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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/10/22 in Posts

  1. Another update the ships clock.. It was fiddle day today to find out why one of the platform escapements was not running. This is how I diagnosed the fault. Assembled the spare movement after repairing one of the old springs. Then I test the train of wheels no fault found but the platform refuses to run. The next stage of analysis was to identify what part of the platform was at fault so I removed the hairspring assembly and low and behold the escape wheel would not turn.. This was the area I suspected yesterday. Removed the pallets assembly and still no action under microscope found the bushing that supports the escape wheel was badly worn and was binding. (See first pic) The bushing hole required was 0.28mm and I used a french clock “Bouchon” see some on my desk in the second pic. The hole for the bushing was 0.80mm. The hole for the bushing was made with a small cutting broach. I used my staking tool to push the bushing in and I used my Seitz jeweling tool to adjust the end shake. It is now on my bench running just fine. Next job try to refurbish the dial
    3 points
  2. WOW this tool is amazing. I've been doing screw head polish with a tripod I made myself and a zinc plate. This tool is just so easy to use and in 2 min got it specular/black. I did the first pass with an aluminium oxide adhesive sheet using the brass wheel. Then the second pass with Bergeon diamond past and the zinc wheel. Then the final on with red rouge on the wooden wheel. Nothing like having the right tool.
    3 points
  3. The first link is just a variation it isn't the actual movement.
    2 points
  4. The setting wheel seems to be upside down. Try turning it over.
    2 points
  5. Hello, First off, thank you for letting me join such a cool community. I'm just now (at 54) finding watches fascinating and I am here to learn a few things about them, their repair and the lingo. Thanks again, Mk
    1 point
  6. I bought from an ex. Poljot salesman, this undisturbed Shturmanskie "classic" with a Poljot 31659 movement. The Poljot 31659 movement is almost identical to the Poljot 3133 movement, but it has an additional balance-hack. The watch has never been used, never been worn, just sitting in a drawer waiting to see, after all those years, daylight again. Before it gets wrist-time, a service was overdue. The "pop-off" the back-lid was anything but "pop-off". The provided slot was of not much use and I ended up driving carefully a scalpel-knife in between the lid and the housing seam; slowly creating a gap big enough to insert a blunt knife. Even then, it took a huge force to get the lid to "pop-off". Needless to say, the nice, nearly virgin lid has now its first unavoidable marks. The light surface scratches on the lid are very minor, but appear more severe on the picture due to the light reflection. The Plexiglass crystal is scratch free, but has some minor aging-cracks. The inside reveals an undisturbed 31659 movement, with 2-88 stamped in the chronograph bridge. February 1988, that's to date exactly 29 years. I took the movement out, removed the hands and dial. This time the small seconds- and minute recording-hands came off unharmed. However I wasn't that lucky with the big chronograph seconds recording hand. It was so tight, that even with great care, in the end the hand stripped off its pipe-bushing With the hands and dial out of the way, I managed to get the pipe bushing of the pinion without any further damage. As you can see on the picture, The outer ring has one screw missing, so has the calendar center plate ....... I guess the factory worker in 1988 didn't feel like it that day!? Can we still find out ? Stripped the calendar works; Stripped the keyless works, flipped movement over and removed balance assembly and pallet fork. One can just see the hack appearing from underneath the barrel bridge; see arrow; Time to disassemble the chronograph components. Even though for a 31659 one has to deviate from the guide slightly during assembly, I can highly recommend this service guide made by WUS member SLLS on June 2015. Click on the link below to download. Thank you very much SLLS for you excellent and clear servicing guide Service Guide Poljot movement 3133.pdf Remember to re-insert all the screws in their respective holes after removing the component. A bit more work, but it makes life during re-assembling so much easier !! See service guide for part-numbers, additional pictures and guidance. First the Hammer (8220) followed by the hammer-cam-jumper (8356). Before removing the operating lever (8140), I lifted the spring on top of the rivet. This prevents the lever from popping out after the LH-screw is undone, but also makes the installment much easier. Obviously, the