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Today I'm wearing my 1962 Timex Viscount with the grey crosshair dial. Yet another DOA resuscitation. Dial is a tad oxidized and the bracelet shreds my arm hairs, but otherwise it's great for nearly 60 years old.

I got a Rolex for my wife last week. Best trade I ever made.

There are a few differences.The version I produced does seem to have slightly better OCR indexing. The Watchguy UK version only finds two instances of Busen for example, but the version I created finds three. Here is a zip file of the oldhippy version, but with a full OCR search capability. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nJuWyxfnWSl5KoG7RU58knJChg_ZFfdI/view?usp=sharing Grab both version, and make up your own mind.

I've recently encountered the world of Timex watches. As everyone knows they are still in production and the new Timex watches are all quartz. But the line goes back decades. I myself have bags of discarded Timexes. Been fiddling with them recently. I've had a few flops but I'm surprised as how robust they are. Even my paws seem sufficient to revive some of them. Recently spent a pleasant half-day working on an old 50-60's era men's mechanical. Polished the case, buffed the crystal, did a partial disassembly of the movement, popped the whole thing into the cleaner. Came out looking like a new watch. Put the balance back in (and made a bit of a mess of it) and it works. Seems to keep good time in spite of my faux pas (paws!). It would be fun to get a bag of watches working again. Anyone know how to service the Timex Electric; the analog mechanical watch coupled to a solenoid (or something like it) which was used to provide a push to the balance to provide timing and energy. I have several. They look like they'd work but I doubt they would with modern batteries. (???) I've perused several threads here from like minded individuals who, like me, love these humble little pieces that lack all pretense yet "do their duty" faithfully. How can we share information? I really would like some tips/tricks/gadgets etc. that would make restoration easier and safer.

There is a picture here showing how to push a pivot out... special punches are required. http://timepieceshoppe.com/cylinder-watch-mechanical-restoration/ You would be best advised to remove the hairspring to avoid damage, and don’t push the pivot too far!

I have successfully managed to replace these in the past using the ball from the nib of a ballpoint pen and a section of spring scavenged from a spring bar.

A success! I got the evertite crystal in, and the chapter ring nest perfectly. Here it is at the end of the day, cleaned, serviced, and reassembled. Thanks for everyone's help! Could benefit from a fun tropic strap or nato (but don't have one on hand). Ended up messing up one of the lumed markets when soldering a dial foot, so ended up rubbing all of them off for a balanced, clean look. Will re-lume in the future once I get my hands on a kit

Hi the pivots are adjusted using an off set punch, I believe a split stake is used to hold the balance to support the cylinder as the tampons are moved.

Hi attached tech sheets for the M3602 Misc. Tech Sheets_Molnia 3602a (1).pdf

There you go , a good job well done not useless at all. Patience pays off great job

Woohooo fixed and it winds. Thanks all. Just need to find those lugs now somewhere online and I’m done, although I should probably replace the bearing it appears to have a tiny amount of play.

any light grease to aid the bearing and spring vaseline will do its just to hold the ball in place while you clip the bezel back on

Hi Tony that's only the start of the wife's list there is all the jobs you were going to do when you got ROUNDTUIT. now she has got you by the shorts !!!!!!!!. and you can't go anywhere. Sh1t its a hard life.

Hi a little grease and plenty of patience. Work inside a large plastic bag that way if the ball goes AWOL you have the little bugger cornered. Attached a couple of files you may find of interest. 03. Casing Guide seiko.pdf 3128_Seiko 7548A.pdf

Balance wheels made in this era did not all weigh the same, so each balance wheel is to be vibrated with a haisspring. " The scrapper you got this hairspring from" I am afraid may not vibrate with this wheel, since there is a limit to the weight you can add on, therefor, limited adjustment by screws. I am not hands on with Elgines pocket watches, so I don,t know for a fact, but 780secs seem too much to adjust by balance screws. jd knows, he got a truck load of such pieces all of which he has made staff for. If slow motion shows no malfunction on hairspring, considering the amplitude, you just may have a shorter hairspring on the balance wheel. I hope this helps.

Tab at the center top is the catch. Push it towards the wall and slide the clock upwards and it should slide off.

Their links are here -> https://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/files?subdir=BestFit&dir=Technical Manuals&action=documents I'll post mine if there are any major improvements in my OCR output, or if the copies I have are a different version of the catalogues.

If the links are dead I can always upload them. Just ask.

I think Oldhippy put some of those as PDF's on here once maybe they are the same..

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Stuart. I went ahead and bought the 5 spokes version from Cousins based on Marc’s suggestion earlier in this thread. What I’m saving on not going out at weekends has paid for that! Hopefully it will arrive today/tomorrow and I’ll look forward to giving it a go. Will also be a useful tool to add to my slowly growing arsenal. Cheers! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you decide to buy the presto type tool then be aware there are 2 variants - one for 5 spokes and one for 6 https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/train-wheel-removing-tools They are quite expensive if you buy new. I got mine second hand, but before I had them I did this successfully with a pair of knife blades inserted under the hub of the wheel.

