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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/12/21 in all areas

  1. So after 5 months I managed to have 3 working and restored wingmans. Got all three. The gold, the silver and the black one. Original straps, same from the catalogue. If you look closer the black one has black buttons. So those black buttons have been 3d printed in resin and they look really cool. Pretty close to OEM. The black one still need the bezel's insert. And for the silver one that is not in the photos still polishing the glass. The last thing I need to do in all them after that is just a case back gasket as none of them passed the pressure test. The black one was painted and backed with high impact ceramic paint. Lets hope it lasts. But that is it. Was pretty cool work on these guys. I managed to buy 6 boards. But only 2 worked straight and from the other 4 that did not work I could managed to fix the 3rd... mostly likely the other 3 are corroded but still salvageable. I really like the black one. Looks like a watch Darth Vader would use... :^P
    3 points
  2. This watchmaking renaissance I am going through (following my dad's footsteps) is costing me a lot of money--but I am having fun. I bought another watch bench to set next to my dad's. It is custom made (not to my specifications, but to the designer's). It will arrive in a week. I can't keep my eyes off of Ebay...nabbing this and that. Oh well...you can't take it with you!!
    2 points
  3. Did a lot of work this weekend on a Citizen Eco Drive. Needed a new battery and a new bezel. It looked very worn out. Here are some shots. The double bezel needed replacement and I did a lot of work to recover the crystal. I also got all the scratches off the case with a drumel tool. The end result was amazing. Basically a new watch. When I pushed on the second bezel ring, it would not turn. I put it in my case opener to grab the bezel and then grabbed the movement and forced to rotate. The wire inside the bezel fell into the slot and the bezel now works great. I also made a video on YouTube of some of the action. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    2 points
  4. I could manage to get it plated but not very good. But still better than it was before. The main issue was that I had to sand way to many times the case to remove the plaiting failures. So unfortunately most of the sharpness of the case was lost... :^( After the fist sanding I managed to get the sides levelled, seams pretty small and sharp, but it was all lost by trying to get the plating to stick. :^( The top ring is brass so the plating was perfect. The back case was stainless. Did not go so well because I did not have the stainless activator. I did one layer of copper pen plating. Then a layer of gold 24k. Then a mixed layer with 80% gold and 20%copper by mixing the solutions. Turned out on a really nice rose gold. I am thinking about buying the very same case and then just follow what actually worked on this one and do it perfect.
    2 points
  5. Welcome to the forum Andrei. I'm from America, where we pronounce everyone's name wrong, but I can still type it correctly.
    2 points
  6. Im trying to resist doing the same things. It's not working.
    2 points
  7. This is the old style with a pin that goes all the way through the center wheel. The canon pinion is a tight fit, and the clutch action is the pin slipping in the wheel arbor. Is the center wheel jeweled on the bridge? If so, remove the bridge, and support the wheel in a staking set, and give a sharp tap on the protruding bit out of the canon pinion. If you try it with the bridge on you'll break the jewel. If it's not jeweled you can do the same thing but with the bridge in place. This is a holdover from key set watches, where the pin would have a square on it bridge side. If the bridge is jeweled invariably the head of the pin will pass through the jewel for safe removal. On non jeweled pieces the pin head may be larger than the hole in the bridge so you have to knock it out with the bridge in place.
    2 points
  8. It too looks as if there is reflector ring around the perimeter of the dial. I suspect this is just friction fit in the case to help hold the movement in place. Use a sharpened piece of peg wood or plastic pic to try to pull this up from the dial before proceeding as others have suggested with the stem/crown.
    1 point
  9. It might be a split stem. If you hold the whole thing upside down and slowly turn the crown, you may find that the dial and movement fall out the front when the split stem is oriented properly. In theory you could force the crown out but if I'm wrong, you might damage something
    1 point
  10. Looks like a two piece or "split" stem. Roamer used this type of case quite a lot. Try turning it upside down and slowly turning the crown. If you're lucky then when the joint between the two halves of the stem is aligned vertically the movement will just drop out, make sure that it has something soft to land on. If this doesn't work then you will need to pull the crown with enough force to pull the two halves of the stem apart, releasing the movement.
    1 point
  11. There #5 tool did exist, but it wasn't for removing hands. It was for setting roller jewels.
    1 point
  12. Hello and welcome to the forum, I have checked Cousins uk watch parts and the 921 is listed obsolete. you could try obsoleteclocksandwatches.com or welwynwatchparts.co.uk, or speedtimerkollection in europe all sellers of new and second user watch parts.