spring has to be put back after re-installation. Removal of the operating and fly-back lever-spring (8335), fly-back lever (8180), blocking lever (8200), Blocking lever spring (8335) and sliding gear (8100). Left is the chronograph plate (8281) with all screws inserted in their respective holes. Next the chronograph plate (8281), the Chronograph bridge (8500), the seconds recording wheel (8000), the friction-spring (8290) and the minute recording wheel (8020). According to the guide, the very delicate minute recording jumper (8270) is removed, but I left it in place. If you also leave it, be very aware during subsequent handling of the barrel-bridge !! Next is the coupling clutch spring (8320) and the coupling clutch (8080). This has stripped most of the chronograph components, apart from the chronograph drive wheel (or wheel over 4th wheel if you like); Next is the ratchet wheel (415) and the barrel-bridge (105). Now the hack-lever can be seen. The little spring at the end is very delicate ..... Next is the 3th wheel (210) which has to be carefully manipulated from underneath the center-wheel. This reveals a plate (no number) for the 3th wheel which has to be removed. Instead of pulling the chronograph drive wheel (wheel over 4th wheel), to reduce risk I removed the whole assembly; the train wheel bridge (110), 4th wheel (225) and driving wheel (8060). Be aware of the long pivot on the 4th wheel ! As soon as the train wheel bridge is undone, the escape wheel (705) comes free. Spring barrel, cannon-pinion and center wheel as last. Left is the bare main-plate. The main-spring seemed in a good shape; Time to clean all the parts and lubricate the balance cap-stone in the main-plate. I use Rodeco as a support. Once to small droplet of oil is on the cap-stone, I turn the Rodeco top-down and insert the cap-stone in the chaton. Works very well for me As far as I can see, next to an additional recess in the main-plate, the only difference between the 31659 and the 3133 are these two components. The setting lever has an additional post and the additional hacking-lever. To the left of the hacking-lever the tiny spring which pushes against the balance wheel when engaged. Next up the servicing of the barrel-bridge with click (425) & click-spring (430) and crown-wheel (420). The little screws holding the crown wheel core (423) are known for shearing off, so be careful if you decide to proceed with this step ... Now I had to deviate from the guide. Due to the fact that the hacking lever engages onto the additional setting lever post, I installed the keyless works first; Flipped the main-plate over and installed the center wheel, the complete 4th wheel assembly with escape wheel and 3rd wheel plate (left arrow). Before installing the 3rd wheel, it is now to lubricate the jewel of the 3rd wheel; Install 3rd wheel, barrel and hacking-lever; Make sure the hacking lever is engaged onto the additional setting lever post; Install barrel bridge, make sure 3rd wheel finds its jewel and ensure all the gears are running smoothly before tightening the screws. Lubricated pivot jewels and pallet stones. Install pallet fork & bridge, check correct working and install ratchet wheel. Thereafter I did the calendar works and check functionality. Now a little lesson I've learned: I left the keyless works in the time-setting mode. Later I couldn't get the balance wheel to seat properly ?? So, if you later, during assembling of the balance assembly, wonder why you can't get the balance wheel to seat, better is the retract the hacking lever by setting the keyless works in the winding position. That does help ! After some scratching my head (see above), the balance wheel was back in and the movement came alive Lubricated the balance-bridge cap-stone. No parts reference number mentioned for re-assembling; Replaced the coupling clutch, the coupling clutch spring, minute recording wheel, friction spring, seconds recording wheel and chronograph bridge; Re-installed the chronograph plate, sliding gear, blocking lever spring, blocking lever, fly-back lever, fly-back lever spring, operating lever (remember to put the spring on top of the lever back under the rivet after replacement !), hammer and hammer cam jumper ....... Tested and all chronograph functions are working fine. The initial amplitude is a bit low, around 270 degrees dial down (?), but I'll let it run for a while to see if that improves ..... I managed to get the chronograph seconds-recording-hand back on its pipe-bushing, but time will tell if that holds. Also closing the watch case will require a hand-press ...... not a simple "pop-on" ........ this phenomena has been reported by more people .... Hope that this Poljot 31659 movement walk-through is of any use? ....... else it will be a nice reference for myself That was enough adrenaline again Regards: Roland.