The pivots can be moved up and down in the cylinder to adjust end shake and the correct height of the cylinder in relation to the escape wheel. You may find a makers mark under the dial. If not you may be able to identify from the keyless works and the movement diameter. The case is a generic silver import carrying the mark for George Stockwell whose sponsors mark appears on many imported silver cases of this era.

It Is indeed a cylinder movement(no fork) the escape wheel operates directly on the balance staff (cylinder) which has cut outs to arrest the wheel, locking and unlocking basically the same as the fork/pallet.

I think that is an cylinder escapement, it doesn't have any fork....

This one was a whole let easier. Strip, clean, re-assemble, test. Working. The case was sanitized, fresh strap pins and a new crystal fitted, and here it is. More Scottish pin lever fun, this time from Dumbarton, rather than Dundee. I don't have a strap for it, but once I find one, I'll see how it goes when worn. EDIT: I forgot to mention, the white "movement holder" you can see above is made of silicone rubber, and presumably doubles up as shock protection. EDIT2: I also forgot to include the "before" shot of it looking particularly scruffy.

I took a look at the close cousin of the previous Timex Marlin "Aluminium" today. This one has quite an interesting patina on the dial. The original cream has developed a slight pinkish tinge. Inside the case there is an ink stamp, which makes the date of manufacture is pretty obvious (7)=1960 and/or 60=1960 .. the 'P' may indicate November, so the case was made in Germany, or the watch was assembled most likely in November 1960, and the mechanism was probably made around the same time. The whole thing was almost certainly assembled in Dundee. This aluminium case is a two parter, and arrived slightly twisted, so a little bit of pressure gingerly was applied to straighten out the lugs. It is currently on my wrist and sitting at around -60sec per day. I'll let it run for 24 hrs and then see if I can adjust it to be a little better than that. I may also see if I can chase a few more of those tiny scratches out of the crystal, although they are not actually visible unless you go looking for them with a bright light.

Time for something a little older, and slightly more refined. An early (my guess is sometime between 1956 and 1962) Timex model 22 based Marlin ? Aluminium front loader. No doubt someone can give me a more precise date for this. This one is another "Scotland" mechanism from Dundee. This is what it looks like after a service, and crystal polish, but with a few grubby marks still to attend to, despite manually scrubbing the case under the hot tap. The grime and paint splatters on this poor thing were set like glue. .. and finally a picture from the listing, showing it in its previous state. What I will say, is whoever thought up the arrangement of the second hand on this mechanism really should have handed in their "I'm an engineer" badge, and gone back to playing tiddlywinks. It must have taken me at least a dozen attempts to remedy the "flapping about in the breeze" second hand that it arrived with. Fiddly and hit or miss, to say the least.

I know it is a very common thought that Timex produced watches for a short duration of service. But after having handle thousands of them over some 8 years now, I an more apt to think they were more focused on cost savings. After all they designed their movements to be what would latter be called upwardly compatible in computer jargon. For example they take the #24 movement modify it some and now it is the #25 with date ring. take that same base 24 add a rotor and you have an automatic. Plus the metal used was a benefit of having manufactured for the US military. Light weight and durable plus an over sized balance staff that can stand up for who knows how long. And even though the watch cases were base metal they stood up for years even as an everyday working man's watch.

I have had many brands of Tweezers over the years and always keep coming back to Dumont. Size 5 or 4 for hairspring work. Size 2 For general work. I personally have no use for any other size apart 5, 2 and from my brass tweezers which are around size 3.

I've got to work on Monday and then I've got 2 weeks holiday. I'm on holidays as my wife's cousin is getting married in the UK, so my wife is flying to UK on Monday night, this means I need to stay at home so I can get the kids to school and pick them up, also my cat is unwell so it will be nice to spend some extra time with her.......... Ohh wait..... The wedding is postponed, my wife isn't flying to the UK, school has been cancelled, I had to get my cat put down 2 weeks ago..... Guess we can go on a family holiday down south to Albany...... Oh wait Western Australia has been locked down and I can't leave the metro area of Perth..... Guess I have a lot of spare time to work on my watches and clocks............ Drats my wife has told me that means I have lots of time to paint the house, fix the decking, dig up the lids for the septic tanks so we can get them emptied. Maybe if I'm lucky I can spend 1 day working on some of my projects. I think I have enough to do around the house I could be on lock down at my house for 6 months and still not of got everything done I could do. (and that is just on my wife's list)

A wife with a list is a terrible thing ! As I sit here tiling the shower room, ! Knowing a full refit of the bathroom still awaits me, and then the hall, bedrooms, and sitting room, and I can't escape because of lockdown.