    1 point
  13. Hi, I have exactly the same watch and its been a terrific everyday watch for years but is a bit weatherbeaten now. I would like to undertake the same repair but I can't find out where to buy a replacement bezel? I'd be grateful if you could give me a few pointers and also how much I should pay for one. Many thanks James H
    1 point
  14. I have some of a similar nature, Banished to the clock room (dining room) where they get wound up occasionally because the Wife cant stand ticking clocks so without copious sound proofing there they stay. 400 day clocks get the green light NO noise. As OldHippy said not much you can do.
    1 point
  15. I'm a retired electrical engineer and have been looking for a new hobby. About 4 months ago I got a bug to tinker with old watches. I started on a couple of Elgin 18S pocket watches and moved up to a few wrist watches. I am to the point now that I can disassembly and reassembly automatic mechanical watches with a calendar and get them back together without any parts left over, although I still tend to lose a spring or a screw on each watch to the carpet gods. This is great fun and beats watching TV by a long way.
    1 point
  16. Hi Mike yep caravans in the UK = Trailers in the US, The level is triangular in shape with two levels I have anclosed a picture for you.
    1 point
  17. Some can be a bit noisy is the door closed tight to the case. Noise can also depend on the shape of the case, type of wood and space in side around the movement. Not much you can do.
    1 point
  18. caravans if am right i think you call them trailers were people tow them and go on holiday (vacation) they are also static
    1 point
  19. To be fair, you have picked one of the most difficult types of clocks to repair. In my time back in the 70's and 80's I new a few clockmakers who wouldn't touch the things. If you have been repairing clocks as long as I had it is quite common to have them in the workshop with no adjustable feet as I have explained above in one of my comments.
    1 point
  20. Notice I only extracted a tiny part of your message to quote? The rest of your message is generic watch repair. A fusee is more complicated than a standard watch you really should master standard watch before working on a fusee. But typically on generic watch repair the mainspring is confusing? This is because if you look at the labels they came prelubricated typically at least if their modern. This either means that the steel use or whatever the made out supposedly requires no lubrication at all. Or they lubricated it with invisible dry lubrication and no it doesn't like to be cleaned. But either way a drop or two of 8200 works and that will wick into the mainspring. Then yes the fusee has to come apart which can be a interesting process depending on how they Put the pin in and what they made the pin out of. But basically we have a ratchet wheel with a click. The click could be lubricated with a really heavy oil the same as a standard watch. Then you have metal on metal good place for a grease like 9501 would work well here.
    1 point
  21. I'm jealous of Mark's shop in that he can have everything together in one space. My stuff at least the tools and supplies are scattered all over the place. About the only thing that's more or less in one place would be the books. Most of my horological related books are in the picture. Unfortunately they all don't fit in that space so probably another 10 or so books scattered around it just didn't fit. Then yes there is The couple of non-horological but they are related like two volumes of ornamental turning. These are basically really big either Rose engines Or straight line engines for really big things not watches or clocks at all but they're still related to ornamental horological turning. So any of the non-horological books in the picture are canceled out by the rest the books lurking nearby that are not in the picture. As a reminder I know it's hard to remember a time before the Internet where everything Now is at your fingertip on your smart phone etc. But in those dark old days books existed oh wait They still exist don't they? My dad always liked reading books Tuesday used to be library night We would go the library every Tuesday right up until the last year before he died. Then he would get a catalog of all kinds of books you could order at discount. So the concept of ordering books was not new. When I got into watch repair there were several book dealers mail order. In addition to a local bookstore that used to have a really nice horological collection until it migrated to my house slowly. Or even the nawcc Regional meetings dealers from all over the US would come but one of my favorite was a book dealer from California. always could count on getting a couple of good books from him every time he was here. Then for anyone making a bookshelf it's very important that the shelf not extend beyond the edge of the books. In order to get the photograph everything that's normally lurking in front had to be relocated. On the other hand it was a good opportunity to put all the books back As they were slowly migrating out.
    1 point
  22. Welcome to the forum from New Jersey, USA.
    1 point
  23. Perhaps I have been lucky I was just not aware of that. I have not had that issue but have had issues where even after fitting the correct spring it has proved to be too strong and I have had to thin the spring. In my experience with the 400 day clocks everything has to be spot on or it stalls after a day or two.
    1 point
  24. Here it is another interesting article with Richard Walker from Metamec. I love the pictures about the assembly line. If everything goes right I am going to pick up an electric 701 model on Saturday. Richard Walker from Metamec
    1 point
  25. Hi andrei; Andrei is a beautiful and world renowned name. Andrie Gromyko is how I first learned how to pronounce the name correct. I,d like to call you by your real name. Welcome to the forum ANDREI .
