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  1. Just made a program to download all issues I could find of the AWCI Horological Times to my OneDrive. I hope I didn't do anything illegal, but I'd be happy to remove the files in case I did. Enjoy! https://1drv.ms/f/s!AnVrKJ9agkNWkfFk72cqE5ISkNJ78A?e=mYbidJ
    15 points
  2. It is my impression that ETA's calibre 2892-A2 is usually found in more expensive watches and in luxury watches where oftentimes the movement has been modified. Mechanically, I don't think the 2892-A2 is superior to ETA’s classic 2824-2. Both movements have the same diameter (11 ½´´´ Ø 25.60 mm), the same frequency (28’800 A/h), and the same date complication. The decisive difference is the thickness where the 2892-A2 is one-millimetre thinner (3.6mm). That, combined with being a reliable and well-functioning movement, has made it popular for additional complications and alterations such as moon phase, power reserve display, co-axial escapement, chronograph modules from Dubois Depraz, and so on. The Swiss Sellita Calibre SW300-1 is, as far as I understand, an excellent clone of the 2892-A2. There is also a Chinese clone, the Seagull Calibre ST1812 (reviewed by @Markin the video “Chinese eta 2892-A2 Clone - Service and Review - Seagull ST1812”), and possibly others. Mark has made a playlist of videos that excellently demonstrate how to service the ETA 2892-A2 movement. The playlist is named: "Omega 2500 Co-Axial Stripdown and Service (ETA 2892-A2)" I recommend Mark’s playlist for several reasons. Among other things, he shows how to mount the barrel bridge safely and how to hold the minute train bridge with your tweezers to easily get it into place on the main plate (which I found a bit fiddly). In addition, he shows and compares the parts that are all too easy to mix up. One thing that is not shown in Mark's service video is that the Incabloc setting (chaton and cap jewel) for the balance and the main plate have different diameters. The main plate Incabloc setting diameter is smaller than that of the balance. The reason this is not shown in the video is probably that Mark removes, cleans, and lubricates the Incabloc settings one at a time after he reassembles the balance, so he wouldn’t notice. Anyway, don't mix up the two sets! Something that I appreciate about Mark's videos in general and that sets him apart from basically all other watch repairers on YouTube is that he doesn't continuously babble in his videos but mainly talks to make clarifications. I enjoy those segments of silence where I can just focus on the work being done. When I started my service, I decided to follow Mark's disassembly which worked perfectly. But for the assembly, I made up my mind to follow ETA's technical documentation to the letter. It turned out to be a mistake. In ETA's documentation, the assembly of the movement begins with the keyless works, then the train of wheels and then the barrel bridge. The crucial problem with this arrangement is that it is physically impossible to mount the barrel bridge if the train of wheels is already mounted. It is also very fiddly and difficult to baste the end of the winding stem into the winding pinion hole because the hole for the winding stem in the main plate is both open and tapered and therefore does not hold the winding stem. Mark takes a considerably more hands-on approach. He begins the assembly with the barrel bridge. He then mounts the keyless works whose constituent parts (the winding stem, the winding pinion, and the sliding pinion) are supported by the underside of the barrel bridge, making it considerably easier to get the keyless works in place. After I revised my strategy, this service walkthrough now follows Mark’s approach. It surprises me, but it seems like no watchmaker has proofread ETA's technical documentation. Alternatively, ETA follows an established practice and expects those using the documentation to understand that the assembly order in the document is not significant. I am also somewhat sceptical of ETA's recommendations regarding lubrication. Where we traditionally use grease, for example in the keyless works, ETA chooses mainly oil (HP-1300). I guess that ETA treats all parts of the movement with epilame (Fixodrop) and that oil may then be a better alternative. For better or for worse, my service walkthrough follows ETA's lubrication recommendations. As usual, I would like to remind those of you with no previous experience in watch servicing that this service walkthrough should not be seen as a tutorial on how to service a watch movement. A lot of tools, consumables, training and know-how are required to succeed. Fortunately, there are several excellent resources and watchmaking schools online. When looking through the pictures you’ll see that a few screws and plates are either marred or have pits and grooves in them. None of this is my doing but is either the result of rust (that I removed) or the doings of a less scrupulous repairer than myself. Finally, someone may ask, “Why to bother to do a service walkthrough with pictures when there is such an excellent video?" The main answer to the question is that I find it interesting and fun, and I see it as a complement to Mark's service video. Using this walkthrough, you can quickly scroll through the pictures to read what the different parts are called and where and in what order they should go, what the screws to be used look like, and to read ETA's lubrication recommendations. So, I hope you’ll find this ETA 2892-A2 service walkthrough useful, now or in the future. *** ETA Calibre 2892-A2 Disassembly *** ' *** ETA Calibre 2892-A2 Assembly ***
    15 points
  3. Valjoux / ETA 7751 Triple calendar moon-phase; This gold-plated Berney-Blondeau S.A. with an ETA 7751 belonged to a German gentleman who received it new on his 60th birthday in 1995. Through the years he kept the original box, the warranty card as well as the 1995 price-list and the dealer’s business card. He has worn the watch only on social accessions and the watch spent most of its time stored in a "Panzerschrank". According to the original price-list, the 1995 purchase price was 1450 CHF. As you can see, the watch held up pretty well, only a few small scratches in the front- and rear mineral-glass crystal and on the top of the lugs some of the gold-plating has worn through. The watch ran, all function did work. It had never been serviced nor opened Disclaimer; This walk-through is written in the way I do it. That's not to say it's the most correct way of doing things but as they say: there are many ways to Rome, all leading to the same result. Neither do I, as a hobbyist, have fancy horological equipment such as a cleaning machine or a "sterile" & "dust-free" room and therefor the end result will not be "Rolex"-standards. All I can say is that I'm always give it my best shot and I will mention problems encountered or were I went wrong, so you don't have to Without any further ado, let's dig into this beautiful & complicated watch ...... First make sure that you downloaded the latest ETA 7751 "Technical Communication". Throughout this walk-through I'll use the same parts reference numbers as used in the "Technical Communication". Below the currently latest September 2021 version; 7751 manual.pdf Before having done anything to the watch, I tested all the functions for proper working and took the timegrapher readings to see if there was anything which needed special attention. These readings can later be compared with the readings after the service. Dial-Up; Dial-Down; Crown-Right; Crown-Down; Crown-Left; Crown-Up; From the readings, it's clear to see that the watch needed a proper service. The back-lid, just like the front-crystals found on pocket-watches, required a knife-type case-opener. Checked out the oscillating weight ball-bearing, it had next to no play and therefor good for another round. Removed the oscillating weight (48). Removed the two casing-screws and clamps, pulled the stem and flipped the case over onto a soft pillow. With the watch-case removed, the winding stem re-inserted and the movement was placed in a proper 7750 (or family) movement-holder. To me, working on these movements a proper movement-holder is paramount. During the disassembly of the movement I encountered some problems and without this holder I most likely would have made scratches or worse..... Pulling the 8x hands; they all came off without any problems. All the hands safely nicely stored in a small plastic container. The same counts for the dial, after the removal directly stored in a plastic container with on both sides of the dial a soft lining. Removal of the Day & Month indicator disk (78) and the Moon phase indicator (79) The keen observer may have noticed that there are no screws next to the movement holder, for example the two screws holding the Day & Month indicator respectively. When working on complicated movements or movements which I'm not familiar with, I took on the habit, when possible, to replace the screws in the same hole as they came from. For sure, it's more work, but some movements do have multiple types/sizes screws and it will become a big puzzle if you store them in the same container / basket. Replacing the screws works (most of the time) very well for me, but in some cases the replaced screws shoulder-out deeper than as they would have done when holding the part above. The protruding screw may touch parts below or when replacing bridges, prevent the bridge from not seating fully "level". To me, replacing the screws thoughtfully is far simpler than facing a huge sorting puzzle later. Removal of the combined maintaining plate (76) and the Month star driving wheel (77). The three tiny screws holding the maintaining plate (76) were extremely tight. I couldn't loosen them with my standard (new) screwdriver bits so I had to grind the screwdriver bit to match the exact the same shape as the screw-grooves. Only then, with "force", they came loose and I was glad for having a proper movement-support! One slip of the screwdriver, with the force that was required, could / would have easily made a deep score in the plate or worse ........ Removal of the Day jumper spring (71), Day & Month jumper (70), Day jumper (72) and the Moon phase yoke (73) plus an early warning ! With those parts out of the way, the Moon phase platform (75) had to come off. Assuming that the with the arrow highlighted screw was one of the screws holding the platform down, I turned the screw only to discover that it was the moon-phase corrector eccentric ....... Oops !! The setting of the eccentric has to be checked at the end anyway, but now I know for sure that it's set wrongly. Removal of the Moon phase jumper (69), Corrector maintaining small plate (66) and the Moon phase jumper spring (67). Still in the picture the Date & Month jumper (74) which should have been removed before this picture was taken. The original stem was replaced by a longer stem to adjust the Calendar driving wheel (61) which was holding the Date-star (63) down. Removal of the Date-star (63, shown in the previous picture) together with the Date-corrector (65) and the corrector maintaining small plate (66). Removal of the calendar platform (62). Slowly back to familiar ground; a standard ETA 7750 starts to appear ... Removal of the Hour wheel 24hrs H1 (59), the Calendar driving wheel (61), the Hour-wheel (60), the Day corrector (58) and the Day corrector spring (57). The removal of the Hammer-spring (56), Set hour-hammer operating lever (53 & 54), Hour counter lock (55), Hour counting wheel (52), Minute-wheel (51) and the free Cannon pinion (50). Pulling of the Driving pinion (49) has to be done carefully; either with a pair of hand-levers or two small screw-drivers. The upwards force on either side of the pinion has to the equal or you may break the pinion of the great wheel (16) (a previous experience has taught me so !! ) Flip the movement over and from here on I'm using a Bergeon 4040 movement holder. First the removal of the Hammer-spring (45). When removing this spring I had up till now difficulties avoiding making a small mark in the Automatic device bridge (44). It was our WRT-member "Nickelsilver" who tipped me off using a piece of Scott tape over the edge of the bridge. This worked very well and for the first time I was able to remove the hammer without leaving a mark! Thanks Nickelsilver! The hammer-spring (45) and the Clutch-spring (47) removed. Remove the Auto device bridge (44). Removal of the Reversing wheel; (43), Reduction wheel (41), the Clutch (40), Oscillating pinion (39), the Hammer (42), Chronograph wheel (37), Minute-counting wheel (38), Minute-counting jumper (46), the Lock (33), the Operating-lever (36) and the Minute counting driving wheel (19). Removal of the Chronograph bridge (34), the Friction spring (32) and the Operating lever spring (35). After the removal of the Ratchet wheel driving wheel (33) it's time to release any residual power in the main-spring. This can be done by holding the crown, lift the Click-spring (20) and slowly release the tension by letting the crown slip through your fingers. Removal of the Chronograph cam (29), Cam jumper (28), Detent (30), Ratchet wheel (23), Crown wheel core (22) and Crown wheel (21). Removal of the Balance Assembly (26+27), Pallet bridge (25) and Pallet fork (24). Removal of the Barrel bridge (18). Removal of the power-train; the Great wheel (16), Third wheel (15), Second wheel (14), Escape wheel (13), the Movement barrel (12) and the Stop lever (17). Flip the movement over for disassembling the keyless works. Removal of the Setting lever jumper (11) together with the Intermediate setting wheel (10), the Time setting gear (9), Rocking bar (8), Yoke (6), Setting lever (5), Winding stem (4), Winding pinion (2), Sliding pinion (3) and the Yoke spring (7). All the parts safely stored in a compartmentalized box with lid, ready for cleaning & demagnetizing. Regarding the "wear & tear" of all the watch-parts; it was clear to see that the watch hadn't seen a lot of use. The Oscillating weight ball-bearing (48) was good, reversing wheel (43) looked good etc. However, I decided to change out