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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/18/20 in all areas

  1. just off the bench - a 1967 factory prototype early model 87 LACO -
    4 points
  2. It's friday night over here and what is better than having an small party with wine, chips and a small check. Just because it is ticking it might not be ready to be adjusted. Since this question is freqently occuring in different shapes I will just make a small guide which can help you decide if you done the minimal checks. Maybe it will avoid this beeing an 50 + page post There are some initial checks one can do while servicing a watch after the repair, here I use a ETA 2824-2 as an example. First of all, I assume you cleaned the movement properly. After and before cleaning always check the status of the jewels in the bridge. Just as an assurance use a peg wood and clean the holes in the jewels again. Most of your focus should be on the lower pallet fork jewel and the Inca block lower block. If you want to adjust end shakes you can do it with these two ones. Check for cracks or worn holes. These steps should be done when changing parts, the original one did after all fail for some reason. Next you can check the pallet bridge upper jewel, here too you check for cracks in the jewel and the condition of the hole. The holes on the jewels should always be round and nice. If it looks dirty or not take a extra run with the peg wood just in case . Check the pallet fork. Look carefully at the pallet jewels impulse faces, they should be in a mirror finish. If there are scratches buy a new or change the pallet jewel. The action depends on your skill level. Check the upper and lower pivot, they should be perfectly cylindric and straight. Even the slightest dent from wear will affect the performance. If the pivot isn’t straight it will stop in certain positions depending on the bend. Check the safety pin it should be straight and level, perfectly centered. Check the fork, here you examine it for wear and tear. Check so both the entry and exit pallet is firmly in place. The pallet fork must be perfectly clean. Check the balance staffs pivots they can’t have any wear or be even the slightest bent, the same applies here as with the pallet fork pivots. Check the impulse pin it should be clean with a polished finish. Check it is firmly in place. Check the safety roller isn’t t loose. Now Put only the balance complete and bridge into place. With a gentle push on a spoke on the balance you now try if the balance will swing freely. If it is not you first look if the lover balance is touching the small collet on the Inca block. If there is a clearance between the balance and the collet then you have to check the lower cap jewel for wear, if it is good then you have to adjust the lower Inca block seat a bit downwards, avoid using any shims under the balance bridge. You can’t adjust the upper Inca block since the regulator arm is tightened with it. If it runs freely check the end and side shake with brass tweezers. You should have only minimal movements of the balance. If you visually see the balance wiggle more than the rims height then it is a big chance the balance pivots are to worn and the balance staff has to be changed. One gets a feeling of the correct end and side shake with time. Next you should examine so the hairspring is flat al the way around. If it touches the bridge, the plate or some of the studs the performance suffers greatly and the graph on your timing machine will look like snowfall in January. From the side you now can check the position of the impulse pin, if you look from the side where the arrow in the picture is you should see the rest position of the impulse pin. It should be in between the two banking pins, on the 2824-2 it is the sides of the bridge which are the pins. If you put the hairsprings collet approximately as it is in one of the previous pictures you now should be able to put the impulse pin centered with the regulator arm to the right, a fine tuning can later be done on the time graph. While you are at it you could look if the hairspring is in the middle of the index pins. If not, you could use a tool like the Bergeon 31081 to adjust it into position. You remove the balance and put the pallet fork and bridge in place. Check the end and side shake. The pallet should move with ease when you move it back and forth. Check the clearance of the safety pin, it should go totally free and not touch the Inca block below. When the pallet fork and bridge cleared your examination, it is once again time to put the balance bridge into place. Give it a push on the spoke and observe the balance and pallet fork action. If the safety pin is too long the balance would stop at almost center position of the impulse pin. The same goes if the safety pin is to low then it should hit the top of the impulse pin. If everything is good, take the balance and pallet fork off and assemble the rest of the movement. Like the chefs on TV I already have one assembled. I put some tension on the mainspring by winding it a couple of turns. This gives me a chance to see so the pallet fork has a snappy and nice action. I almost always leave the fork to the right banking position. There is probably lots of theories too in how to put the balance back, since I know in which position, I left the fork it is easier for me to put the balance back. I have a clear line of sight so I can push the index pin approximately in the pallet fork. I adjust the lower balance pivot in place. With a small twist I put the balance down onto the two guide pins. I slightly adjust the upper pivot so it gets into position. Most of the times the balance swings into action. The movement is now ready to be adjusted.