    1 point
  7. 1 point
  8. If you look at the documentation that eta has they show it as being pure visual. The only thing they don't quite explain is You open up so you can center the hairspring between the pins but in the document I was looking at they don't explain when you close it just how close you want to go to the hairspring? Then down below I have a link to a book explains how to adjust your watch. You will note they're not using a timing machine they hadn't been invented yet So it's going to take a little bit longer to regulate your watch. Then a PDF extracted from a magazine you might find that of more interest. Then in case the name of the author is not familiar with or to you. He worked his way through the Elgin company becoming the head of research. The watch adjuster's manual [microform] : being a practical guide for the watch and chronometer adjuster in making, springing, timing and adjusting for isochronism, positions and temperatures by Fritts, Charles Edgar https://archive.org/details/cihm_03260 1946-08-HIA-OCR pages 9 to 13 poise Challacombe.pdf
    1 point
  9. Here is the relevant page from Bestfit #111 - I don't know how to correlate this with what you might see at Cousins (or wherever you might go to purchase). This page also has some additional information.
    1 point
  10. This is site is a great resource for info on specific movements. This link goes to the HPP 431.
    1 point
  11. HPP is Henzi & Pfaff who traded a lot of watches under the Hercules brand (not sure what you have on your dial). There's some history on this brand here ... https://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Henzi_%26_Pfaff_GmbH. It's in German but you can let your browser's translation function take the strain. You can find tech sheets for Incabloc in various places. Here's one such place where you'll note the 'HP,HPP' page: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B279zYzmTSk3STNIeFR1MGd1NXc. Rather frustratingly this doesn't have your 431 listed however. If it helps any in other searching around though I believe your base model is an HPP 420 which would then include 421 to 425 in this family. Let's see what other folk come up with but it might be just as well you buy an Incabloc assortment relatively inexpensively e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193654055275
    1 point
  12. Just looked it up. I had to convert pounds to dollars first to find a calculator, and that worked out to $5.01. The 2020 equivalent would be $5.59 or £4.51. HTTP status code 451 is.... (drumroll) "Unavailable for legal reasons"! Pretty funny since a major source of 404s was Russia, and that's a very 451 situation at the moment! I dunno... What does the group say? Bearing in mind, upping the limit is a slippery slope, but it's definitely hard to ignore the macroeconomic realities of the situation... The low limit is 100% part of the challenge... It's what makes it fun, and what makes those victories all the more exciting... Is £0.51 worth the precedent? It's rare for inflation to back track, and when it does, it's rarely much. The next step is a 500 server error, but there are no steps after that... And when we get to 700, there's the risk of being confused with a group of religious nutjobs! I don't know. Maybe a £0.50 interval makes sense... Hmm....
    1 point
  13. Here is the movement upside down: https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/rare_junghans_early_carriage_alarm_clock/as512a391 I finally found the caliber: Junghans W10 (built 1876-1939) Translated quote (deutsches uhren museum Blog) „Alarm clock movement “W10” built millions of times and replicated by other watch companies. In 1872 the twenty-year-old Arthur Junghans traveled to the United States. In the motherland of industrial mass production he studied modern production methods. Back in Schramberg he introduced central elements to his company such as the use of stamped parts and simplified housings. These new "American watches" were created on special machines to save material. The individual parts were optimized for the fastest possible assembly. The robust W10 alarm clock mechanism set standards for the entire region. It was produced in huge quantities until the 1930s. With this success Junghans rose to become the largest watch factory in Europe, if not the world, by 1910. The alarm clock from the Black Forest became the cheapest clock at home and abroad. Thanks to alarm clocks the Black Forest soon covered 60% of world exports of large clocks.“
    1 point
  14. 1 point
  15. Hello and welcome from England
    1 point
  16. Enjoy the forum. At 43 is young and trust me you will never stop learning with the horological world. Ps be warned it can become obsessive.
    1 point
  17. Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum. We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement.
    1 point
  18. Hi Kamil, welcome aboard Tom
    1 point
  19. Hello, in this link here you also have them: https://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/files?subdir=BestFit&dir=Technical Manuals&action=documents
    1 point
  20. They work Ok just tried them . click on the heading bestfit catalogues scroll back to the post Old Hippy put up and the likns are there and work.
    1 point
  21. I had the searchable copy but got lost in a transfer only have the ordinary version but better then nothing. Although Managed to buy one of the books. If anyone has the searchable versions I am sure there are many menbers who would be gratefull for a link.. I know Old Hippy pu them on the sytem a while back using "meadiafire" may be still able to locate them.