the main-spring. This type of barrel has a lid which cannot be "pushed" open. To open the lid, I place a sharp knife in the groove between the barrel and the lid and while pressing down on the knife roll the barrel, in my case on a "soft" leather underground to avoid doing any damage. This widens the groove into a small gap and with the smallest screwdriver one can pry, going around the barrel, the lid off. When done carefully you won't leave any marks. Barrel & Arbor cleaned, braking-grease applied ready for the new spring. Apart from a few (see "technical communication" !) the parts were soaked for 24hrs in Zippo lighter fluid and pegged; all the sprockets, pivots and jewels. Thereafter all the parts were checked for magnetism. Instead of using the unreliable compass method, I'm using an App called "Lepsi" on my iPhone. This App doesn't tell you how much magnetism there is, it only indicates whether there is any. The distance of the object above the screen, by which magnetism is detected, gives you some indication of the strength of the magnetic field, but nothing more. For me, when magnetism is detected, that's enough reason to "Zap" that part on my no-nonsense self-build demagnetizer. Of course, in reality the demagnetizer is not placed anywhere near my iPhone or the other watch-parts / metal-objects like here on the photo. Also, it may be a good idea to take your watch off during the "zapping” operations! Quite a few parts, particularly in the calendar works, were magnetized. With the main-plate anti-shock Chaton cleaned, pegged, cap-stone oiled and re-installed in the main-plate (1), the assembly of the 7751 can begin. Escape wheel (13), Second-wheel (14), Third-wheel (15), Main-spring barrel (12), Great-wheel (16) and Stop-lever (17). Installation of the barrel-bridge (18) (by a 7750 the wheel-train the and barrel-bridge are combined in one bridge). Make sure that all the wheels turn fine before tightening the screws; check, check and double check. Again, if you using the re-installed screws method, some screws may protrude the bridge. (I took the "warning picture" below a little later, so don't look at any additional installed parts) All the Lubrications as per the ETA 7751 "Technical Communication". These two re-installed screws do protrude the Barrel bridge (18). The one on the left will touch the Great-wheel (16) and the one to the right may just touch the main-spring barrel (12). Back them out far enough so they don't cause any trouble. The installation of the Crown-wheel (21), Crown-wheel core (22) and the Ratchet-wheel (23). With the movement turned over, installation of the keyless works; Sliding-pinion (3), Winding pinion (2), Winding-stem (4), Setting-lever (5), Yoke-spring (7), Rocking-bar (8), Yoke (6) and placing of the Time setting gear (9) before placing the Intermediate setting wheel (10) and Setting lever jumper (11) as a "combination". Keyless work completed. Check for proper working! Installed the pallet-fork (24) and the complete balance assembly (26 & 27). Cleaned, pegged the balance Chaton and oiled the cap-stone. Before going any further with the assembling, I tested the power-train and escapement for any irregularities. On the timegrapher the readings were looking a whole lot better than initially. Instead of picturing each position, here are the readings; DU & DD both 292-294 degrees, 0 ms and 0 s/d. CU: 244, 0.1, -14 s/d CR: 249, 0.2, -16 s/d CD: 252, 0.1, -6s/d CL: 262, 0.0, -5 s/d Even though I adjusted the Etachron as good as I could, that's to say centring the hairspring between the two regulator pins and thereafter reducing the regulator pins gap to the point that the hairspring could still, but just "breath", the positional deviation with max. 16 seconds is slightly higher than I was hoping for. Then again, it's not a chronometer grade and each position produced straight lines, so I think that with some daily-rate adjustments the watch will run just fine. Once satisfied with the running of the power-train and the escapement, the assembly of the chronograph can start. Cam jumper (28), Chronograph cam (29), Detent (30), Minute counter driving wheel 30 minutes (19), Lock (33), Operating lever spring (35) and the Operating lever (36). As said; lubrication as per "Technical Communication" and test the proper function of the start/stop and reset levers. Placement of the Ratchet wheel driving wheel (31) and the Friction spring chronograph wheel (32). Install the chronograph bridge (34); don't forget the lubricate the Reversing wheel jewel on the bottom of the chronograph bridge before placement. Also pay attention to the reset-lever, it has to be pushed in so the bridge can sit level & flush. Check the working of the Ratchet driving wheel (31) and the reset lever before tightening the bridge screws. The placement of a well lubricated Reduction wheel (41), Minute counter jumper (46), Oscillation pinion (39, biggest sprocket down), seconds recording Chronograph wheel (37), Minute counting wheel (38), the Clutch (40), make sure that the oscillation pinion pivot is engaged), Reversing wheel (43) and finally the Hammer (42) before the Automatic device bridge (44). Before installing the Automatic device bridge (44), lubricate the jewel for the seconds recording Chronograph wheel underneath the bridge. The installation of the Automatic device bridge can be very tricky. It's very easy to touch the Clutch (40) and the pivot of the Oscillation pinion comes out. Before inserting or tightening the bridge screws, double-check the placing and working of every component!! Once the bridge is installed and with the relevant lubrication done, before mounting the hammer-spring (45) and the Clutch-spring (47), all the functions of the chronograph can be checked & tested; the engagement of the oscillation pinion, the smooth running of the seconds recording chronograph wheel, the advancing of the minute counting wheel, the start/stop- and reset-levers etc. Next is the installment of the Hammer-spring (45) and Clutch-spring (47). To prevent scratches on the Automatic device bridge (44), as per brilliant idea of WRT member "Nickelsilver", a piece of Scotts tape was taped over the edge of the bridge. With the installment of those two springs, the assembly of the chronograph is completed Movement flipped over and placed in the 775x movement holder. Installment of a well lubricated Driving pinion (49), The Cannon-pinion (50), the Minute wheel (51), Hour counting wheel (52), Set hour operating lever (53+54), Hour counter lock (55) the Hammer spring (56), the Day corrector spring (57) and the Day corrector (58). The build-up, up till the Day corrector spring (57) and the Day corrector (58), was identical as to a standard 7750. The Hour wheel 24hrs (59) drops over the Second wheel (14) pivot. Attention: Sadly, no picture but when installing the Hour wheel (60) over the Cannon pinion, one has to lift the Minute wheel (51) slightly and to make sure that the hour wheel teeth do engage in the small minute wheel sprocket. Once they engage, both wheels can be lowered in place. Finally, before installing the Calendar platform (62) the Calendar driving wheel (61) with the "day finger" pointing as shown. From here on I pulled the winding stem to stop the running of the movement and thereby avoiding the advancement / altering of the positions of the wheels. The installation of the Calendar platform (62) can be a bit tricky. It's all too easy to dislodge the hour lever (53) and the Hammer spring (56). Make sure that the platform sits flush with the Main plate (1) before tightening the 3x screws. Place the Day star (63) as shown in both above pictures. Placing of Date + Month jumper (70), the Day + Month jumper (74) (Both jumpers are identical), Day jumper (72), Moon phase yoke (73), Day jumper spring (71), Date corrector (65), Corrector maintaining small plate (66), Moon phase corrector (68), Moon phase jumper (69) and Moon phase jumper spring (67). Installation of the Moon phase platform (75), the Combined maintaining plate (76) (Be aware that the top of the Combined maintaining plate slides in the gap of the Day Star) and the placing of the Month star driving wheel (77). Placing the Month & Day indicator disk (78) and the Moon phase indicator (79). Adjusting the Phase corrector eccentric (64) wasn't that hard as I feared. By adjusting the eccentric one determines the "depth" of the Date corrector (65), shown by the blue arrows. Set too high and the top-sprocket of the Date corrector (65) won't even touch the Moon phase corrector (68). Set too deep the top-sprocket of the Date corrector will jam the Moon phase corrector (68) into the Moon phase indicator. The "depth" has to set such that the sprocket of the Date corrector (65) pushes the Moon phase corrector (68) just far enough so that it will just advance the Moon phase indicator by one click before the top Date corrector (65) sprocket releases the Moon phase corrector (68). There is clear information about the Moon phase corrector "depth" setting in the ETA 7751 "Technical Communication". With all parts installed and tested as far as possible, the dial goes back on. Before re-installing the hands, I re-lumed the minute & hour hand with new high-class LumiNova. Both hands now re-lumed and drying before the installation. Placing the long Date indicator hand required a bigger size hand-pusher which I didn't have. The idea was born to cut a tweezer protector-cap from the top until the required size was obtained. Stuck to protector cap onto the handle of a diamond file for more stability / pushing-power. It worked like a treat Turn the date quick-set until the month indicator disk changes month, that will be the first (1) day of the new month. The rest of the hands (8! in total) to be set at 24:00 midnight when the day indicator disk changes. Detailed instructions about the "shift tolerances" are described in the ETA 7751 "Technical Communication". All the hands installed and correctly set on the month / day / date and moon phase. The 18th of January 2022 had a full moon. The German gentleman received the watch when he turned 60 in 1995, now I'll continue with his watch as from my (65th ) birthday in January 2022 I'm still awaiting new crystals and once the case has been restored, I'll add the final picture of the fully restored/serviced watch. I really enjoyed working on this watch and even though I sometimes feel that contributing to this current WRT-forum has sadly become a bit of wasted time, I do hope that my write-up, perhaps found via Google or some other search machine, will be of some use to somebody, at some point in time Endeavor, Denmark
    15 points
  4. Hi guys, I wrote this lesson for my second students to understand the theoretical aspects of the Swiss lever escapement in conjunction with the practical application of end-shake and setting jewels using a jewelling tool. Both Seitz and Horia-type jewelling tools were used. Although I talk about measurements using the settings on the side of the jewelling tools, it is more about what 'feels' right, especailly when gauging the end-shake of a particular component, such as the balance, pallet and escape wheel. Ideally, you wouldn't start by adjusting the end shake of the balance to suit your needs, but if the IncaBloc setting has been replaced or the Inca setting has been moved to replace the shockproof spring, then it is important to set the end-shake correctly. This presentation also looks at how to set the correct end-shake of the pallet in relation to the balance safety roller as well as other critical measurements, including the height of the escape wheel teeth hitting the impulse face of the pallet fork in both dial-up and dial down positions. The escape wheel and pallet have to have the exact same end-shake as each other for this reason. Unfortunately, the slides that contain videos can't be played as I converted the PowerPoint into PDF. I have used some diagrams from a WOSTEP handout on this subject, to show the vital measurement of the escapement in relation to the balance safety roller, so all credit goes to the author of that hand-out, which has been posted several times on this forum. All the students that set all the jewels after removing them and the balance end-shake to its optimum got a watch movement working with much improved amplitude than when they started. All ten jewels in the wheel train were removed as well as both IncaBloc settings. Another lesson was created just about the balance setting and disassembly and assembly of the EtaChron balance system which included removing a replacing that Inca setting. I haven't included that lesson. Not every aspect of this work is within the presentation, as it would be very long otherwise. I talk a lot and explain more as the lesson proceeds. This lesson was held over six to seven hours. If anyone is interested in learning more on this subject, please message me. Lesson 16. Balance endshake & Incabloc adjustment.pdf Lesson 16. Balance endshake & Incabloc adjustment.pdf
    14 points