    3 points
  3. Hi, guys, I'm Kiseob from the South Korea. I'm very happy to find this forum. Actually I was just manager in construction company and co-founder of VR/AI start up. But I always felt my talent was not in that places. I decided to find new career use my strength. Logical thinking, hand craftship, and no afraid to learning something new! Finally I escaped from previous company last March, and started to learning watch repair from basic to advanced in private watch repair institute in Korea. And in God bless, I hired small individual watch repair shop without any previous career! I usually faced difficult problems, but overcoming it is very valuable things for me. I'm very happy now! Nice to meet you guys again! And give me any advices Masters!! BYE!
    2 points
  4. This is part 1 of my walkthrough of my Luch 2209 project, the second watch I have successfully repaired after taking Mark's course and working on the 6497 clone. This was the second mechanical watch I ever bought, and the one that marked my descent into obsession. I got into Russian watches because it's a cheap way to get started in mechanical watch collecting and repair, and because I've always been into Russian history. I confess, the kitsch factor played a role. It seems I don't have a "before" picture of the watch. Suffice to say it's a first-gen 2209 "ultra-thin" with a somewhat scratched, but still lovely, silver dial. This watch was clearly someone's daily wearer for many years. It's old and banged, but still classy, in a well-worn kind of way. The watch cost me $50 Canadian from a pretty unknown Ebay seller, so I was pleasantly surprised when the watch turned up and appeared to keep reasonable time. So how did I proceed? A simple service, I thought. I popped this on the timegrapher and saw straightish lines and good amplitude in one position, over about 20 seconds. Good enough, I thought. A first critical mistake, but never mind. Here is the watch as I'm beginning disassembly. A bit dirty, but a handsome movement. Disassembling the train. Here the Luch's key innovation is just visible below the large third wheel, i.e. the lower train running off the barrel that, by pushing the main train off to the side, allows the balance to not overlap any other wheel. There is a good history of the 2209 here: https://steemit.com/watch/@coupeborgward/history-of-vintage-soviet-watches-with-2209-movement-vympel-polet-luch . This grimy old mainspring was a challenge to service. As you can tell, it's left-hand winding, and I do not have an appropriate mainspring winder. Furthermore, the mainspring has a special bridle which must be inserted in corresponding slots in the barrel and lid. With repeated efforts and a lot of cursing, I finally got it in. I clearly pushed too hard and with the wrong finger - my right index finger was sore for several days afterward! So that's the end of part 1 - the watch disassembled and all going well. A breeze, I thought! It was not to be.
    1 point
  5. Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.
    1 point
  6. Can you get some measurements on that o-ring? I think you will be OK to use a (esy to get) Rolex crown o-ring. They have a few sizes of crowns and therefore corresponding o-rings. If you measure, and give your preferred supplier a call, they may be able to help. "off the shelf" standard o-rings (even the odd ones) don't go small enough. I have some of the small "standard" o-rings just in case, but I've not found use for them in a watch yet.
    1 point
  7. Welcome! It sounds as if we have similar backgrounds...
    1 point
  8. This gave me a good chuckle [emoji1787] I'm into soviet era watches too, we may be able to swap spare parts. Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
    1 point
  9. Welcome to the forum. Make no mistake horological questions are never ending. Enjoy
    1 point
  10. Hello JJ and thanks for the introduction. Many of the beginner questions come up again and again, so a search is often the quickest way to the information you need. If that fails, never be afraid to ask. This forum is full of friendly, helpful people.
