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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/13/20 in Posts

  1. Hi A short while ago there was a mention of re forming and adjusting balance springs. I mentioned I had made some tools from sewing needles with the eye ground down providing a fork with witch to adjust the springs. I used two sizes of needle, put in a pin vise and just stoned the end off. Done carefully they make usefull tools. Mine are just fitted into to old chopsticks and being square they don't roll about the bench. A sewing machine needle fitted into a handle also gives a good stiff tool for manipulating small parts and inspecting train wheels etc. These are not expensive to make in either time or materials but I wouldn't be without them.
    3 points
  2. You're a pro mate! Are you in th UK? You have the right tools for the right job! My brother just gave me a lecture, regarding not using a tripod for polish. You WOSTEP boys are hard to please! I'm glad to have a knowledgeable guy like you around here. I shall seek advice from you in the near future! Here a pic of my brother in laws 6497 from scatch he made Manchester Wostep The bridges are made of german silver whatever that is? He describes it as very soft and easily tarnish by just breathing onto it
    2 points
  3. Here's the tripods, left is my rustic one from school, then a very old but good commercial one I use (it has a little collet holder for Schaublin P4.5 collets which I have a bunch of), then the one my friend made at WOSTEP. The other pic is a tin block, and a glass plate with 12 micron paper on it. Get the screw in the tool, level, touch up on paper, clean off, then on the tin. Start to finish is just couple of minutes for most screws. I use 0.5-1micron diamond on the tin.
    2 points
  4. The black dial one came from Bulgaria and has a German date wheel. It cost me the astronomical price of £3.50, with a further shipping cost of £5, so that's about $11 total. Must admit I do like it as well. The jump minute hand one had me (and I suspect the seller) as it showed no sign of life, mechanically or electrically with a new battery, then I realised that the minute hand had moved. These early Timex quartz, rather 'agricultural' watches are a million miles away from the early Seiko quartz movements which are absolute masterpieces, almost like artwork, which is why, I suppose, they cost the equivalent of about US$1000 at the time . This is type of movement in my earliest one (Aug 1972). A very expensive watch at the time....
    2 points
  5. If the bar is really stuck I just cut them off and fit a new one.
    2 points
  6. Since I've been a member of this forum for a while now, I have noticed that other than the standard dial colors of black, white, grey, gold and silver, blue seems to be the color of choice for many of us here in WRT. I have always been attracted to blue dial watches, especially since it's my favorite color. Here are mine. Please feel free to share yours with us. Blue dial watches are on top, and blue accented watches on the bottom. 1978 Timex Falcon Eye 1979 Timex blue tv dial 70's Sicura Satellite 1973 Timex Mercury 1980's Seiko Quartz diver 1978 Timex Sprite Modern Invicta automatic Pro diver 70's Benrus Citation with blue accents (electronic balance movement) 2010's Fossil "Moden Machine Automatic" blue accents 70's Timex, 21 Jewels with blue accents 1973 Timex Marlin with blue accents.
    1 point
  7. Your screws are great, a bit rounded is ok (if intentional haha). Did you tell him how much time you spent? Most would have given up.
    1 point
  8. I'm in Switzerland (but a Yank). Wonder what the argument was against tripods? There are hand powered screw head polishing "lathes", I coveted them as a youth and have one, but haven't used it in ages. By design they take off more material than a tripod, which can be a real issue when restoring or with very small screws. And a tripod can do any flat part... That movement looks awesome! I really love simple but well executed finishing like that, it looks easy but it sure as heck ain't to come out as clean as that. Class click too!
    1 point
  9. Here she is, all done. I will be giving this to my brother as he doesn’t own a watch but wears a suit for work and has a good complexion and style for this colour of watch. The strap is calf skin and is very supple.
    1 point
  10. A couple of Adrems, a Franken-citizen and a franken HMT, a probably genuine HMT, a Seiko Titanium and a Sindaco. I'll have another trawl through the service and repair folders and see if I can find a few more when I get a spare moment. All of the ones I've shown are working. I may have some donors with blue dials too. There are a couple more blue dialed examples in the pipeline from ebay too, including another Ingersol. I'll post them when they have arrived and I have them working.
    1 point
  11. Here are a few more. I'm sure I have others. At least one HMT, and a couple more Timexes but this will do for openers.
    1 point
  12. Sewing machine needles, of course. Brilliant idea. I had thought of using ordinary sewing needles, but sewing machine needles, since they have a flat face ground on them are perfect. I may even fabricate a couple of 3d printed handles so I can slot them right in. My wife is a quilter, so now I have a use for the old needles when they get dull or break, rather than discarding them. Something else for the to-do list when I get back.
    1 point
  13. There are manufactured fork end needles. I see if I can take a magnified picture of one to post. @rogart63 PM sent to you on different subject, please check your inbox.
    1 point
  14. Here are a couple of pics of the movement... -Paul
    1 point
  15. I was given a 1973 seiko lord matic (5600-9001) recently and I am very fond of it. The acrylic is in pretty good condition and the case isn't too scared up. There are only 3 problems with the watch. First, the case is a little bit dirty between the lugs. Second it gains about 15 seconds a day. Thirdly, the original bracelet is too small, so I tried to replace it and found that one of the spring bars is stuck. I don't really know what to do with the watch so I came here to get some advice. Should I take it to a local jeweler, send it to the seiko service center (probably a bad idea), or try to work on it myself? If there is anyone on the site that is able to work on the watch I would consider that as well. Thanks in advice for any advice.0
    1 point
  16. People are doubting the authenticity of the watch, specifically whether it is truly "unworn". You can purchase blank genuine documents online all day long and the case back sticker does indeed show signs of wear and the dial shows what appears to be dust particles on close inspection which means it may have also been serviced. Time will tell I suppose.