    1 point
  22. When a book is properly digitized (and bestfit files are like that), it's done by Optical Character Recognition, so they are fully searchable. That means one can surely find all occurrences of a given word in much less time.
    1 point
  23. Some reference books having them as PDF is actually quite wonderful. Means you to have your library in multiple locations and typically just want to look up something. But a book or books like bestfit are you a strange category all by themselves. Their reference book but they have so much information in them that from time to time everybody should pick up their book and just thumb through to refresh yourself of what's in There.
    1 point
  24. Hi If you have a chance of getting the paper versions of the books 1 and ll worthhaving , sorting through the CD version is a bit laboroius.
    1 point
  25. The process is similar to what you've done to sync the date and hands. Wind the alarm spring, remove the alarm setting wheel, set the hands at 12, pull the bell button and turn the crown to set the alarm until it fires. Then reassemble the alarm setting wheel at 12.
    1 point
  26. Ok so I'm a bit gutted I've just worked out my latest acquisition from ebay. 83 quid for 17 pocket watches. Which calculates to £4.88 each and not the required 404. Gutted I've not made the mark but very pleased with my purchase. Which includes 6 Ingersol not inc. the boxed one this was a seperate purchase at yesterdays carboot hunt. A kienzle, a cimier, a westclox, an excelsa, a french chronometre, 5 unnamed 4 of which are silver inc. 2 ladies, and a brass full hunter. Some of these ive not been able to get in the back as yet. This comes from the man that wasnt particularly interested in pocket watches that now has a total of 20. Hence Neverenoughwatches, which i may now have to change to neverenoughwatchesandpocketwatches.
    1 point
  27. I've certainly been learning the hard way. My question lately has been: To what end? Maybe my goal is to acquire more tools? Thanks for the link to the other article! You're right Rich! Truth is that I'm so used to watching these guys on YT screw the balance back on the main plate before they run things through the wash that I forgot that I should do things differently. Not only was it the IPA, but by the end of the second 20 minute rinse, the IPA had warmed up. I'm sure there will be many more surprises along the way Joe - thanks for your detailed procedure! I should have inspected the hairspring/stud interface when I took it apart. I did notice that the impulse jewel does seem to still be in place but who knows if it is firmly attached. Same goes for the pallet stones. I'll give them a thorough check. I did go ahead and order another ST36, hopefully what arrives will be EXACTLY the same as the one I already had (I understand they come from multiple facilities in China). If they are indeed the same I'll probably clean, lube and reassemble the second one and then use the components of the first for more adventures in learning. Thanks everyone!!
    1 point
  28. I don't know but I think you should be able to reuse the staff.
    1 point
  29. I see, that's cleared that up. Best of luck. I have always liked Tissot movements they are so easy to work on.
    1 point
  30. Man, I tell you there's some savages out there. The escape top pivot was broken off and the bottom one bent. This wasn't from a drop, it was the top plate that was fastened down while the escape pivot wasn't located correctly. So the bent hands didn't surprise me. I think someone screwed up and then decided this should be a parts watch. See below pic of bent hour hand (minute hand looked similar). The plating on the hands also looked pretty scratched up. Yessir, already done. Ended up going the full DIY route, even making my own solution using Vinegar and salt. Just a pain to fine tune the mix and making sure bubble doesn't form on that small part. You can see the stick I used to constantly agitate the solution while plating. And the result: Not perfect, but a looooot better than what they looked like. And they straight. I was actually surprised by the thickness of the nickel plating; it survived quite a few polishing passes without issue, while the old plating came off with just two passes. Thank you very much!
    1 point
  31. I like it. What I have done is to just hold the cap jewel with my finger. This is not so elegant...peg wood is better. I also like taping down the watchmaker paper. A few times I have nudged the paper and my jewel went flying. Taping is good.
    1 point
  32. As I started with this hobby, I picked old women's wristwatches and practices on them. The reason was that they were really cheap and some of them worked for a few seconds and stopped again (sometimes sign they haven't been cleaned for a while). The drawback is that these are really small movements and you need to be very clean and patient in order to put them back. I destroyed few of them, but once I started with men's wristwatches it was a lot easier since the movements are bigger. In other words, once you master small movements, it will be easier to move on bigger ones. But maybe the right way is to do the opposite - start with clock, then pocket watches, man's wristwatches etc. At least that is what one experienced watch maker said to me once.
    1 point
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