    1 point
  11. Welcome to the forum JC.
    1 point
  12. I would prefer the 1 second slow. For me it's not about how long it takes to set a watch, but the frequency at which you have to set it. If say your tolerance is 1 minute if it's 1 second slow you're resetting it about once every month. 3 seconds fast you're setting it about once every 2 weeks. I also like to get the minute hand to hit minute markers dead on center when second hand hits zero, and pulling the crown out more often than not throws off the sync, so I always set it by hacking it at the top of minute anyway.
    1 point
  13. The sternkreuz HW made the trick, the second hand is free to rotate now, took me a while - as there are so many other things i have to/want to take care of - , but it was worth it as I again learnt a bit.
    1 point
  14. I like to thread it into a die plate, trim with wire cutters and back it out of the plate, which straightens the threads out. Sometimes I’ll polish it before backing it out if it was an ugly cut... if you’ve not trimmed stems before, get extras and wear eye protection when trimming. They are hard and the bits fly fast and far.
    1 point
  15. yes both stems.have the same part number, you probably will have to cut it to size
    1 point
  16. I would guess the main crown is larger diameter. The watchmaker May have trimmed the stem to fit but I’m going to guess it wasn’t trimmed. Check the parts list and get the correct main crown, which may come with the stem attached. Seiko, for the divers anyway, often supply the crown and stem assembled. Note that if the original stem and crown were lost, there may be parts needed for the keyless to be sure the new one doesn’t fall out... Post up your findings and we’ll try to help.
    1 point
  17. I forgot to say when it comes to the click always use clock grease not oil, oil will just drip away, grease will stay put and do the lubricating better.
    1 point
  18. You do not want to over flow the oil sinks, two thirds full is enough. When it comes to pallets oil the sides that come into contact with the escape wheel teeth again you do not want oil dripping all over the place and also oil the teeth every other one. I used a fine paint brush for the teeth. If you oil the metal parts that come into contact with another part you can't go wrong. Not being rude but a little common sense and experience helps, after repairing a few clocks it will just come to you what to oil and how much. If you need more help I'm always about.
    1 point
  19. 3 1/2 more. $4.50 + $5.something shipping all together. No movement shots, and they showed up in a BestFit baggie, so either another watchmaker couldn't salvage them (in which case I'm doomed) or couldn't be bothered. The Rouon is missing a stem, and no idea if it does anything yet. I got one of the other two to tick briefly. That's all that can be said for signs of life. Yet another Baumgartner 866 though... Popular indeed! Parts watch for the other at a minimum. I'll probably stop torturing my French victims for a while (they're actually kinda nice), and focus on these more expendable subjects.
    1 point
  20. With all due respect, what is your training Mr. Margolis? I ask because I've encountered a number of school graduates both Swiss and otherwise, who were fairly clueless about adjusting escapements. I think in part due to what John has said above, and just a lack in the training. It's a really important thing, WOSTEP used to spend weeks on it in their fabled but no longer "Refresher Course" which was really just a mindf@ck of adjusting escapements and hairsprings for 20 weeks. Sorely missed now. I really want to put together a crash course for here, but time is the limit. Just did a ruby passing cylinder 4 tooth escape wheel duplex watch, remaking the missing oddball stopwork ring. Got two marine chronometers needing repivotiong and one a detent too. It keeps pouring in. The good info that used to be easily found is disappearing- but the above linked AWCI stuff reveals a _lot_ of escapement info if you dig in. I will put something together in the next few months. I'd say I adjust the bankings or stones on 25%- 35% of what comes through. Much is 70+ year old stuff from a major manufacturer, and often those have solid bankings machined into the mainplate and stones cut so they bottom out on the fork slot- what a joy!
