be a double lens design or there is awful distortion. Most good brands go to double lens groups (two single convex lenses) at around 10x. Seems like there used to be more offerings of double lens loupes in the 5x-ish range, I have a Wild Heerbrug 5x with double lenses and am pretty sure I have an old Asco or Bergeon or two lurking around here the same. I think all the current offering from the Swiss suppliers are good, you can't go wrong with Asco/Bergeon/Horotec.

Agree with @Nucejoe. There is a problem with the cannon pinion, but first try removing and cleaning--don't lube the center wheel pinion, and test the hour/minute setting mechanism. If there is still a problem, then you'll need to tighten the cannon pinion. J

Sounds like loose canon pinion. Tighten.

Helloe there, After deep analysis yesterday afternoon, i believe the escape wheel top pivot has sheared off as when the top plate was and i had tried to move the wheel with and needle and magnifying glass, i see there is a heck of a lot of play even when the top pivot is central to the appropriate jewel. Am i right in thinking that this has broken?

Not only are talking watches a thing, but there are companies that specialize in selling these, and other aids to the blind. I recently picked up and restored a couple of talking watches from this company. https://www.cobolt.co.uk/categories/category/clocks-and-watches I posted about them here on the forum here. Take a look at the Cobalt site, it might give you some inspiration.

Mimic nature, bats scans surroundings by ultrasound and fly with incredible precision. The technology to scan surroundings is already out there guiding driverless vehicles. Why not guide a blind humankind. The watch can tell, what a guide dog can,t put in English, If ambitious to help, ideas are endless.

me kneether.

I don't use it.

OR , if you want to keep it mechanical, Maybe you need a new way of telling time. If you were to go with a four digit odometer type read out. May I suggest the following. First digit, The quarter of the day.A totally sightless person might lose track of whether it is AM or PM. So, 1 would be 00:00 through 05:59, 2 would be 06:00 through 11:59, 3 would be 12:00 through 17:59 , 4 would be 18:00 through 23:59 Second digit, The hour within that quarter. Third digit , The the tens digit of the minutes within the hour. fourth digit, the minute rounded off to an even number. This way the numbers on the indicators could be larger. while keeping accuracy acceptable. A readout of 1000 would be midnight. A readout of 2212 would be 8:12 AM A readout of 3522 would be would be 5:22 PM A readout of 4246 would be 8:46 PM Does This make any sense to anybody?

I would have blamed it on spell check.

Yes, if the escape pivot is broken, the seconds hand will go pratt and whitney. There is also a chance the pallet jewels are disalleigned and let escape teeth to escape.

I suppose You could refinish as suggested.I think it looks great as is.

Managed to put the movement back together after a lot of struggling with the stepping motor and the bridge. It was a nightmare! Now i also understand why some of you can’t stand to work with plastic.. i broke a plastic pivot. Luckily for me, i managed to repair it. The watch is finally running again! Can’t believe it, my father is going to be so happy. 6BA34310-B80F-4060-BE59-484A19878969.MOV

50 watches and counting (80% Seiko) and I haven't even ventured into Yahoo Japan except via a friend for an OEM faceted crystal for my LordMatic. Well, I have dipped my toe in very recently after buying this one below in May, I have now been bitten by the bug and would like a 'few' more....

Correction to my post, ARDUINO . ARDUINO is an inexpensive microprocessor which can be shrinkified. I think the voice synthesizers and all you may need are readily available. Ask the experts there. Regards

I should have typed raised not razed. It was a senior moment, these days I get quite a few.

Go to any electronic forum, ask for advice and what forum to go to for your inquiry. You will be refered to the right forum. Folks there are generally working on their Phd and are well capable of recommending the right hardware, you may get by, with inexpensive ones like ADRIANO WAY, ask for help on programming it, make a talking watch that tells time and takes some basic commands.like wake me up, remind me to go to work, etc. Good luck pal.

Sorry, I have to read first. Old hippy already suggested this.

Maybe you can create a watch that talks! I don't know of that is possible, but it came up to me.

Alright..take a look at this old "digital " alarm clock. It has three rotating drums .hours.tens and minutes. Maybe a standard watch movement could be modified to do this? Turned on it's side? The crown would be on the face of the watch.the drums could have raised numbers.all protected by a hinged lid..of course if you actually have to make one..that could be tough.but if it is just a concept..I think it could work

Watches for the blind have been around for a long time. The traditional system you mention (where the watch user will open the front and gently feel the position of the hands) through to more modern versions and ones that can do a lot more than tell the time (check out the Dot Watch!). I guess things will come down to the actual nature of your project and how literal the term 'innovative' is! The system you're pursuing is not new ... although I expect you have some snazzy ideas up your sleeves. If you continue to go with this then let me answer your main query of how you are "able to make the hands not move on the dial". This should not be a problem; the traditional system watches are effectively standard watch movements. This means the watch user can only alter the hand positions when pulling the crown out to put the movement in a setting position and then turning the crown. With the crown in the normal pushed in 'non setting' position the hands do not move by touch alone. [The watch user must still be gentle when using the watch however as hands are friction fitted so could still be compromised with very rough handling].

Wls1971 .you beat me to the punch.And I am very sure that Oldhippy mention raised.I would hate to see a watch with razed numbers...but maybe he is on to something

There are many designs of watches for the blind most of the old mechanical watches where already using the method you describe a glass and bezel that lifted out of the way and allowed the user to feel the position of the hands in relation to the raised numerals on the dial they where fitted with hands that where far more robust than on a normal watch. I do however have a pocket watch from around 1880 that uses a different method in that it has a pin at each hour this pin is either raised or lowered so at 10' o'clock the pin at that hour is raised at eleven o'clock the pin drops and the 11 o'clock pin raises via means of a spring loaded disc under the dial, the raising and lowering of pins is instantaneous on each hour, this means that only one hand is needed for the minutes. I think that most Blind people now would have a quartz talking watch which of course would not use hands. There are plenty of examples of watches for the blind on the web, good luck with your project.

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum. You could google watches for the blind and take a look at some images, that would give you some idea. There are also watches that work on batteries, you press a button and it tells you the time, no hands needed. Don't forget if you use numbers or figures they need to be razed.

I recently acquired an Omega Speedmaster automatic from the 1970's that has the Omega 1045 / Lemania 5100 movement inside. Long story short- the previous owner tried to service it and made a mess instead. I've managed to source all the parts I think I need except one for the automatic works- the Stop Spring (part no. 1414). This looks like a part I may be able to fabricate but if the original is available I would prefer that. Unfortunately I've come up empty with my usual suppliers. Cousins is the one one who may have it, but it's Restricted which I suppose means you need to be an Omega authorized technician (which I naturally am not) to purchase. If anyone has a lead to follow I would be most grateful for your assistance. This piece is a proper mess right now but I think I'm close to bringing it back from the dead.