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Hello NEW, first you have to decide, if you want to soft-solder or hard-solder the Parts (yes, next Time, too late for this Lever...) if soft-solder, then i would go with for Example Castolin 157 either as Paste or as thin Wire. Always use the correct Flux for the Solder of Choice, very important.... if hard-solder, then something like Castolin 1802 or Fontargen either as Paste or thin Wire. Again use the right Flux for the Solder. if you have no Paste, but need only a tiny Bit of Solder, then hammer a Piece of Solder-Wire flat and cut with a Side-Cutter small Pieces and put them on the Joint. Never heat the Solder, always heat the bigger Part. Soldering is like Watch-Repair, Patience and Experience.... regards, Ernst

Hello Everyone, Today, for fun, I assembled some plastic parts I recently sourced here in Hong Kong to make a DIY parts tray (with cover). Just goofing around...

Agreed. After all, they are plastic. After being installed for ten or twenty years they will magically be the right size. Shane

This book is perfect for beginners and can be found as a pdf in the www:

According to Sternkreuz, acrylic crystals should be 0.2-0.5mm larger than the bezel diameter. So +/- 0.1 mm should not be a problem.

The watch guys service of a 351 on the site below. is https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrIS.WqtttiOpAAwwh3Bwx.;_ylu=Y29sbwMEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1658595114/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwatchguy.co.uk%2fservice-omega-calibre-351%2f/RK=2/RS=6lXw212uab_vwfKlXkRrDOqETTE-

Here I am unlocking an incab spring, jewels can't fly out of the bag neither do other parts. https://cdn.watchrepairtalk.com/monthly_2019_01/IMG-20190103-WA0005.jpg.7f5f509d2e25dce1359d4ab130ec8ea3.jpg

Pinging parts often happens because you are gripping the parts too hard - The chronoglide video demonstrates what happens when you do that. Now that I have a light touch, every time my tremor acts up I'm dropping parts all over the place At least the parts just fall down, much better than flying off into the unknown.

Another watch pulled from my "Dresser Drawer Auction" pile. This one is a "Black Shield", what a killer name! It's a new brand to me, anyone heard of this one? It was already a runner, and a good one at that on the timegrapher, but I was able to get it down to +5 seconds/day and 0.1 ms beat error, so I'll call that a win. It was my first time working on a UTC 29 / Seiko 66 and the Diafix springs on the escape wheel gave me fits. I may have said a bad word or two. Or three. After sending the dial side spring into the ether I learned that you don't need to remove the spring and should leave it in before replacing the capstone, and my dresser drawer coughed up a donor spring and 2nd time went much easier. I'm sure it's not a valuable watch at all but the lessons learned were, so again that's a win. And it has a SS case as well, so all that swearing was worth it

Thought I'd share a couple of my 404 club successes, as I'm finding these harder to find. Both of these came in a job lot from the Channel Islands. The Junghans was in the worst shape, missing it's stem and a previous owner had tinkered with it as a number of parts were loose. Luckily nothing was broken, and it was my first go at fitting a stem and crown which I'm quite pleased about. The Systema keeps great time, I like the little space rocket motif. Again someone had been tinkering inside.

Hi For years that was the only way used, untill the pressers became the flavour on the month . You can use brass tweezers for the job but if done with care there are no problems.

1970s Verity 25 jewels ETA2789 turned into a field type watch. Running very sweetly at less than + 1 SPD in wear 285 degrees amplitude dial up. I was shocked with how bad the positional variation was with this watch, swinging between + and - 60 SPD crown left/right. With some dynamic poising I zeroed that right out getting 0 spd in 4 positions and +3 crown right and up. I now have a very fine timekeeper for very little outlay. I find that the rate of this watch is much less affected by temperature than Seiko 700X that I have worked with before. Also less affected by motion when on wrist. Steve.

The three slot thing is a relatively modern thing. Then I definitely agree with the above statement you can never be 100% sure. if they seem really tight I'll put up penetrating oil on that helps to loosen screws up. But I'm still stuck with a case I almost a flip of a coin because you really can't tell some watches. Usually certain screws are always mostly left-handed and usually the rest of the screws are always right-handed. But never 100% always just because whoever designed watches probably hated watchmakers and that trend continues until today very creative designs that are Not watchmaker friendly Then your weird three arm spring reminds me of the weird four spring found in the early Rolex automatic watches. They probably do something similar although Rolex has a different type of wheel.

Got it! For certain, a weight driven Seth Thomas from 1870 (that I have been sevicing) would break if it were set CCW past 12 o'clock.