  5. Introduction This service walkthrough is not a tutorial on how to service a watch movement. I made it for myself because I think it's fun and because it will make it easier the next time I service a Vostok 2431. I also think it feels nice to be able to share this walkthrough considering all the valuable information that many very talented members on WRT freely share. Many, many thanks! There is a lot to learn when servicing a watch movement that is not covered in this walkthrough. Therefore, I recommend, for example, watchfix.com, learnwatchmaking.com, or timezonewatchschool.com. I feel like I got the most bang for my buck at watchfix.com (I'm not sponsored in any way) but I've also had a lot of fun and benefited from the other online schools. Links to photos on my OneDrive Vostok calibre 2431 disassembly walkthrough. Please sort the images by name in ascending order. Vostok calibre 2431 assembly walkthrough. Please sort the images by name in ascending order. Curiosities I think it was in 2014 or possibly 2015 that I bought my Sturmanskie Open Space. I had just discovered that there were watches where the hour hand only rotates one revolution per day and at that time I knew absolutely nothing about watch movements, service and repair. The idea that the hour hand of a watch only rotates one revolution per day seemed not only completely logical but also different and fascinating. The earth rotates one revolution around its axis per day, so it should be obvious that the hour hands of our watches do so too. The fact that the letters on the watch were also Cyrillic did not make the whole thing any less exciting. I just couldn’t resist it and I’m happy I didn’t! Vostok claims that their movements only need a service every 10 years, and I think that's true because the tolerances are pretty rough and therefore large amounts of dirt are needed to stop a Russian movement or even cause it to run badly. It has been said that the amount of dirt required to stop a Vostok movement is enough to stop a hundred Patek Philippe movements However, the price for this endurance is a movement that doesn't come close to the precision offered by high-quality Swiss and Japanese movements, but it's still quite easy to get these Russian movements to run accurately as long as they're worn and used consistently. About the movement Russian watch brands such as Vostok, Raketa, and Poljot, to name a few, are known for using their in-house movements, but not this Sturmanskie which is instead powered by a Vostok calibre 2431, which is a 24-hour movement. However, it is not a true 24-hour movement. That is, the movement is not originally designed as a 24-hour movement. Instead, Vostok has modified the movement in its calibre 2416B so that the hour hand only rotates one revolution per day. Calibre 2431 is otherwise identical to Vostok automatic calibres 2416B and 2415. The motion work(/dial train) in Vostok 2431 The way that Vostok modified the movement so that the hour hand only rotates one revolution per day is by modifying a) the minute wheel, b) the bearing for the minute wheel in the main plate, and c), adding an intermediate date indicator wheel. The minute wheel has been modified so that it has two pinions that lie on top of each other. The lower pinion drives what I call the first intermediate date indicator wheel while the upper pinion drives the hour wheel and has been adjusted so that the hour wheel only rotates one revolution per day. The number of teeth on the hour wheel itself may have also been adapted, but this is not something that I have investigated. Normally the minute wheel is mounted on a regular metal post on the main plate, but in this case, Vostok has replaced the post with a beefy, jewelled bearing. I assume that this has been necessary to get the minute wheel, with its two pinions on top of each other, to rotate sufficiently smoothly and stably. The added first intermediate date indicator wheel drives the second intermediate date indicator wheel which is part of Vostok's regular (non-modified) calendar complication. And this is what it looks like with the hour wheel mounted. Cleaning I have found that it is all too easy to underestimate the importance of cleanliness when servicing a movement, perhaps because the parts are microscopic and therefore it takes time to get used to thinking microscopically, even though I have been doing this now for five years. Cleaning of pinions and pivots A type of watch movement part that is particularly important but also difficult to get completely clean is pinions, but @nickelsilver advised me quite recently that in its pre-cleaning you can dip and rub the pinions in pith wood that you have impregnated with an effective degreasing agent, for example, Horosolv. I've done it several times now and it works amazingly well. Speaking of pinions, independent American watchmaker Josh Shapiro mentioned in a podcast that he considered pinions to be the most difficult part of a watch movement to make perfectly. Whether it's true or not I don't know but I think it's likely. To get the pivots clinically clean, I have also started using EVEFLEX, but you have to be careful because the material has an abrasive effect. It is important to choose the right polisher and to be careful. I have summarized my experiences with EVEFLEX in this post and I mention it because EVEFLEX is easy and quick to work with and gives me very good results. End-shake If there's one thing I've learned this time around, it is that a Russian movement cannot be converted to a Swiss movement because the tolerances in Russian movements are generally much coarser. Experimentally, I adjusted the end-shake to 2/100mm on everything from the pallet fork to the centre wheel, with the result that the amplitude and rate became extremely erratic. I created a thread about this: "Can end-shake and or side-shake ever be too small?" As you will see if you follow the thread, once again @nickelsilver, @Shane, and @JohnR725came to my rescue. Many thanks! My recommendation is to let the end-shake be slightly wider on Russian movements. After I increased the end-shake to approx. 4/100 mm, the amplitude and rate returned to typical, i.e., still somewhat irregular but perfectly normal for a Russian movement. Side-shake In this video, Kalle Slaap from Chronoglide shows an amazingly simple and effective way to determine if the side shake is correct. Since there was a crack in the third wheel jewel in the train wheel bridge, I replaced it, and when I then used Kalle Slaap's method, I could clearly see the 3rd wheel pivot jumping back and forth in the jewel hole. So, I replaced the jewel with a hole that was 1/100mm smaller and the visual difference, just changing it by 1/100 mm, was nothing less than dramatic. I am incredibly happy that I got to learn this simple and exceptionally clear method. Many thanks to Kalle Slaap at Chronoglide! Vostok reverser wheels If you Google “Vostok reverser wheels”, there is a lot of whining going on. I don't think there are any major problems with Vostok's reverser wheels, but they are unfortunately easy to damage during service or modification of the movement, and I think that is the real reason for the whining. Next to Seiko watches, Vostok watches are immensely popular to modify in terms of dials and hands, and in addition, many people want to fix the seconds hand that sometimes stutters on these movements. The latter is done by bending the second-hand pinion spring illustrated in this thread. To make these modifications, the oscillating weight/rotor must be removed and when it is to be screwed back on, it is easy for the rotor pinion to end up on top of the teeth of the reverser wheels. If you tighten the rotor screw in that position, even just a little, the reverser wheels will inevitably be damaged. The result is that the automatic winding stops working or only works intermittently. An easy way to check if the reverser wheels are working as they should is to manually rotate the oscillating weight alternately about 20 degrees in both directions with a piece of peg wood while looking at the 1st reduction wheel which is large and easy to see. If the 1st reduction wheel continuously rotates in the same direction (counterclockwise, if I remember correctly), no matter which way you rotate the oscillating weight, you can be sure that the reverser wheels are working as they should. If, on the other hand, the 1st reduction wheel rotates alternately in both directions when you rotate the oscillating weight alternately, then you can be sure that the reverser wheels are damaged and need to be replaced. Servicing the automatic mainspring I find it difficult to service the mainspring on automatic movements. It is, in my opinion, a construction that leaves room for improvement and that is why I generally prefer manually wound movements. If the mainspring in an automatic movement slips too soon, it reduces the amplitude and the power reserve, and if the mainspring slips too late, there is the risk of re-banking and that the movement runs much too fast when you are physically active, especially when you take a brisk walk swinging your arms, and the oscillating weight rotates constantly. The effect is like continuously turning the crown of a manual movement with high pressure when the mainspring is already fully wound. Not good! What I learned this time anyway, long story short is that you can be quite generous with braking grease on the rim on the inside of the mainspring barrel. Even if some of the braking grease ends up where it really shouldn't be, I don't think it will destroy or affect anything negatively. Also, and again from Kalle Slaap at Chronoglide, I learned that you should press at the end of the spring at the bridle when it is mounted in a spacer, and you are about to push it into the mainspring barrel. In this way, the rest of the spring automatically follows down into the mainspring barrel. You can see it in this clip. Very smooth, especially in combination with my highly rated Master Craft mainspring winder which I wrote about in this post. Lubrication of cap jewels For a long time, I have had trouble getting the oil to stay in the centre of the cap jewels and not flow out after I oiled them and installed them, despite treating them with epilame (Fixodrop). I think it's because (and now I'm going by gut feeling) that I previously always installed the shock assembly in the main plate before installing the balance and that I didn't treat the jewel housing (chaton) with epilame. After several failures in servicing this movement, I decided to treat both the cap jewels and jewel housings with epilame and mount the shock assembly after having replaced the balance. It did the trick and also made fitting the three-legged anti-shock spring much easier. My theory is that the balance staff pivots stabilize the oil in the centre of the cap jewels when the jewel housing (chaton) is dropped into place, and better hold the jewel housing in place, which will otherwise slide around while installing the three-legged anti-shock springs. Have I just written the longest post in the history of WRT? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!
    14 points
  6. Hi guys, I joined this forum a few years ago now and have enjoyed reading the posts and offering help where I can, as well as learning things I didn't know. Although I am a professional watchmaker and watchmaking tutor: https://www.jonthewatch.co.uk/ I still learn a lot from you guys on subjects and watch movements I haven't come across before. I especially enjoyed a post this week by @eccentric59with his walkthrough of an ETA movement that had a plastic fork and escape wheel, which I haven't worked on before. All watchmakers, including professional watchmakers, are always learning something new. It would be incredibly arrogant to say 'I know it all'. Even WOSTEP-trained watchmakers with many years under their belts are always learning something new, even from those relatively new to the art of horology. I trained a watchmaker from Christopher Ward Watches recently and hopefully will be writing them a service manual this year for their in-house movement, the SH21 because they want the expertise I have to be able to train their guys how to service it, which I feel quite honoured about, as I am not WOSTEP-trained. I know I'm rambling a bit, but the point I'm trying to make is that we can all learn from each other no matter where we are on our horological journey, be it professionals, seasoned enthusiasts, or the weekend fettler. I would like to share something with you which is a word of warning, that some of you may not be aware of. This isn't a character assassination or a resentment I have, it's just a fact that might help some of you. Cousins UK: https://www.cousinsuk.com/ ONLY sell to what they call 'Trade Buyers' it is stated in their Terms & Conditions; that means that you need to be a professional watchmaker in the trade to have any real binding contract with them. They are happy to take your money as many are not in the trade, but if what you buy is defective, damaged, missing, or you want to return it to Cousins for whatever reason, you don't have a legal leg to stand on and you may not see your money again. So if you are planning to buy an item that is quite pricey keep this fact in mind if that item is not working properly or stops working a few weeks or months later, then you won't get any redress. Companies such as HS Walsh and Gleave and Co. sell a lot of what Cousins sells for a very similar price and sometimes cheaper, but at least you will have a chance to contact them and make a claim. I buy from Cousins from time to time, but wouldn't buy an expensive tool or item for this reason. Mainly watch crystals, gaskets, batteries, and the odd mainspring. I mainly buy from Gleave and Co in Clerkenwell, London, as they have the expertise to be able to help you on the phone and they are also a small family-run material house that I have trust in and would prefer to put my money their way. Gleave and Co. have integrity. Their website is getting better and sometimes what they have isn't listed on the website, but a phone call (8.30 am to 10.30 am) or WhatsApp message (anytime) will sort that out. Expensive equipment, such as Elma watch cleaning machines, or Bergeon case back removal tools 5700, etc. can be bought from HS Walsh or even cheaper from a German Company called Beco Technic: https://www.beco-technic.com/en/ You have to set up an account with them, but even with shipping and VAT thrown in, it will end up cheaper than buying from a British company. You get a 10 to 15% discount on their prices once you register with them. I was a consultant for watchmakers in Essex who saved about £25000 buying through Bec Technic. I can only tell you my experience and some may have had a good experience with Cousins getting a refund. It took me once over six months to get a refund for a £40 quartz movement that was delivered to the wrong address in an order that was several hundred pounds and after spending about £5000 with them, as I was the buyer of a watchmaking college. Only when I threatened to buy from elsewhere that they refunded me/the college for the missing movement. I hope this helps some of you in some way, as there are more material houses out there other than Cousins.
