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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/17/20 in all areas

  1. That looks very familiar. If you ever get a chance to go to India, you will no doubt encounter a lot of brass items in the touristy shops. One of the many recurring themes are snakes, and in particular brass cobras. Search ebay for brass cobra candlestick or similar, and you will no doubt find a whole bunch of them. Also look for things like Bala Bakthi Brass Naga Snake, Thia brass snake and so forth. The quality varies immensely, from low cost tourist trinkets to highly intricate enamelled works of art. EDIT: Expect to pay about 2000 INR (About twenty quid or $30 USD) in the touristy malls of Delhi, and a little less in the back waters. Of course you do need to add about $1000 for the return flight, and you will need to wait till the covid crisis is over. EDIT2: If you have access to to a 3d printer, or better still a metal 3D print facility, you could of course print one. Source -> https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3117655
    2 points
  2. @KarlvonKoln Cobra-style PW holders come upon eBay occasionally in lower-quality unpainted brass. The one I posted above is particularly nice, and is likely to be particularly expensive. I've written the gallery that currently owns it for additional info, which I'll share if I hear anything back from them. Here's an example of one of the cheaper (< $200) more readily available ones. They seem to come up on eBay from time to time. While they're not nearly as nice, they're (somewhat) affordable. I know that my wife would kill and eat me if I bought one of these. I do have a background in model building and painting, and could probably paint something similar to the nicer version with a little bit of effort. @eezy Your DIY art deco holder looks amazing! What a great idea, and lovely execution.
    2 points
  3. One I made earlier...... Simple DIY project. 3 layers of acrylic mirror glued to form an art deco style stand.
    2 points
  4. @AndyHull and I have been chatting, and we think it's time to formalize the 404 Club. 404 is the HTTP standard response code returned when a file (page) is requested and not found. You've probably seen the "404 Not Found" page a few times in your internetting adventures. Turns out though, watches can be found for such a tiny sum! Some surprisingly nice ones even! Every currency doesn't have the same buying power though. Fortunately, the Dollar to Pound conversion at the moment works out to about $5.00, and the 500 response code means there's an internal server error... Not quite poetic, but at least it's on theme. Similarly, Euro to Pound works out to €4.50. 450 is specific to Microsoft and means "Blocked by Windows Parental Controls" ... So you guys behave! So the way this works is you buy a watch for your currency/error code plus reasonable shipping (I've been saying $10 max unless I really like the watch, in which case I'll stretch to $15; the point is to avoid those $1 buy $200 shipping scams), fix it up for as little as possible, then add it to your personal collection, sell it off to pay for the next one, gift it to a friend, hang it around your neck as a tribute to Flavor Flav, or whatever else strikes your fancy! Somewhere in there though, post a picture of it here!
    1 point
  5. I have been working on my second Smiths mantel clock over the weekend. I've worked on the woodwork and touched up the blemishes, waxed and polished it. Polished the bezel and varnished it. The clock seems to work fine for awhile but whenever I return from work I find that it has stopped. The amplitude seems weaker than the first Smiths clock I worked on. The beat seems fine. When I remove the pendulum, the crutch continues to swing at a high rate. Is this a sign that the pallets are set too shallow? 20200917_085801.mp4
    1 point
  6. I wanted to use a pocket watch as a desk clock while I’m WFH. Fortunately I found this display stand hidden inside a small log from an ash tree in my wood pile . Interested to see what others do with theirs...
    1 point
  7. Interesting. When you press the release button that pushes the setting lever down so the stem can be removed, and if the keyless works wasn't in the second position, the sliding clutch has a bit too much wiggle room. Pushing the stem back in, even carefully often times pushes it past the yoke which then gets trapped between the winding pinion and the clutch. Of course, a bit too much pressure in the wrong spot could also pop the spring off the setting lever or yoke.
    1 point
  8. The only real success I have had (no fancy machine,,) has been with solder paste which works at a low temperature . On the dial side I had it resting on a damp cloth.The tricky bit is the correct positioning of the new dial feet especially if it has a date window.
    1 point
  9. Well, I've removed and reinstalled the stem several times now without messing it up, so whatever I'm doing must be OK. Prior to this incident I've never messed one up to the point of requiring me to redo the keyless works, but at least now I've done it once so if I had to do it again I know it's not the end of the world. Here's the way the watch sits today - well, the picture was actually taken yesterday.