Crystal assortments are quite interesting and watch repair. I'm attaching a PDF that's listing crystal sizes from a company found at the link below. There crystals in this country were very popular and are still very popular and give you an idea of what sizes you're looking for. Does other people appointed out it's amazing how much squeezing you can do to get a crystal again I get it to fit so you have a fair leeway on a high dome round crystal. Flat Glasser Sapphire well that's another story but the domes crystals you have some leeway. Then you do have to be careful with Crystal assortments or for that matter any assortment and watch repair. Some of the assortments are used every single day depending upon what you're doing. Other assortments there's only one or two sizes that are popular in the rest of them just sit there forever. Those are the ones that come up typically on eBay missing one size the rest are all bargain priced because you probably never use them. Crystals are very interesting like for instance image below it's a crystal And it still has crystals. Maybe the watchmaker diligently replaced every single crystal as he or she use them and that's why the crystals are still there or maybe they were never used at all. I've seen this at some of the watch and clock shows somebody will inherit them somehow look at the individual price and decide the entire cabinet is worth thousands of dollars in new money it go at a bargain price. Then somebody gets to explain to them that those are all leftover worthless crystals in your cabinets worth well nothing almost. I was at a lecture on crystals once a person was talking about the human at one time had crystal of the month club. Some company would send the watchmaker assortment of crystals every single month. Then yes there are quite a few companies have made crystals all with their own unique sizes shapes styles that hopefully correspond the real watches. So conceivably you can literally have thousands of crystals especially if they're shaped crystals and never have the right one. But your high domed round crystals are popular and as long as you don't go extreme sizes. I give you look at the chart look at how many round crystals they have how many we do use on the extreme sizes? So basically look at what you need now look at the assortment does it cover the sizes that you currently need at the price it sounds like a good deal. https://www.gssupplies.com/plastic G-S-SIZE-CHART crystals.pdf

I have adjusted the spring as instructed and the jerkyness disappeared. Thank you!

Not a surprise for me. This is what the Kieninger manual says: …and Hermle:

So you can not be 100% sure about the thread of your watch.

I know i can tell some parts are just too far gone. Impossible to make a decent job without replacements. Fantastic job Gert , i can't wait to see the video.

Nice work Gert. How much of this restored matey, anything replaced ?

It’s a Poljot 2415A Rodina http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Poljot_2415A& The screw has three slots and is therefore reverse threaded. The mechanism you found is a sliding clutch to decouple the automatic from manual winding.

TBH I don’t think I have seen a tool yet that didn’t need some level of fettling, including bergeon and horotec Tom

It is the problem with asking questions you get answers. So yes you have to strip everything off the watch so than the last thing you can take off is the balance bridge or? By the way would you please take a video of stripping everything except the balance bridge I really could use a laugh. Oh dear I didn't get my answer Completed fast enough and he clarified. I would ignore this you really have to strip the whole thing off One of the problems with looking at YouTube videos are you might come to the conclusion that somebody actually knows what they're doing and that's the way things should be done. The problem is, is that really the way things have to be done? So for instance if you're stripping the watch for servicing you would take the hands and dial calendar off and Then go to work on the other side but you just want to take the balance out how much stripping you really need to do? I have a video below not the exact watch but it's close enough and the video make my point much better than my words. Do you have to take the movement out of the case to get the balance out no but? When you look at the video it's easier to grab the balance the way he is doing from the side and it would be easier to do it out of the case. The problem with being out of the case is the dial and hands are now subject to bad things happening. Depending upon the movement holder you might damage the dial. If this force and markers on the dial there really easy to get knocked off. The second hand you want to stay away from that they bend up quite easily. If you're running the movement in the movement holder a lot of times a second handle catch on the movement holder the watch. Etc. So yes you really could do it in the case but it is a little but more tricky to grab the balance wheel and more tricky to get back in again. I would watch the whole video just because it's a good video. At five minutes and 23 seconds he removes the balance bridge screw. Then notice how he removes the balance and bridge simultaneously. It basically use the same procedure to put it back in you just have to make sure the roller jewel is on the right side of the fork that always becomes challenging for newbies. https://youtu.be/tDa1ZZFwoBU

The Bergeon mat has the dimensions (L x B x H): 320 x 240 x 2 mm. You should not go smaller. Don’t buy a no name so called „watch repair mat“ on Amazon. They have a stinky chemical odor and are never flat on the table. Silicone mats are not a good choice also because they are springy for small parts dropping down.