    13 points
  7. Boy, did I ever get lucky! I went back to a local antique mall (more of a flea market, really) early this morning to buy something I'd seen several days ago. And it was still there! And this time, I had money! A Girard Perregaux Gyromatic. Not running, so they weren't asking much. I bought it and went straight home to my bench. Cleaned, inspected, oiled, regulated, and now it runs quite nicely. Fitted with a nice patent leather strap, and I've been wearing it this evening. I often turn about and sell many of the watches I rescue and repair, but not this one. Not this time. I took a liking to it rather quickly. Addendum: it has a 17j GP 21.19 plated with gold. It's a jem to look at. And a 14k gf case which took a nice polish. The original crystal is not too terrible at all, so I'm thinking of leaving it on.
    13 points
  8. In the "THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!" category of watch repair, I have this new story to add: I picked up this old, dirty Helbros Invincible at a flea market because I liked the style and wanted to see if I could do anything with it. I got it home and took off the back...and it was like opening Pandora's box! Looking over the Helbros-branded Lorsa P72 movement, I could plainly tell that someone had been allowing a stray screw or metal component to just freely go romping about amongst the wheel train. Damaged wheel teeth, scratches, broken staff, messed up hairspring, a couple cracked jewels, but no sign of a loose screw or part - although!...there were two empty screw holes, one in a bridge and it was missing one of the dial foot screws. So I picked up another Lorsa P72 movement off Ebay that seemed to have everything I'd need (it had rust on the parts near the stem hole, but I was not worried about that). When the donor movement came, I just cleaned everything and rebuilt choosing the best parts of each. Ended up replacing the balance complete, center wheel, third wheel, two jewels, and the missing screws. Miraculously, the other wheels were undamaged; teeth, leaves, and pivots were fine. Once assembled and oiled, I set the stud carrier as close to where it should be as I could get it, and put the regulator dead center. Now, I only have a timegraphing app on my phone (limited funds you know). But the traces looked really good. So I've been wearing it off and on, and keeping it wound. Here's the dumb luck part - I haven't needed to regulate this thing yet! It's been two days, a shade over 48 hours, and it is now about 3 seconds faster over that time period. I need to read the specs on a Lorsa P72, to see if it can do any better but, so far, a gain of only 3 seconds over a 48 hour period doesn't sound terrible. I'm used to antique pocket watches and their eccentricities, so having a watch run this close to dead-on without having to regulate it six ways to Sunday feels a lot like a miracle to me. I'm starting to really adore this wrist watch.
    13 points
  9. I would like to share a check list made up by a master watchmaker. I take no credit for it, only think it would be helpful for us hobbyists. Here it is! CHECK LIST I decided to write up what is called a 16 point check that is meant to be a guide to steps required to service a watch this is slightly bias towards a wrist watch but very relevant to pocket watches also: This is a guide and not the definitive answer after going through it a few times add you own additional tests and observations. This is of course for a basic time only non-automatic or any with additional features, I also leave out things like demagnetizing, actual cleaning procedures, a good chunk of common sense needs to be applied also as I say its meant as a good starting point to a correct disciplined procedure, This is version 1 may add or edit/delete later. Check number 1 a Check the winding to see if the mainspring is broken. b Check to see if the setting bridge or sleeve is broken by pulling the stem out and testing the proper snap of stem. A broken setting bridge/sleeve is easily detected c. The balance wheel should be oscillated to see that it is true and the balance pivots should be checked by looking through the upper jewel to see that there is not a flash on the pivot. d. The hairspring should be checked to see that it is not damaged. e Check setting of hands f. The watch should be looked over in every respect, paying particular attention to any rust spots that may appear on any part of the movement. When rust is evident around the stem or setting mechanism, it is most important to remove the dial and hands in order to check this mechanism to see if the rust is very extensive. Check Number 2 a. Examine each part as it is being removed from the movement. b. Check for rust on every part. c. Check every pivot to see that it is not damaged or bent. d. Check the jewels in the watch, to see that there are no cracked jewels. e. Check pallet stones to see that they are not chipped or damaged. f. When removing barrel cap, make sure that it snaps off only after sufficient pressure has been applied to it. g. In the examination of each part, a close check is not made at this time as many of the parts will not be clean enough for that purpose. a much closer check will be made on the parts as each part is handled in the assembly of the watch Check Number 3 a. Upon completion of cleaning and parts removed from the basket into the assembly tray, each part should be checked over with the use of a watchmaker’s loupe special attention should be paid to the jewels, because if there is gum oil still remaining on the jewels, the cleaning job was not done satisfactory . It is also worthwhile at this time to examine the pivots. If the jewels are clean, and the pinion leaves are clean, it is almost certain that the cleaning operation was performed effectively. Check Number 4 a. Examine the condition of the mainspring. b. Check the width, strength and length of the mainspring. c.. If correct, replace mainspring using correct mainspring winding tool, not by hand d. Check the lubrication of the mainspring if required e. Check the fit of the mainspring around barrel arbor. f. check the mainspring end for proper shape to catch in barrel. g. Check the snap of the cap on barrel and replace in correct position h. Check the end shake and side shake of barrel arbor is it also sometime recommended to do this without mainspring fitted to test for free run and end shake i. Check the cleanliness of the barrel and barrel teeth. j. Check the oiling of the barrel arbor after the cap is on. k. Check the condition of the barrel teeth to see if they are bent or worn. Check Number 5 a. Jewel holes must be cleaned with peg wood if necessary. b. Jewels must be checked for chips or cracks. c. Check the train wheel pivots for rust, polish, cuts and straightness. d. Check the pinions for rust’, pits and polish. e. Check the pivots for pitting check that clean pith wood is being used. f. Check plates for tarnish, fingerprints, and polish jewel settings. g. Assemble time train and check end shake and side shake. h. Check wheels for trueness arid upright. i. Lift each wheel with tweezers to check for end shake and to see if each wheel is free enough to fall back to its original position. j. Spin train to see that is spins freely, in dial up, dial down and a vertical position. Check Number 6 a. Replace barrel and barrel bridge and check the oiling of the barrel arbor upper and lower bearing. b. Check oiling of crown wheel. c. Replace ratchet wheel. d. Note: do not oil remainder of movement until after kick-back is checked or cap jewels are present oil those now e. Wind watch slightly to check kick-back and recoil. This check should be made in dial up and dial down positions. If the watch does not have kick¬back, this indicates that the train is not as free as it should be. First, however, before checking into the train itself to determine if there is some frictional error, it would be worthwhile to examine the mainspring around the barrel arbor. Many times the loose fit of the mainspring around the arbor will prevent kick-back from occurring within the train. In such instances, the arbor is simply slipped in the mainspring instead of the train receiving the reversal torque, that normally occurs. If the barrel is found to be satisfactory, then the train. should be checked to see if the trouble can be located. first, the train should be examined carefully to see if each wheel is free, and if no trouble can be found, then it is advisable to remove the train wheels from the watch and replace each wheel in the watch individually and to check the spin of each wheel. If each wheel spins freely, this indicates that the pivots and the jewels are in good condition and that one need not look further for defects or faults in those areas. Next, place two wheels at a time in the watch and check the spin of the wheels. Thus, any error of improper depthing or a badly formed tooth on a wheel or pinion will be detected. It is simply a process of elimination in order to locate the particular trouble, and of course, proper corrective measures must be taken to correct an error when one is found. Check Number 7 a. Oil all the train jewels in the watch, and at this point it is advisable to oil also the balance jewels. b. Check to see that there is a ring of oil around each train pivot and that the jewels are not over-oiled or under-oiled. c. Check the jewels that have caps to see that the globule of oil has been formed properly between the flat cap and curved hole jewel and no keyhole shape if so remove re clean jewels and check seating the re oil and repeat check for perfect ring. Check Number 8 a. Oil stem properly. b. Oil friction parts of setting. c. Oil wolf teeth of clutch wheel and winding pinion. d. Oil clutch wheel groove. e. Oil points on setting lever that contact the setting bridge or the clutch lever. f. Never oil dial train. Note: ‘dial train means all wheels following center wheel staff. g. Seek expert advice on some types of intermediate wheels connecting clutch at setting positions that require oil. Check Number 9 a. Check condition of pallet arbor pivots. b. Check for chipped or loose stones, shellac or gummed oil on pallet stones. c. Check guard pin for straightness and proper shape. d. Check polish of pallet arbor, pivots and fork slot. e. Check end shake of pallet fork. f. Check height of pallet stones in conjunction with escape wheel teeth. g. Check matching stones. h Check drop lock i. Inside and outside drop. j. Draw. k. Hang-up of stones on escape wheel teeth. Check Number 10 a. Check tightness of roller jewel in roller table - uprightness of roller jewel. b. Check the height of the balance wheel in conjunction with the fork bridge and the center wheel. c. Check the clearances. d. Check the height of the guard pin in relation to safety roller. e. Check the proper length of roller jewel and fit of roller jewel to fork slot. f. Check the guard clearance. g. Check the corner clearance. h. Check the jewel pin shake. i. Check the guard test, j. Check the corner test. Check Number 11. a. Check the hairspring in-the-flat. b. Check the hairspring in-the-round. c. Check the quadrant of the hairspring to see that it is formed properly between the regulator pins and stud d. Check for beat of the watch by equalizing the force to receiving and discharge pallets. e. Check for the collet wobble. f. Check for trueness of the balance wheel, and for the flash of the balance pivots g. Check for trueness of roller table. Check Number 12 a. Place the watch on the timing machine and take a rate in the dial down position, then turn the movement over to dial up position and take a rate. There are three things that should be observed from the rate that was taken: 1. Dial up should indicate the same time as dial down. 2. Observe the closeness of the lines to determine if the watch is in perfect beat. 3. Observe how the watch is running in reference to the time error over a 24-hour period. b. Adjust the mean time rate of the watch so that the dial up and dial down positions will record on time. Do not move the regulator more than one degree in adjusting the mean time rate. Any other alteration must be made by adjusting mean time screws or by adding or removing weight from the balance wheel in such a manner as not to affect poise, static or dynamic,. c. If the rates in dial up arid dial down are found to be different from one another, then this indicates a mechanical error in the watch which must be traced out before proceeding. d. If the watch is found to be out-of-beat, then of course, it should be put r in proper beat at this time. We might emphasize that if the watch was put in proper beat in accordance with the proper procedure at the bench, then an out-of-beat condition or minimal amount would not be indicated on the timing machine. e. When the above conditions have been satisfied, the next step would be to take a rate in positions and errors corrected. If everything has proved to be satisfactory, the watch should be tested for isochronal test be made on the timing machine, which consists of re-testing at different winding levels and rate in the dial up position. Check Number 13 a. Check for proper lubrication of cannon pinion on center post. b. When replacing the cannon pinion, be sure that the leaves of the cannon pinion do not come down on top of the minute wheel teeth so as to bend the teeth of the minute wheel. c. Check tightness of. cannon pinion d. Check to see that cannon pinion does not ride up when watch is being set. and smooth consistent operation. Check Number 14 a Make sure that the hands are fitted securely to the parts to which they are attached b. Make sure that the hands are adjusted so that there is equal space between the hands and the hands are set as close to the dial as possible. c. Check to be sure that the hands are shaped to the contour of the dial. d. Check to see that\ the hands are positioned so that they are synchronized with one another. Check Number 15 a. If there is no case for the movement, simply disregard this check and proceed with the next check, number 16. b. Check for proper snap/screw back of the case. c. Check for the clearance of the hands under the crystal. d. Check the crystal to see that it is securely fitted into the case. e. Check to see that the crown is next to the stem and reasonably close to the case. f. Check for tightness of movement in case. g. Check the spring bars to see that proper spring bars are used for the particular type of case so that the band is held securely to the case. h. Check the lug holes to see that they have not been worn badly by the spring bars to a point where the hole may break through and allow the spring bar to come out of place. Check Number 16 a. Set the watch on time with a master clock. b. Let the watch run for a period of 24 hours and check the error in the time repeat in several positions. c. Allow the watch to run until it completely runs down and check the length of run. The watch should run a minimum of 30 hours, preferably 40 hours, if it is in “A. I have no answers to any of the steps since I didn't make this up. Maybe Mark might.