    1 point
  10. My miss understanding. I see what your dealing with now and not ran into this kind of setup.
    1 point
  11. In watch repair if it's movable it definitely should be moved. Banking pins are perfect example of that common in American pocket watches you have to check them every single time because somebody probably has moved them without a clue of what they're doing. But do not feel safe just because those banking pins are not movable there is a tool in case you feel they should be moved.
    1 point
  12. I’ve fitted an original crystal on that same case reference (Cosmic). I used a cheap press. You need to make sure you use a cup which provides pressure around the perimeter of the crystal.
    1 point
  13. The cheap die will mark the center of the crystal. The brass insert slides out of the die and makes a circular scratch right in the center of the crystal. Ask me how I know... I’ve not dealt with a tension ring crystal so I don’t have further advice.
    1 point
  14. The mirror stand is dashing; I like that one. But I have to say, having seen it, now I want a cobra stand. Probably not easy to find; I wonder if one would be hard to make.
    1 point
  15. That should not be used for tension ring glasses. That tool is extremely good for high dome but it squeezes the glass and with a tension ring inside it cannot work correctly, it can mark the glass and distort the tension ring.
    1 point
  16. I'm in the process of building my own out of an old ATX PC power supply. I would be interested in the specs of the purpose built item to see how close they are to my DIY efforts.
    1 point
  17. I shall look forward to your opinion on this new toy.
    1 point
  18. Reading what the OP has written it seems that the question is about removing the balance/hair spring complete from the balance cock, not the hair spring from the balance. This is an Etachron type system in which the stud is a friction fit between the two prongs of the stud carrier fork. I have to confess that as yet I haven't played with one of these as most of watches I work on pre-date Etachron, however I believe that you just push the stud out of the fork, carefully so as not to damage anything. Obviously your new balance complete has to have the Etachron style stud, and again, I believe that installing it is simply a matter of carefully pushing it into the carrier fork. I trust that someone with actual experience will correct me if this is wrong. Once installed the position of the balance relative to the pivot hole, and the hair spring geometry (concentricity) are adjusted by moving the stud closer to or further away from the pivot jewel within the forks, and by rotating the stud by the flats on its top surface. Adjustment of the curb pin clearance is also achieved by rotating the pin on the regulator arm.
    1 point
  19. New toy just turned up. Watch dial feet soldering machine. Looks really well constructed. Review coming soon IMG_0587.MP4
    1 point
  20. this is a modern mass-produced watch the likelihood of the depths of the stones not locking correctly is almost nonexistent. If somebody played with it and change them yes they could be wrong. This is where it's really important to check everything else because there is probably something else. There actually are rules on how deep locking should be but they're also dependent upon doing the escapement checks because they also control how deep the locking should be. Then have ever heard a story about it Seiko that had super amplitude? The answer is no because it was never designed to run with a lot of amplitude they always have pathetic amplitude because that's the way they were designed. They even put oil on the pallet fork pivots one of those things you never supposed to do that kills amplitude yet they do it why? because for reasons that we have no idea they were designed to run with pathetic amplitude. That doesn't mean you can't tweak things like you can improve the regulation we could probably improve the amplitude but they weren't designed that way from the factory. And 99.9% of the Seiko service manuals they never reference the amplitude except in one particular manual that is mentioned. 4006 a and I have it snipped out for you.
    1 point
  21. So, I've recently started collecting PWs. For a variety of reasons, my actual number of working PWs now is 0. That said, I did enjoy carrying one (with a matching chain) for the brief period I did. As for storage, I'm keen to find a less expensive version of this painted vintage cobra watch holder:
    1 point
  22. Don't forget to do all the escapement checks before you start moving stones. Drop lock, run to banking, fork horn clearance, guard pin clearance.