    1 point
  26. Post a pic of the movement and dial. Often pocket watches have bought in movents made by other manufacturers. The movement brand cartoche (symbol) and cal no. is usually under the balance or sometimes under the dial side. Also measure the diameter of the movement . All of this will help us identify what it is. saving lots of time going randomly through stems.
    1 point
  27. I decided to dedicate some money to a complete restore. Found a balance complete for a 248 on ebay and purchased it. Ranfft indicates the 248 is derived from the 48 as is the 51 which I have. Many parts interchangeable. We will see. Next up will be to find a suitable dial and hands. Seen a few on ebay. I have a dial, so maybe have it restored...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Stay tuned!! As noted originally, this is in part to continue to hone my skills before attacking my Valjoux.
    1 point
  28. Hi @aoleite. I'm conscious I'm in danger of just repeating what Joe has already said but noting you're a newcomer let me expand a bit on Joe's information: - Watches usually come in 'families'. So a watch movement will typically have a base model. Additions - auto wind mechanism, day, date and so forth give rise to different model numbers in that family. But typically they are building on a base. - In terms of finding useful information on a movement, and that family information, then the ranfft.de website is a goldmine! - Here's the information for your movement as an example: http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&AS_1906. As a 1906 this means a 21600A/h automatic movement with day and date functions. - And because of the family nature of movements it means that in a lot of cases (but not all) things are modular ... the additions just build on the base. It also means that base parts are interchangeable. - It also means if you can't find information on your exact movement number then searching around the family can bring results. Go to YouTube and search for, say, "as 1906 movement" and nothing much useful comes up. ? But now swap that 1906 to 1900 in your search phrase and you'll find a lovely three part video series directly related to your base movement! ?
    1 point
  29. The BB Crystal Company set that you have got on the left is for installing armoured or tension ring crystals. These have a metal ring on the inside of the crystal to keep the sides of the crystal rigid, so using a crystal lift like the Electro-Vise or the Bregeon would be very difficult. The sides of the crystal, and the sides of the rebate into which the crystal fits are parallel, and the crystal is fractionally larger than the rebate, such that when it is installed it is a tight interference fit. The flat dies go on the bottom to support the case, and the inside rim on the upper dies are bevelled, and you select a die that fits over the crystal such that the bevel is in contact with the edge of the crystal dome. The shape of the bevel coupled with the amount of force that the press applies is sufficient to bow the very bottom of the crystal inwards to get it into the top of the rebate, then push it all the way home. The rigidity afforded to the crystal side courtesey of the tension ring allows the crystal to make a very tight, water reisitant seal against the sides of the rebate. The crystal lift is ok for installing standard acrylics but in my opinion it's not the best method. I use one of these.. You have a felt covered lower die that is significantly smaller than the crystal, and a concave upper die that is only slightly smaller than the crystal. The case or bezel is placed over the lower die, the crystal sits on top of the lower die. The upper die is then brought down on top of the crystal and pressure applied causing the lower die to push the middle of the crystal up into the upper die, making it more domed which at the same time reduces the diameter of the crystal skirt. The bezel or the case is then brought up so that the crystal skirt sits inside the rebate, and the upper die is raised, releasing the pressure, and the crystal resumes its proper shape with a flatter dome and wider skirt which grips into the rebate. The sides of a standard acrylic are actually slightly conical, not parallel, and the rebate has a similar conical section, such that as the crystal sides expand in the rebate the sides of the crystal also force the crystal down onto the seat. This creates a contact seal against both the sides and the seat of the rebate and stops the crystal falling out. The set of dies on the right in your pic is for installing glass crystals which are usually pressed into an "I" or "L" shaped gasket.
    1 point
  30. It would appear that it is the same as the omega 320 and 321. the difference being in the minuite wheel jumper see attached sheet . There is also further information on this link http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Omega_320. cheers 1279_Omega 320, 321 (27 Series) (5).pdf
    1 point
  31. I think that clock was one of the reasons they beheaded Marie Antoinette.
    1 point
  32. Great video and also "GS Cement!!"....of course!!. That's the fella!! Could I remember the name of that stuff.. I've not seen it for years, and I've been using UHU and a few other locally sourced glues, so thanks for the memory prompt. I've just ordered some. Let's hope its as good as I remember.
    1 point
  33. Thanks for sharing that, the blue angel citizen turned out very good
    1 point
  34. That is an overused mantra and is not true. Some cheap tools are just fine, other are ridicolous. Some expensive tools are so overpriced that one can use the money so much better. It's the watchmaker that produces the results, not the tools.
    1 point
  35. All you need is one ultrasonic cleaner. Put water in the machine and have separate jars with your preferred solutions in them. All you have to do is place the jars into the water and the vibrations will penetrate the glass and clean the parts.
    1 point
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