    12 points
  10. In order to start learning my Jacot tool and select the right size bed, I wished for a Seitz jeweled pivot gauge. Sadly, the prices asked for these gauges are astronomical. Currently on eBay from €350 and way upwards to over €500 !! Wild West prices In my Seitz jewel-box I had a "complete" range of jewels 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 & 19 in the OD size of 110 and 20,22,24,26,28, 30 & 32 in the OD size of 120. Marked 27x spots (1x1cm distance) on 10cmx10cm, 1mm thick copper-sheet and drilled them out with a 1mm drill. The holes for the jewel sizes 8-19 were reamed to 109 and the other holes reamed to 119. Cut the "to be jewel-gauge" at the size of 10x4cm, polished it and inserted the jewels; Left the holes open for the "missing" jewels; 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 & 31 and there are two more slots empty for 33 & 34; Whether I'll ever need these bigger sizes? They weren't in the Seitz jewel-box, perhaps for a reason? If I ever stumble over these sizes, I can insert them, the holes are already there. Those "missing" bigger sizes are also easy & safely to measure with a micrometer or gauge-caliper. For now, I have a jeweled pivot-gauge with a full range from 8/100 to 20/100 and from 22/100 to 32/100 in steps of 2/100, I think enough for making a start on my Jacot-tool Next, to finish this project off, is to find some small metal-stamps to number the jewel sizes.......
    12 points
  11. Ah ok- but only because you asked, John. That's my CNC. Put it together about 13 years ago, I figure it runs about 1000 hours per year, so it seems to have turned out pretty solid! Built on a Schaublin 102 short bed, with a Swiss X/Y slide with Rollvis zero backlash screws, DC servo motors, and a control built by a Hungarian guy (in Hungary). It repeats on location under 5 microns, which is plenty good. It has 100mm travels, which so far has been enough. The spindle is a Swiss Gepy, it can do 15k rpm but it's had a hard life, so I keep it at 11k. That's still a bit slow for the small cutters (down to 0.2mm) but it does OK. That's my Sixis 101 mill, I use it for all my gear cutting as well as general milling. There are 3 different dividing spindles, one for Sixis plates, another for the stacks of brass plates, and another that's universal. A Sallaz pivot burnisher; it's a production machine, and I found for the small runs I do it works better with a hand crank, like a Pivofix that went to the gym. Profile projector, mostly used for checking gearing and gear cutters, but lots of other things too. 10,20,50 and 100x magnification. That's a jig boring machine, which see lots of use but I include it as I often use it as a measuring microscope. Made by Dixi (another to the right by Hauser). Hauser measuring microscope, I have several lenses but use 50x all the time. And my most treasured machine (there are lots of others, haha), my 8mm lathe. It's a Leinen WW82, with a Levin cross slide, with the X screw switched out for one from a Schaublin 70. I use it several times per day, sometimes all day, sometimes all day for days in a row!
    12 points
  12. My son designed this and gave it to me for Christmas
    12 points
  13. 1970 Seiko 5606-7000 with hand made stamp dial. Running at 0 SPD and amplitude over 300 degrees at full wind.
    12 points
  14. Thought I’d show off a watch project that I have been working on. Wanted to create vintage inspired watches. Tell me what you think so far!
    12 points
  15. Greetings dear forum members! My name is Vladislav. I am from Ukraine. I speak Russian and use a translator, so I apologize for possible mistakes. I collect watches and repair them. With respect, Vladislav.
    11 points
  16. OK...more like a "place" than a "center." I will be spending half my time here, so I needed some way to do horology. Since Accutrons need a subset of my tools, and I have about 50 to work on, I decided that I could setup to do just Accutrons here. I still need a cleaning setup...working on that! I have the microscope, test set, and the hand tools. Today, I took an Accutron that was not working, opened it up, adjusted the index and got it running. It needs a cleaning, but I was proving the tool set to see if anything was missing. Hopefully I will solve the cleaning methodology over the next couple of weeks.
    11 points
  17. Finally! Wearing it for a few days to confirm my standards. Bellmatic 4006a
    11 points
  18. My wife took these pictures today. Not sure if there is a message that I am supposed to get The first bench is the one from my Dad. The second is the one I bought from Maine. The third I bought from someone in Wyoming. The last watch bench came from Dallas. The other bench is just a converted office desk. The last picture captures a portion of the room. This was not staged...and I am a little embarrassed about how it looks. That's me and Cromwell.
    11 points
  19. I just finished another Seiko 6309 diver over the weekend and finished it off last night, see before and after shots Front: Tape was the only thing holding it together, here is the back of the case: And here is the view when I opened the case : And when I got the movement out: The hands were completely fused to the cannon pinion and the dial paint eaten through to bare metal After cleaning in my 'home-brew' 566 and rinse solutions (please see my other thread, HERE) and then polishing the glass and case, then replacing the dial and hands with aftermarket replacements and a new cannon pinion from a donor watch along with a new bezel (because I had a spare so why not), here is the final result: Very pleased with the result
    11 points
  20. I know it's not much. I feel quite chuffed. I would like to inform that I have completed a full restore of a watch. Been a while in learning, but a good feeling. Seiko 7S26. Working well.
    11 points
  21. Hi everyone, I’m not exactly new member, but since after my short appearance here 2 years ago I’ve been silent to community I think a bit of update is good comeback. Yes about 3 years ago I’ve started watchmaking hobby due to lack of good quality puzzle. Few Amazon purchased tools and flea market soviet watch got me started all right. Number and quality of tools, new and ambitious projects eventually brought me up here. I have to say community here always helped me with my questions and I always remembered this forum as great knowledge resource. Eventually sign up for Distant course in BHI and decided to pursue watchmaking as my profession. Age 32 not easiest decision to make specially for my GF. Since all future plans and me wanting to move from Estonia to Slovakia because lack of watch interest and opportunity there. After longer talks we all were confident, this is way to go for both of us. For my surprise, took me 2 weeks to find a job in local watchmaker shop as apprentice. Basically they gave me poor salary and table under staircase (pure Harry Potter style). Long story short, I worked harder and longer then others and soon became shift leader, then mechanic watch repairer to junior manager of two workshops with team of 5 watchmakers. Meanwhile working on setting up my own shop, that consumes all of my money (honestly, learned to live of 2 digit numbers on bank account) I’m coming back here since all this time wanted to join community that I liked, helped me and inspired me to all this adventure. Cheers guys, glad you’re still rocking here! Jakub
    11 points
  22. I have wanted a Robur watch crystal press and dies for a long time, but when considering the cost of about £510 (CousinsUK, excluding shipping and VAT) I just couldn't defend it. However, as the Robur-like press, shown in my video, now and then shows up in various YouTube videos I got curious and ordered it from AliExpress. I don't think it's on par with the Robur press, but for the price, it seems like a decent option. In the video, I happened to mention that I was going to link to my WRT service walkthroughs, so below is the list in case anyone would be looking for it. Hope you'll find my video useful! My Service Walkthroughs: Citizen 8200A ETA 2892-A2 2804-2 2836-2 955.112 2772 2472 2824-2 Vostok 2431 2409 Enicar 161 Miyota 8205 9015 Tissot 781 Omega 268 Orient 46E40 Unitas 6380 6325
    10 points
  23. Hello lovely watch people, i rarely post up my watches and i should do more of them because we all love to see and read stories about them. So today, i do have a little story of yesterday but first i ask to bend the rules and post not one but two watches side by side. The Sekonda in my picture i believe belonged to my dad's father, i found it while emptying my dad's flat after he died a few years ago. This is the watch that started it all for me, in terrible condition but after 2 failed attempts at restoration it now happily sits ticking away on my wrist most days. As for yesterday's story, i attended 100 miles away from where i live my 93 year old uncle's funeral my mum's brother, a kind and generous loving family man who will be sadly missed. Now his father my other grandfather worked for many years keeping the shipping lanes clear and safe for vessels coming into the Hull docks in the town where i live. After many years he retired and received the traditional retirement watch for good service often a Smiths watch was given. From my mum I became aware of his watch less than a year ago and obviously my interest was sparked so i began to ask questions of it's whereabouts and if possible could i have some photos of it so i could hunt down the same brand and model. Turns out my uncle had given it to his son 20 years ago and pictures promptly arrived on my phone from my cousin. It was indeed a Smiths Astral which by strange coincidence i had already collected 5 of but not that particular model. I began my hunt for the same one and by another strange coincidence i found the exact model for sale in the same 9ct gold case not 400 yards from my house, i was very happy. Back to the funeral, sat drinking with some of my family my mum takes my hand opens it and places my grandfather's watch in my palm " thats for you " she said. My cousin had given her the watch to do with it as she saw fit, six of my family including myself got hmm well rather emotional. As it happens my grandfather hardly wore it, my uncle never wore it and neither did my cousin who had kept it in a drawer for 20 years and could have quite easily given it to his son. I was told yesterday that " it's now in the right hands ". Coincidences are a strange thing, I'm a big believer in fate, my grandfather's brother was a watch and clock repairer and lived just 2 minutes from my house, my treasured new watch was given to my grandfather on his retirement the same year i was born. I kind of believe it's been making its way to me for the last 57 years. If you've stuck with me this long then i thank you and you need a bloody medal . Here is grandpa Jack on the left and grandpa Fred on the right. Soooooooooo happy today .