    1 point
  23. I'm not a fan of kits as most that I have ever seen tend to be limiting or poor quality. The high quality kits tend to be aimed towards strap and battery changing/removing links and general after sales rather than on-the-bench watch repairing. I did create a blog post with some essential "Day 1" tools that are advisable to have on hand when you are creating your tool kit and you may find that useful. https://www.watchrepairlessons.com/2019/09/30/essential-day-1-tools/ Perhaps you could use that as a guide - all of these tools are readily available from many different online sources such as Cousins UK, eBay, Amazon etc etc.. There is also a PDF I have made available which may help you decide on your Day 1 lubricants kit which you can download here: I hope this helps. P.S. - Moving this thread to the tools section
    1 point
  24. Got a little more done tonight. Took the barrel apart for cleaning. I couldn’t figure out how the damn thing worked. Once I removed the glue-like petrified grease, I figured it out. Cleaned the spring and all the pieces and added fresh oil and reassembled. Works nice and smooth with my fingers now. then some more general cleaning after pulling the pallet fork bridge and pallet fork. It is interesting that this has adjustable banking pins. Not looking forward to the end stones. They are secured with screws and that gives plenty of opportunities to make a mess of the oil... (that green stuff is the old oil/grease)
    1 point
  25. 1.00 mm is wide enough hence wont let you push the button further in as you suspect you might have. Try to get the set lever pin in set position again and proceed with stem insertion. You can reach the set liver pin through the stem hole by a needle. Good luck
    1 point
  26. The next one from my ebay job lot, a 'Gisa Soleure', another Baumgartner 866 based watch, this time with centre seconds, the dial branding is a bit 'naughty'! I assume the 21 is meant to fool you... (note there is no mention of 21 what!, it certainly isn't jewels!) Many watches from the era seem to employ this ruse, and I've seen Ebay listings where these are stated as '21 Jewels' so it is still fooling/conning people today! This one was a little dirty and wouldn't wind, crown would just spin, on opening it up I found the setting lever spring/yoke (single part) was broken so it wouldn't stay in the winding position. With it open I held the sliding clutch and wound it a little, but there was then the telltale slipping noise after a few turns of a broken mainspring. Going through the rest of the batch, I found a Regalia also with a BFG 866, it has a badly damaged case,dial and crystal, so I raided it for its setting lever spring and going barrel. Another note on how clever this movement is in terms of cost down, the four screws securing the top plate, which serves as both train and barrel bridge, also secure the click spring, click spring hold down, balance cock and pallet cock. It does make reassembly a bit more challenging though! After a good clean, strip and reassembly/lubrication, it functions reasonably well (within a minute +/- all positions which will do so far as I am concerned). The crystal has some light marks, I have some polywatch on the way to attack it with. I didn't need to jazz up the seconds hand on this one as it had a funky one already! I quite like it, the dial is a little squint (only a fraction), but the position is fixed by crown and dial feet, and when I look at others online it looks like they all may have been like this! I could resolve it by removing the dial feet, might do at some point if it bothers me. Just fitted with a new strap today and I'm quite taken with it, but I'll probably re-sell this one at some point.
    1 point
  27. Rub-in jewels have integrated end stone, out of obsession I am always concerned if I have managed to get enough oil on its end stone, automatic oiler seem assuring to have dispensed that certain amount of oil there, one can double the amount by pumping twice and the exactness of the amount is a nice control to have. In a sense, same story with screw on end stones, you can just screw the end stone on and then oil. Much neater outcome since end stone plate/ holder is sure to move when you try to place it on and oil gets spread around by the old method. I use old accupuncture needles as oiler.
    1 point
  28. With the topic now well derailed let's further entertain ourselves looking at what our Host Mark Lovick, the man than runs and pays for this forum, has to say on the subject.
    1 point
  29. I am an odd duck. I wear mine, to work and elsewhere. But I also wear a suit with vest, or trousers with watch pocket. I kept trying to like wrist watches, but I either kept getting a rash underneath, or kept banging them up somehow. Below is my Longines right before I had it polished. I am having trouble finding other files that will upload.
    1 point
  30. Like that cabinet, but disappointed the watches aren’t all wound up and set to the right time
    1 point
  31. I wear one every day. Most of my jeans have those watch pockets and all but my largest pocket watch fits in them. I never, ever carry a pocket watch without some kind of chain. I dropped a watch once....ONCE! Here is where I store mine. This was a small display cabinet for something, I dunno what originally. I got it at Goodwill for $2.50. My father made the drop in shelf adapters .My biggest Pocket watch is way to big to fit in the case, so it sits under a dome.
    1 point
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