    1 point
  21. I compared 4 292 crystals together. An original crystal coming from a case hiding a CAL400 movement from Services, a DPA, a sternkreuz HW and a sternkreuz HH, you can see them in this order on the pictures from the left to the right. I used a cheap but relatively accurate digital caliper to measure the height and diameter of them. Diameter Height Original Services 29.1 mm 4.4 mm DPA 29.11 mm 3.75 mm sternkreuz HW 29.3 mm 4.0 mm sternkreuz HH 29.25 mm 4.7 mm
    1 point
  22. 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
  23. For these SW220's the 1.2mm seems perfect. As a general rule my plan is to always use the widest screwdriver that will fit the slot. This should make it impossible to push the pin too far. As far as technique goes, hopefully I've improved my "feel" a bit. Removing and replacing the stem is a lot easier with the movement out of the case, but with it in this particular case, which has a screw down crown and an o-ring in the crown tube that provides some resistance when trying to insert it, it really messes up the feel. I'm finding that upon reinsertion I push the stem in until I can feel it touch inside, then depress the button, letting the stem move in, then it seems like the stem has to get pushed in pretty far before it catches the setting lever thereby becoming captive (and not just pull back out if pulled on).
    1 point
  24. Yes I know its quartz. But the watch came minus stem and crown ,the seller made an offer I couldn't refuse. I just swapped in a vx43 movement and Installed a new crown.Easy as pie. It wears it's original knicks and dings ,and keeps time in typical Seiko fashion.its a 7n43 9181. S/N 812266 eighties vintage I reckon.
    1 point
  25. Part 2 is the nadir, a true heartbreak. All was going so well. I have few pictures of the reassembly, but a few of the sad results. I cleaned all the parts by hand, twice, using naptha and a fine paintbrush. All pivot holes pegged out. I then reassembled the watch following Mark's guidelines. Oiling was a matter of instinct, with a little help from a professional watchmaker acquaintance. In particular, I was unsure how to oil the central seconds pinion. The answer is on the bushing, not anywhere else on the extended pivot. Here's the watch reassembled, before going on the timing machine. Nice and clean, with a Canadian quarter thrown in to show off to my siblings and friends. I was triumphant. Then this happened. Calamity, utter calamity. The watch would not settle into any kind of steady rate. The watch wasn't magnetized, just seemingly haunted by erratic, inexplicable rate changes. Seemingly no consistency - not down then up, and not coming regularly. Sometimes the watch would run happily for 2-3 minutes, and then, out of nowhere, change daily rate by 50 seconds or more. Amplitude was sometimes great - 300 - and sometimes poor - 170. The watch did this in all positions. At this point, I did one right thing and one wrong thing. The right thing was watching all of Mark's fault-finding videos several times, and completely stripping and re-cleaning the movement. I looked very closely at all the parts of the train, although I was too chicken to tackle the mainspring again. The only fault I could find was some slop in the barrel due to barrel arbor bearing wear, but this did not seem severe enough to cause the problem. Back together, the watch still ran terribly. In desperation, I made a critical error. The hairspring, I thought, was slightly out of poise - better adjust it, following Mark's YouTube videos. So I took the collet off the balance, grabbed carefully with my tweezers, and, with careful and deliberate effort, permanently ruined the hairspring forever. As I said, the nadir. Trolling Ebay, I found a running donor movement for 30 bucks. So I put this movement aside and went on to other misadventures.
    1 point
  26. I just got in a new plexiglass display case and thought it was a good time to share the progress of the collection. Some of the watches still need cleaning and crystals polished but all in good time.
    1 point
  27. @AndyHull - I’m curious to know what you said when you found it! i misplaced a lovely clean Tissot my wife bought me when we lived in Switzerland. Looked high and low, was gutted. A few countries and change of addresses later, I was rummaging through a fancy picnic bag we’d bought whilst living next to Lake Geneva.There it was! Last time I’d worn it was my birthday-middle of October 2006 -it was a late heatwave and a bunch of us had gone for a swim in the lake ..water was 25oC! I’d put the watch in one of the picnic bag pockets, one of the lads then badly cut his foot, he ended up in hospital. when I found it - huge sigh of relief and me saying to the watch “ahhh - there you are!” on a completely different note, my catch from a few days back - first time wearing it. ’69 Seiko Skyliner. Got it with original box and guarantee. It’s not usually my thing, but it has a simple classic look and feel that’s unlike most of my other watches.
    1 point
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