    10 points
  24. I could manipulate the site code to get this to work, but it looks like there are problems across the board. jQuery is not defined, ips is not defined, etc. Might want to roll back any updates or speak to your web admin.
    10 points
  25. Just arrived, a Longines 30L. I've been looking for one of these for a long time. I've been a fan of Longines since I got my first, I love the quality and elegance. In the thread "looking for a simple, ultra-precise hand-wound movement - suggestions?", @nickelsilver suggested the larger Longines (30mm movements). The higher grade version of this movement (30Z) were used as observatory chronometers. So I decided I needed one. I'm expecting good performance. It's not going to just sit in one of my cases, I'm going to regularly use it. I bought it as "spares or repair", so was expecting a damaged balance. But on first look, the balance and hairspring seem perfect. It just seems to have a broken mainspring. Result BTW @nickelsilver, you also recommended Peseux as good movements. I bought a cheap Rotary with a Peseux 7050. Looked like it had been serviced by a gorrilla - the pallet fork was bent about 30°, missing pallet jewel, hairspring all out of shape. So I wasn't expecting great performance. On the timegrapher yesterday, looking good ! (I'll be buying more Peseux - good quality at a good price )
    10 points
  26. Disassembly pictures here (Please sort the pictures by name in ascending order) Assembly pictures here (Please sort the pictures by name in ascending order) Introduction To make a long story short, I've got about 100 Indian Citizen watches in my possession. It is one of these 100 watches shown in the pictures above. There is no major fault with them other than that none of them work. We all know that Citizen is a Japanese brand, but these watches are manufactured by HMT in India under license, probably sometime in the 1980s or 1990s. So, what do you do if you have 100 fine new old stock Indian Citizen watches that don't work? Well, you service and repair them, and then you sell them for a reasonable amount of money. How hard can it be!? Selling them, once they work, has happily proved quite easy, but repairing them has proved more challenging. So far, every movement has been full of gremlins to defeat. As usual, I want to remind those of you who have no previous watch service experience that this service walkthrough should not be seen as a tutorial on how to service a movement. It takes a lot of tools, consumables, training and know-how to succeed. Fortunately, there are several excellent resources, like WRT, and watchmaking schools online, and believe me, after six years I still find it insanely interesting and fun! About the assembly and disassembly pictures Unlike the disassembly pictures, the assembly pictures document screws, lubrication, and tips and tricks. Regarding the lubrication, I have not found any specific documentation for this movement. Instead, I have used my judgment and experience. It took some experimenting with the lubrication of the date and day change mechanics to get to work smoothly, so I feel a little extra proud of that. About the Citizen 8200A / Miyota 8205 movement The movements in these watches are designated Citizen 8200A on the rotor. In practice, they are identical to Miyota's calibre 8205, and if I'm not misinformed the watch manufacturer Citizen owns the movement manufacturer Miyota so there's a natural explanation. I have previously created a service walkthrough for Miyota's calibre 9015 which is often found in more expensive micro brands. Miyota's 82XX series of movements, such as the 8205 are instead found in more affordable micro brands, but there is no doubt that it is fundamentally an excellent and reliable movement. So, what do you find when you open an Indian Citizen like this? You find a well-constructed, well-functioning, albeit simple movement. In my opinion, it has a minor construction flaw, but I will report back on that. I have no idea how Indian HMT operated, but my impression is that these movements were assembled in an unsuitable environment, to say the least, by people with low-quality tools and a lack of knowledge of what a movement is and how it works. However, the movement parts themselves generally seem to be of decent quality, but when you take the movements apart you find fingerprints, hair, fibres from clothing, glue, and sometimes what I guess could be food residue. I.e. you find everything found in a typical home, so maybe that's where they were put together. As for the lubrication, sometimes it's OK, sometimes it's missing, sometimes it's in the wrong places, and sometimes there's way too much. However, once repaired, serviced, demagnetized, and adjusted these Indian movements work very well, so well that I don't think you can tell them apart from their siblings that are manufactured and assembled in Miyota's factories in Japan. Following are some tips and tricks that I hope will be useful. Stuttering second hand As in many other movements, the second hand is driven indirectly via the teeth of the third wheel, and to prevent the second hand from stuttering around the dial in a jerky fashion, a friction spring is pressed against the short side of the sweep second pinion. If the friction spring is not tensioned enough, it will not do its job. If this is the case, which is quite common, then the distance between the tip of the friction spring and the rotor bearing can be slightly increased by prying the friction spring slightly in the direction of the red arrow away from the rotor bearing. Balance staff end-shake I have long wondered if it would be practical to increase the end-shake of a balance staff using ordinary aluminium foil of the type you usually have in your kitchen, and now I have had the opportunity to test it. I admit it's not a very elegant or perhaps even correct solution, but it seems to work unexpectedly well, at least with this calibre. The aluminium foil that I have in my kitchen is exactly 1/100mm and after I built up the balance cock with two layers the end-shake was perfect. Guard pin The metal that the pallet fork's guard pin is made of on this calibre is unusually soft and therefore easy to deform, above all in height, but therefore also easy to correct. Several of the copies I worked on had a deformed guard pin. Normally, the guard pin should run parallel to the fork horns. Why this problem seems to be so common is hard to answer, but maybe my Indian colleagues were a bit careless with their tweezers when handling the pallet fork, or it's a matter of poor QC. Who knows!? The tip of the sweep second pinion You might think that all the parts for a certain calibre would be identical, and they largely are, but one exception is the tip of the sweep second pinion whose diameter can vary between different copies of this calibre. It is therefore not certain that the second hand from one copy will fit on another. I have not discovered any more exceptions than this. The Automatic Winding The automatic winding on Miyota's movements, including their premium movements such as the 9015, is unidirectional. I've always thought that would mean it's half as efficient as bidirectional winding, but in practice, unidirectional winding seems to be about as efficient as bidirectional winding. As can be seen from the picture, which shows the underside of the barrel and train wheel bridge, not many parts are needed for the automatic winding. I think this simple and well-functioning solution is elegant! Glue or shellac? The first time I took this calibre apart I suspected that the balance spring was attached to the stud with shellac, but after cleaning the movement in my watch cleaning machine where the final rinse is 99% IPA, I no longer think so. Instead, I think it's glue that simply looks like shellac. A small construction flaw I have had a user of this movement break the winding stem and misalign the threads in the crown believing that he had to pull hard to get the movement into position to set the time. I don't blame him! This movement has what I would describe as a design flaw that makes it impossible to pull out the winding stem when it is in a certain position. When you pull out the crown, the sliding pinion moves inwards (upwards in the picture). If you are a little unlucky then the pin (lug) on the sliding pinion will be right opposite the pin on the day and date corrector (as in the picture) so that the two pins collide with each other. When this happens, it becomes impossible to pull out the winding stem to its extreme position to set the time. If you then use force to pull it out, one or a few parts of the keyless work will unfailingly break. Most likely, the stem will come off and the threads in the crown will become crooked. What one must do as a user of the watch to ensure that the pins do not collide with each other is to rotate the crown slightly while pulling out the stem. When you rotate the crown, you also rotate the sliding pinion, which means that the pin on the sliding pinion does not risk colliding with the pin on the day and date corrector. Other documentation I am attaching a couple of PDF documents for the movement and thank @JohnR725 for links to a couple of interesting articles about the collaboration between HMT and Citizen. That’s it! Thanks for reading! Citizen 8200,8210,8260,8270,8280.pdf Spare-parts-reference-for-the-Miyota-8205-8215-movement.pdf HMT Watches: The Rise and Fall of India’s Watchmaking Titan HMT Watches: A walk down the memory lane
    10 points
  27. Inspired by the Mastercraft winder I tried to use its principle for a „quick and dirty“ mainspring winder. The spring I used for testing has an arbor diameter of 2,2mm (left wound) and the barrel has an ID of 8mm. The mainspring has a hight of 1,2mm. So I found a washer with the right thickness of 1,2mm, drilled it to 7,5mm ID and cut a slot in with my dremel. Then the washer was fixed to a board with three tiny drops of super glue. I used the original lid and arbor and my pin vice to complete the tool. The rest is selfexplaining looking at the pics. Any thoughts?
    10 points
  28. In 2020 a small property went for sale in my small town. It was nothing more than an agricultural warehouse without even a firm floor, made of piled up blocks and with an uncertain roof. But the price was right, and during that time having a project or a reason to leave home was an attractive perspective, so I bought it. The ugliness was demolished, foundation and construction quickly started. By Christmas '21 most work was completed, minus doors and windows, the exterior, electrical, plumbing and what not. I took my time to refine it the way I wanted, and last summer I was using it already for what you see, an hobbyist machinist and general repair and 'making' work. The building is actually designed and intended to be a small home, by regulations is resistant to earthquakes and highly energy efficient. I plan to add solar panels and an accumulator as soon is convenient. Heating/cooling will be with a split Inverter A/C, with floor units in each room. I haven't installed yet because in our climate and the efficient insulation one does well even without it. I've arranged the unit for the purpose of doing stuff for my own interest and business, as well to service the local trade which may need turning, milling, sharpening, and the like. There is virtually nobody else doing that for quite a distance around. Above is the garage room, the leftmost in the first picture. Everything is on castors, so beside re-arranging as I want, I can also store a medium car in there. Currently I'm about to restart a vintage universal milling machine (the dark grey one), which has suffered a road 'accident'. Also a largish vintage lathe is supposed to be coming and be restored to working order. The other room with the entrance door is predisposed to be a kitchen and living room. This space is better suited for light mechanical or electrical work, studying and designing. In the middle on the left is an half bath with mezzanine storage above it, and on the back is a large bedroom and a spacious full bath. These are still unfurnished, so no pictures. After much fighting, I managed to get basic ADSL Internet, so I can also watch Youtube videos, buy more stuff, or conducing other online business. Still there are so many details that I want to add or improve, but all in all I feel well rewarded for the time and money spent. Time goes fast and for as much work one does, there is always more. I have few machining projects lined up, and hope to get more also. Because of all that I had to place watchmaking on the back burner for now, but have no intention of quitting it. I want to thank the forum friends that had asked about me, and send friendly regards to everyone.
    10 points
  29. I was inspired by a post on the Watch Repair Lessons Facebook group showing a DIY watch bench. It's using a 62" Husky adjustable height desk with some added rails along the back and sides and a Vyco table mat on the desktop. My old setup was so cramped and jumbled together and now after getting rid of my old office desk, I have a lot more room to work and I can adjust the height of the desk to ideal. I'll eventually be adding some more drawers/tables along the sides for storage. It was (somewhat) cost effective with the desk costing $199 (on sale), the Vyco mat $75 (free shipping), and the rails just some pine from my local lumber yard for $14.
    10 points
  30. My latest weekend project (that spilled over into Monday) This is a nice Waltham with date complication. This was a non-runner and I managed to keep all original internal movement parts and is now keeping good time after I finished with it. Replaced the crystal, but couldn't save the original plating on the case so I had to take down to the base metal and re-electroplate with my home made nickle solution.