    1 point
  17. Hi Condidering the state of the battery you were very lucky. It cleaned up a treat a nice one to wear. well done.
    1 point
  18. Very nice, and to get the original bracelet with it a major bonus. Not, as you say, a M63, but an M73 movement (capacitor trim, unlike the M63 which has a potentiometer trim...), I'm still looking for one of the quartz regulated hybrids to add to my collection, my current collection of 'fixed and running' hybrids, And the early 'conventional' quartz collection, though the one on the left is a M56 jump minute hand one...... The vast majority of cheap 'fixable' early Timex electric/electronic watches are in the US and eBay's 'glorious' global shipping program makes the cost unrealistic for me in the UK, though I did pick up a job lot of 8 watches the other week and Global shipping 'only' just doubled the cost ........ single watches would cost two or three times the initial purchase price, at least, to get here! I have been watching a similar watch to yours, but an M63 (note the potentiometer trimmer), but the seller thinks it's worth £25!. Considering it has no back and the movement looks totally fubar'd I offered him £5 for it which was promptly turned down....his loss.
    1 point
  19. 15 scds a day is 7.5 mns a month and 1.5 h a year so not that bad IMHO ... set your watch once a week and live with that ... About the stucked springbar what I would do is : - remove the one that isn't stucked - source a pair of identical new springbars - remove the stucked one with force ... no matter if it brakes it as new springbars will be used - clean the case between the lugs - put the new bracelet on with the new springbars - enjoy Envoyé de mon moto g(7) power en utilisant Tapatalk
    1 point
  20. Picked up another vintage vintage Timex Quartz. This time it is one of the "Jumping" minute models. Should be fun. Looks great for the money.
    1 point
  21. Before ripping your watch apart and doing all those checks you were supposed to do in the first place can you do the visual check of the pallet fork between the banking pins without power? Then yes for everybody else it's not a perfect test but it still should be reasonably close versus the goofy numbers the timing machine is showing. It's important for people to learn what to look for. In other words the classic check for seeing if your watch is beat is the look at the pallet fork at rest because it gets you really really close. Timing machines are interesting devices for diagnosing adjusting watches etc. but they rely on certain things. They have to have a good clean signal and the watch has to be running correctly. Then it's always interesting to see how the timing machine attempts to communicate that it's having a problem. Typically the Chinese machines will attempt to give you something no matter what with zero indication that's having a problem. The number 9.9 is a clue that it's having an problem. The expensive switch's witschi machines will usually get mad and give you an error message and tell you you're either out of range or some other silly message. You can usually get around that by changing the parameters but they can still be fooled. One of my favorites is if the amplitude is too low the timing machine will read the wrong part of the waveform and show you a nice amplitude that's not there at all.
    1 point
  22. Putting miles on my blue tv dial Timex.
    1 point
  23. Welcome aboard @MattHH. I have a Gruen in the exact same case. BTW, there is no excuse for not wearing all your watches!
    1 point
  24. Good question! I secured the screw on a small pin vice and then cut a flat surface on the peg wood, about an inch. It has be flat, so I kept checking on a 12x mag. You then start off with the low grit and work your way up to 10k grit. Theres 12 grit to get that finish. Put plenty paste on and work in a circular motion, with gentle pressure. So you only feel the paste and the head of the screw rubbing. I would say the finish is black polish. Hope this helps.
    1 point
  25. Hi Esslingers in the USA have them in stock at $19.95 so Its worth fixing at that cost.
    1 point
  26. If it fixes the problem 100% why should it matter if the watch is really expensive? I'm wondering if you have a defective watch and maybe you should send it back to Rolex for warranty repair? Because the lower assembly shouldn't fall out and it should go back in and stay in place. Then they do make tools for closing holes in a more uniform fashion then recommended above I'm attaching an image. But you want to be careful here and not to get carried away and smash the heck out of the hole otherwise you're going to need a new plate. It's probably a dyslexia thing on my part but I think I'm reading this backwards from the way I usually think about it? I'm attaching an image out of the Seitz manual showing a jewel but the same principle applies. Looking at my Kif book unfortunately it's not a PDF it shows the settings being pushed in the same as the jewel is being pushed.. Then from the Rolex Service manual side view of the balance assembly. It is not a lot of thickness to the plate the setting needs to be centered for maximum strength. The adjustment of end shake is by the brass nuts on the other side. The alignment of the balance wheel with the pallet fork in all of this is extremely close tolerances. Rolex gets really obsessed with end shake adjustments so there's not a lot of play here.
    1 point
  27. Generally to tighten the fit, you can guage or make grooves on the outer surface of the housing, I have had 100% success with it, but its been on not so pricy piece. I usually use sharp edge of a screwdriver blade to the make grooves. I Leave the plate undisturbed. Good luck.
    1 point
  28. I got a Buren with loose rotor, pretty sure would have to bush the rotor, axle needs work too. Would go machining or spend the rest of my life searching for replacement parts. TIA.
    1 point
  29. i wonder how many years it sat.
    1 point
  30. Temporary storage of a mainspring while working on the watch perhaps?
    1 point
  31. Yes, these are both back sets. Here are some additional pics. The blue dialed one has an original black leather strap.
    1 point
  32. Yeah, you'd better patent that technique... haha. It is a cool looking Timex, though. I like the band you rustled up for it. It doesn't matter if you "take a licking" for working on a Timex... just "keep on ticking" Haha.
    1 point
  33. Today I lost my beautiful cat Cookie. She was 23 years old, I had her from a kitten. I’m so sad and my eyes are welling up with tears. Here is my wonderful. Please think of her for me.
    0 points
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