    10 points
  31. Since I began this, ever so enjoyable hobby, I have been spending my limit each week. Over a year now and I estimate that I have exceeded my allocation of £10 weekly. I think I am at about £600. However I am getting experience but still rate myself as a beginner. Using the various avenues of self help, YouTube and this forum I am now able to successfully service watches belonging to others. Provided they are working when I get them I can do a good service by achieving a good clean and lubrication. I have limited myself to regulating the watches by using a TGBC microphone for android and pc together with TG software for pc. It does not work well unless the watch is in a case? Time has passed and savings now allow me to purchase an item that most people have said is essential. My timegrapher will arrive next week. Woohoo! I feel like I made it. My Proper apprenticeship begins.
    10 points
  32. The local chapter of NAWCC jointly with CAWCG (affiliate of AWCI) held a class on staking and jeweling today...just 30 minutes away! It was great. I had never used my Seitz jeweling tool for anything other than tightening a cannon pinion. It was fun...and a new vista!! Great bunch of guys too.
    10 points
  33. I found this article interesting and inspiring and thought I'd share it. https://www.reasonforbeing.com.au/home/northeast-ya8rg-fbxmh-6st9k-5ylyf
    10 points
  34. Thanks for the tips everyone. I went with the feeler gauge option as it was to hand. Rather than risking the temper I used a mini angle grinder (plus constant cooling) to cut a rough blank, then carbide drills and diamond files to drill and shape the part. I tried scribing the shape on to the part but eventually having scribed a copy as a template I glued it to the blank and worked on that: I changed the design of the detent spring slightly as the original obviously had a stress riser at its root. I couldn't match the exact shape of the detents but their positions are identical to the original. Time to check for functionality and fit: I bent the spring slightly (about 0.3mm at the tip) down towards the setting lever. It functions perfectly and feels smooth with a distinct click from one detent to the other, so I'll polish it ready to fit to the watch when it is cleaned: Thinking of stress riders I polished the cut edges of the spring with metal polish on the tip of a toothpick . It will be interesting to see if it lasts.
    10 points
  35. I use the term "restoration" lightly. I did a full service, cleaned the case in an ultrasonic, and replaced the crystal. When I got the watch, it wasn't running, and now it is, so I'll take what I can get.
    10 points
  36. This Master Craft Mainspring Winder has been recommended and praised several times by @clockboy and I’m so happy that I, after several years of trying to acquire one, finally found a copy in very good condition on eBay. The Master Craft mainspring winder is surprisingly easy and convenient to use, and of the mainspring winder variants that I have tried so far, K&D 128, and Bergeon style winders, I must say that the Master Craft winder is the one that I now prefer with a good margin. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but I always dread and feel tense using my other mainspring winders, especially the K&D 128, but with the Master Craft I feel perfectly confident every time. It’s simply a joy to use and handle! There are several things with the Master Craft mainspring winder that I especially appreciate: The transparent discs of the winding arbors that make it so much easier to understand what is going on with the mainspring, both when you crank it in and especially when it’s to be detached from the winding arbor. The gauges that make it superfluous to measure the inside of the mainspring barrel. Instead, you can just try out which gauge best fits in the mainspring barrel and that’s it. That the mainspring can be transferred into the mainspring barrel from either side of the transfer plate to provide for right- or left-hand coiling. A nice feature too is that these transfer plates are coin edged making them easy to attach and detach from the holder. That the mainspring is so easy to crank into the transfer plate as the contact area between the mainspring and the transfer plate is so small. It almost feels as if the spring has lost 50 % of its tension. It also makes it quite easy to pull out the mainspring a bit from the transfer plate if you happen to crank it too far to get the bridle in. That it’s so easy to get the hook on the winding arbor to attach to the hole/eye in the inner coil of the mainspring. Using the suggested "method 1" in the user manual, I just push the winding arbor down in the inner coil of the mainspring while I crank it and the arbor hook automatically finds its way into the hole/eye in the mainspring. Conclusively, I must say that I’m super happy with this cleverly devised mainspring winder. It exceeded all that I was hoping for and was expecting! So much that I felt an obligation to write this post.
    10 points
  37. It’s far from perfect, but they play well together...
    10 points
  38. What I do is keep screws with the parts they were attached to in the trays. When disassembly is completed I take a picture of the trays before cleaning. Something like this 7750 I'm working on now. I'll put the parts but not the screws through the cleaner and then put the clean parts back in the same slot in the tray, with their original screws. Those little orange triangles help me keep everything indexed. Finally, as I am reassembling, I'll clean the screws manually if needed. The shouldered screws or reverse threaded screws are obvious, and plate screws are usually all the same size/thread, but you have to be careful with levers and springs which might have similar heads and/or threads, but be different lengths. Those I make sure are in separate trays.
    9 points
  39. Hello all and merry Christmas (in advance)! I just finished a service on a Rolex 3135 in a lovely Datejust 16220. First, here are some overview pictures of the movement: The watch was in overall good condition, but it was running a bit fast and inconsistent (across positions) and amplitude did not reach 250 even fully wound and dial up. Upon disassembly, I did notice some a bit of dirt and some jewels/pivots had run almost dry. The barrels shocked me again (similar to the Rolex 2035 that I recently serviced): Thanks to @JohnR725, I had access to detailed oiling charts and service training guide: https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/3626-rolex-3135-beat-error-adjustment/?do=findComment&comment=234180 After some good pre- and final cleaning, I assembled exactly as prescribed by the Rolex training guide that I followed the service guide in detail. For lubrication, I followed the Rolex oil chart, also posted in the link above. One particular issue is the Rolex lubricant "MR4". It seems to be somewhere between a very thick oil (like HP 1300) and a grease (like 9504). I used either HP 1300 or 9504 as a replacement and depending on the particular locations. My final "interpretation" of the oiling (with Moebious oils) is as in the pictures below. Regarding the pallet fork, the Rolex training guide seems to suggest a rather large quantity of 9415. Consequently, I put more than I usually would (but still less than the suggested amount by Rolex). See pictures below. What are your thoughts? For the automatic module, as show in the Rolex oiling chart, I treaded the reversers with Epliame and was VERY light on the lubrication of the "internal pivot" (see screenshot). As prescribed, I did not oil the internal ratchet/click mechanism of the reversers. Case: The previous watchmaker left me a present under the bezel. I noticed that it was not sitting perfectly even on the case. He (or she) must have removed the bezel in a way that damaged it a bit. I filed the damaged metal away with a diamond micro file. Bezel back on with my trusty Robur (with 3D printed adaptors for "standard" M4 dies). The dial and hands also got a bit of cleaning : Before: After: Casing: 1. align the case clamps on the movement with the matching groves in the case. That's how that looks. Turn everything around and slide the movement into position. Insert the stem. Done. At full wind/dial up. Vertical positions are running a bit faster (+8-10 seconds). I may look into regulating that further. I'll eventually post more results. To conclude, my usual "artwork": Merry Christmas to everyone!!!
    9 points
  40. I've been working on a DIY cleaning machine. Ran my first movement through it tonight and it did a good job. Parts came out clean and toasty dry. Though, it was a new movement as my starting project, so the parts were pretty clean to begin with. I'll next be running a vintage movement through it as a better cleaning test. Here's a quick video of it in action, https://youtu.be/KrhK5E3GqVU See photos below. This is based on a lab stirring motor and controller unit. Not perfect, but workable. I used the timer on my phone instead of the one on the controller. It is rated up to 3000 rpm. I was trying to run at about 200-300 rpm, which is the speed knob barely on. I would pull the basket up out of the liquid, but still in the jar, and spin at a faster rate to get out as much fluid before moving to the next station. 3D printed basket setup is originally from @muddtt with some minor tweaks that I made. The jar brackets and dryer intake and exhaust parts were ones that I designed. I used ABS plastic as it has good chemical and heat resistance. STL files are available at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5905166. The drying station is based on a 12V PTC car heater fan. The brass mini baskets came out very toasty after about a 10 minute spin dry. The plastic baskets showed no negative affect from the heat. The 12V power supply does get pretty warm. Fortunately, the dry cycle doesn't need to be long. I only plug in the heater when that station needs to be used and then unplug (easier to rotate the turntable that way). I got a small 12" x 12" sheet of aluminum from Home Depot and cut 3/4" wide strips to make baffles for the bottom of the jars. The square-ish mason jars were helpful to keep those baffles from spinning, as long as you splay the fins out. Hopefully, these are getting the water to circulate better through the basket layers. I am a bit disappointed in the turntable. At 14" in diameter, it is large enough to have a wash and 3 rinse stations. The problem is the rotating base is such a small diameter that it is tipsy if not loaded evenly. I'm looking at getting a bigger rotating base for just a few bucks. You could go with a smaller turntable if you just want 2 rinse stations. I have just under $200 into this setup. Of course, you don't have to use a turntable (just manually swap out jars), or dryer station (use a hair dryer) to go even more budget. If you don't have a 3D printer, you could mount a stainless mesh basket to the metal spindle that comes with the stirring motor (not used in my setup). Overhead Stirrer, $70 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XXFLVBS Turntable, $17 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PP44DQ4 32 oz Mason Jars, $3 each - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ball-Glass-Mason-Jar-with-Lid-Band-Wide-Mouth-32-oz-Single-Jar/24653886 12V PTC Car Heater Fan, $25 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MDN81C3 12V Power Supply, $21 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PWZQ33N Mini Parts Baskets, $9 per pair - https://www.ebay.com/itm/194215040365 Aluminum for Jar Baffles, $11.50 - https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-12-in-x-12-in-Plain-Aluminum-Sheet-in-Silver-56040/100293264 ABS Filament, $16 kg spool - Local Microcenter At some point, I would like to try an automated design. Maybe repurpose a 3D printer. For giggles, I was able to easily fit 3 mason jars and my drying station on my Ender 3's bed. Mount a stirring motor to the X-Z axis gantry. Maybe repurpose the hotend heater, thermocouple and fan to make a drying station. 3D printed brackets to hold the jars and drying station in place on the bed. Arduino or Raspberry Pi to control it all. Not sure if anyone is interested in collaborating on such a project.
    9 points
  41. I make a pair of greasing tweezers with chamois leather on the inside. The chamois is greased with 8200 or 8300 is best in hot climates and the entire length of the spring is lightly greased. You know when enough has been applied as it is the feel of the grease on the spring and how easily those greasing tweezers slide over the spring. If you have greased the spring too much you'll see excess on top of the spring when you use your winder and it is within the barrel. If you haven't greased the spring enough then put a few small drops of grease on the top of the spring like Kalle Slappe does. There are many ways to skin a cat here. I can only say what works best for me. After you've greased a few mainsprings you'll get a feel for what the right amount is on the spring. If it is too much and you see pools of grease on the spring when in the barrel, then mop up the excess with some rodico. The great thing about making these greasing tweezers is you can get into the innermost part of the spring without risk of damage! Moebius 8201 contains Molybdenum bisulfide which improves its lubricity and improves its resistance to pressure well. It is similar in function to graphite and it has a black appearance. Some watch manufacturers use this as standard mainspring grease. When you open a barrel and the remnants of the grease is black then it was probably used. This grease is used only for the mainspring, not braking grease
    9 points
  42. Seems like ages since I last posted on 404, here is a ladies Seiko 2906A I picked up from Ramon in the Philippines as part of a job lot, so worked out to be $1.60. I did require a new crystal (£10.12) because the original shattered when I tried to remove it and it also needed a new winding stem (£2.00) and crown (from my spares) as it arrived without these, all of the screws for the automatic works were floating around inside the movement and the pawl lever for the auto works had one arm completely broken off so needed replaced (I had one from a donor) but apart from that it's all original. Here are the before and after pictures: Here is how it looked when I first opened the back...... and you get that "it gonna be one of those watches..." feeling And here is the finished watch:
    9 points
  43. Alright! I had some time to work on the watch this week and here is my progress. Here is the Rolex oiling chart with my notes and equivalences of Moebius oils/greases: 0. About the oiling of the balance shock jewels: I redid it many times over until I got it right. These jewels, as you saw in my drawing, are really extremely difficult. I've never had many problems with this task in other watches, but here... In the end, I tried a different approach and dropped the oiled cap jewel from the top into the hole jewel. Also tricky, but it worked a bit better. 1. I start with the barrel and barrel bridge etc. 2. then the keyless works (nothing unusual here): 3. I recommend installing the balance stop spring AFTER the keyless works. This way, you run no risk of damaging the thin spring with the pinion coming from the setting lever. 4. the new shock spring for the escape wheel arrived: a. putting in position b. recommendation: to install, put a thin plastic sheet over it to hold it in place. then put one of the "legs" in, keep the two legs in the middle of the circle where the full diameter of the circle/setting is. With the plastic sheet it's then actually quite easy to put in the second led. c. jewel in d. carefully push in the "head" of the spring. e. oiling is safer and cleaner with the approach taken with old non-shock-protected balance jewels: 1. from the "opposite" side, put a drop of oil in the oil sink; 2. then push it through with a very thin needle (I use broken and then sharpened oiler). 5. Gear train. Note: the Rolex training manual says that the seconds pinion is magnetic and may attract tiny metallic particles during cleaning, so one should clean it with Rodico before installation. 6. Putting the bridge and oiling the train. 7. Pallet fork. a. Install without lubrication, install balance and let run for a few minutes to remove the Eplilame from the contact area. b. remove balance and lubricate exit stone (1 drop every 7 teeth = 3 drops for all 21 teeth). c. just for checking, I took the fork out again and took the photo below. The quality isn't great, but you can see how the 9415 has distributed nicely in a "channel" created by the removed Epilame. I'm happy with that. 8. BUT OH GOD, what do I see there!? The balance spring seems to be deformed... you can see how the coils are all bunched up on one side... Not sure if this the case before or if/when it happened to me... Well, I had to sleep over it for a night. Checked what replacements would cost me (about 400USD). But I had done some successful hairspring repair before, so I will try. After taking it off, it looks like it's only bent where the endcurve begins so that it curves back too much (instead of staying parallel to the next inner coil). Furtunately that's all and it's perfectly flat. So one careful bent and we're good again. (I looked at images of NOS hairsprings for this calibre and used that to verify the correct shape). Putting it back on was fiddly, but not too difficult. The end of the hairspring is held between two plates that are held together with a screw. To be sure of the correct length, Rolex recommends bending the last bit of the hairspring as an indicator where it should be positioned (you see that in the pictures). 9. Well, with the watch ticking nicely now, I can move on to the calendar. A very simple mechanism with just one additional wheel and a jumper spring. In addition to the points on the oiling chart, I also put a tiny bit of 9504 on every 10th tooth of the calendar disc. The calendar disc is then just put on top and only held in place by the jumper spring (which needs to be pulled back to mesh with the teeth under the disc. Then the dial secures it. Nothing else, interesting. 10. Dial and hands. Turning crown until date changes, then installing hands at midnight. 11. Again, some testing to see if everything runs well. And, OH NO! While the timegrapher shows very nice running, the minute hand seems to lag. Every hour, it looses 10min (while the timegrapher is totally happy with everything). Well, I had already noticed that the time setting is VERY soft. Almost no resistance. So I suspected the canon pinion being too loose. It also makes sense with the owner's observation: she said that the watch was loosing a lot of time (whereas my timegrapher showed that it was "only" loosing 20sec/day). Ok, hands off, dial off, calendar off again. Time for my staking set! (after taking the photo, I positioned the blades and the canon pinion a bit better, of course). One rather soft tap with the hammer and I installed it again (better hammer again than overdoing it). Now it's perfect, the one tap was just right! I can immediately feel a bit more resistance when setting the time (but still nice and soft). 12. Calendar, dial and hands back on. Very happy to see the date change at exactly midnight. 13. At this point I did the casing so that the dial and hands are protected. (if I had installed the automatic module before the dial/hands, I'd have to rest it on the rotor to install calendar/dial/hands, which I don't like). 14. Now I assemble the auto works. The NOS rotor has arrived and it looks perfect (compared to the old, worn one). a. rotor and upper bridge (+oiling) b. the center hole of the reverser should only be lubricated with the thinnest film of oil, apparently. I use a sharpened piece of pegwood put into HP1000 and then cleaned off so that only a bit of oil remains on the wood. With that I oil the center. c. all the wheels in place. Then the lower bridge on top. Oil the other side of the rotor axle. d. Then this clip holds the rotor. It's a bit ticky to install. I put a sheet of plastic on top to hold it in place and not damage it with the tweezers. That helped a lot! 15. And here we go with the auto works into the cased watch. A bit fiddly again. It helps to slowly "wind" the watch with the crown a bit to help the meshing of teeth between the auto driving wheel and the ratchet wheel. Also note that the auto driving wheel isn't really fixed properly to the auto bridge, so it can slip out of its position rather easily. So careful before tightening any screws. With a bit of patience: Perfect! 16. Fresh gaskets. 17. Now some initial regulating and waiting a bit for it to settle. The 2035 calibre doesn't have a free-sprung balance like most other Rolex; it has a movable hairspring holder (for beat error) and "normal" regulating pins (albeit not metal but made of jewels!). Simple for a first adjustment. Good night. 18. After some time, I come back for fine regulation via a microstella screw integrated in the balance cock. It swings very well. Around 280° amplitude (visually and on timegrapher). And the hairspring "breathes" nicely. 19. The final product (after also polishing the crystal and the golden links on the bracelet). 20. Final timegrapher results tomorrow! I need to sleep now.
    9 points
  44. Well, I've done it. Purchased a very dead Seiko 6309. Obtained two, also dead, donors. All looked horrendous on purchase. dirty, screws missing, only one very dirty case. Disassembles all. Checked every item for condition. Picked best. Assembled, oiled. Everything checked on install before moving on to the next part. Biggest problem was balance. All had motion after a while, but none kept motion. 3rd one worked. Demagnetised, Timegraphed, took an hour (+3s, Amplitude 168 - can't get it better, beat error 0.3). Used case from original purchase. Strap from 7009. It works, been wearing it for 3 days now. I know it's not much, a low end watch. But I did it. I've done other automatics, but none have actually maintained their beat without having to be wound manually. So, I'm here...ish. Going away in a few days for my 75th birthday. Back to the enjoyable hobby on return. Regards and thank you to you all.
    9 points
  45. I've been working on getting myself a workbench put together. The kitchen island was not going to cut it for the long term. Seeing as I wanted to save as much money for tools as I could, I wanted to do save some bucks on the watch bench. I took a 2nd hand desk that I got for cheap, refinished the desk top, installed a LED light bar, added a power strip, and created some storage in the otherwise useless keyboard tray pullout. The hutch is good to store some tools and accessories. I've got a couple of drawers to store parts, supplies, and project watches. I put a chair pad down over the carpet, to hopefully keep some flying parts out of the carpet. Hadn't used this much yet, but so far it seems like it will work. Eventually, I would like to add a binocular microscope to the mix.
    9 points
  46. And it actually works! Video of the time changing here. I'm still breaking in and tuning the tourbillon, but this thing was super fun to build.
    9 points
  47. I don't get to post here very often. But I picked up an interesting specimen at a local flea market: a TruTime talking atomic watch - for a dollar. The vendor didn't know much about, except that he didn't know how to make it work. To be honest, neither did I at that moment, but I intended to give it a shot. I figured if I failed it would still be a cheap lesson. I happened to have a 2032 battery for it, still very fresh. As a precaution I cleaned the contacts and blew it out a bit. Put a touch of quartz oil at the very few pivots it had, and it just sat there at first. So I went online to search for the setup instructions. With their aid, I got it set and running. Now what? I don't need a talking watch. And I don't want to just sell it. My oldest daughter has a friend who is legally blind, and her sight is degenerating. So I'm giving it to her. Best use I could think of for it. I have to find the link to have a braille copy of the instructions sent out.
    9 points
  48. Disassembly sequence here (Please sort by name in ascending order) Assembly sequence here (Please sort by name in ascending order) The watch is an Enicar Star Jewels Ocean Pearl from the 1970s A bit of background I bought this watch on tradera.com (Swedish eBay) listed in the category "Klockor/Renoveringsobjekt" ("Watches / Renovation items"). It was listed as "working" despite lacking the winding stem. I bought it for three reasons. I wanted to try my hands on an inexpensive watch in visual need of renovation. I was curious of the Enicar brand and their in-house movements, and I thought the blue dial with its applied indices had potential. It was clear that the watch needed a new winding stem, crown, and armoured crystal. I found an original stem on eBay from Spain for less than €10 including shipping (a bit of a bargain I think). I bought a bunch of inexpensive waterproof crowns from CousinsUK.com so that I could select the most comfortable and at least somewhat nice looking. I also bought a couple of inexpensive Sternkreutz armoured glasses from CousinsUK.com Overall the movement looked pretty OK except for a third wheel pivot that was rusty. Removing the rust (using vinegar essence) the pivot became Coca Cola bottle shaped so I burnished it and in the process had to remove approx. 2 to 3/100 mm. This in turn created too much side-shake so I replaced the jewel as well. The mainspring looked pretty OK too so I kept it. The cannon pinion also needed a bit of tightening. I guess the friction between the centre wheel arbor and the cannon pinion really can't last forever when a watch is being used for many, many years, perhaps even for decades (looking at the case back of this watch it has seen massive use). Anyway, to tighten the cannon pinion I first tried with my Seitz jewelling pusher and stake for lanterning cannon pinions, but it feels like the edges of the pusher and stake are somehow too blunt or perhaps not designed for wrist watch movements?! So, I resorted to my cannon pinion tightening tool (Bergeon 4733) which is really a bit scary to use but works very well once you've destroyed your first two or three cannon pinions learning how to use it. The trick is not to alter the position of the screw (unscrew it) once it reaches the inside of the handle. As soon as the screw touches the inside of the handle it's time to press. That will usually tighten the cannon pinion the required 1-3/100 mm (I would guess). To give back some of the luster to the dial and hands I simply used a Dial & Hand Cleaning Pen from CousinsUK.com. It worked better than I had expected. The old lume was partly missing and what was left was completely crusty so I simply scratched the remains off and didn't bother to replace it (the blue colour shining through the hands looked pretty great and I don't care much for lume anyway) Despite throwing everything in my arsenal of collected knowledge and experience on the this watch I couldn't get it to run perfectly. The amplitude (as well as the rate) in the horizontal positions fluctuates between 260 and 280 degrees but mostly stays around 260 degrees. I did adjust the curb pin as the hairspring was pinched between the boot and the curb pin and made sure it bounced evenly between the two, but the effect was only marginal. I suspect that the hairspring touches the lower part of the boot. Anyway, I decided to wait with further investigations, put it together, wear it and enjoy it. Despite this shortcoming it performs very well as a daily wearer, only varying in rate between about +1 and -1 seconds per day.
    9 points
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