The Daniels book is the absolute bible for actual "making". My original copy is quite worn and dog-eared. It isn't much help to an amateur or beginner just learning as far as working on watches. If you want to know how to make a ruby cylinder or design an escapement it's the bomb. I don't know the other book, I would imagine it's pretty good if the author is a Fellow of the British Horological Institute.

I sometimes form a tiny little ball out of Rodico and stick it to the part I don‘t want to fly off. The additional weight prevents the part from flying. It just drops.

Yes Birb. Case back removed, release the watch stem by pressing the stem release button, this in effect dislocates the setting lever from its notch in the stem. Once the movement is out of the case, lay the watch dial up on your cushion. Take off the hands with a polythene bag over them to protect the dial. Next find the two screws that hold onto the dial feet. These are around the perimeter of the movement generally opposite each other, sometimes on Swiss a locking grip dial foot screw that half turns on the train side to release the feet. Once undone very gently pry off the dial. Once the dial is off then screw those tiny screws back in before you lose them. You then need to remove the calendar works if you have any. Once all this is off you can place the movement in your adjustable holder. You dont especially need to power the mainspring down to take out just the balance. But if you are removing more than the balance then the powering down of the mainspring needs to be done along with taking off the cannon pinion on the dial side as this is attached to the centre wheel.

Hi guy. If you cant find an odd sized assortment, how about reducing the crystal diameter just that 0.1mm. If you can devise a rig that will spin the crystal over some wet and dry. Something like this to hold the crystal. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374027333698?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OjhrYMU9RuO&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=tBiLZaCfRb2&var=642973593105&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Sorry my pic is missleading. The spring seems to push the pinion up from underneath. Best to find some Omega service literature for details. I hope somebody can help. https://watchguy.co.uk

Your tweezers need to be properly "dressed" and you need a light "touch". Plus, you need practice...

Whatever gets the job done. I use glass cheese serving covers that I got from the thrift store. They'll practically give them away if they don't have the matching dish to go with it and they come in different sizes. I have a small one, about four inches in diameter for watches (that's 100 mm for all you civilized people) it must be fairly old because it's full of air bubbles and thy would not put up with that these days. I also have several larger ones that I use for clock movements. They even look the part.

Chronoglide has a couple of videos on handling small parts:

Unfortunately you learn how not to loose parts from loosing parts. I picked up a great tip the other day from Neverenoughwatches. I haven't gotten one yet but he said that back in the day, watch makers wore aprons and pinned them under the beach, draping it down in front of themselves so "most" of the parts that shot out towards them would land in the apron and not on the floor. Don't get discouraged and remember they really don't just disappear... With patience they can be found. Good luck.

It's all about patience, accuracy and observation. like Neverenoughwatch said above. The bulge on the inside surface would never be done intentionally. That detail/diameter would be made as a straight line because it's easier, cheeper and faster. And... it's just to short to work. Cheers

Look at the portion below the table Nucejoe.

Update. I got it out. I guess I was just being nervous and not being agreesive enough. It pushed right out with my thumbs.

Well here it is all finished. In all it's shininess, running a lot better now. A touch fast, but certainly a huge improvement.

Thanks for bringing this movement back into the forefront of my mind. I have about a thousand (if I'm exaggerating, it's not by much) of the FHF 60s, 120s, as well as other similarly sized and proportioned movements. I think I will try and go through a few more of them. Like the proverbial old guy giving away candy to the children, I have given watches to friendly women I interact with throughout my travels. I've already given several away to customers at work or to the cashiers at the grocery store. I do get some interesting looks. Just try to visualize the whole thing without the creep factor. Have a great day. Shane

Its all good. Back in and working perfectly. First solder job a success. Just need to improve on a neater initial joint. Here are the pictures after the initial solder ( thought i had added them )

FYI for the next person seeking this product, Zenith Solutions’ Epilame product, Epi-Kote is not longer being produced. I’ve corresponded with the manufacturer to learn this.

That does help Tom thank you. I did have similar thoughts regarding the strength of the fluxed solder. It did melt very fast, tbh that is all i had at a small size of wire. It seems to have worked ok and dressed up quickly with it being softer. I will see how the bond is, hopefully ok as the solder has pulled completely through the pin to the other side. The low melting point was a bit of an issue, difficult to control the amount being fed. Heating the underside would have slowed this down. Thanks Tom So here we have the part dressed back and cleaned up. The solder has stood up to the rigors of being gripped by the pin and rubbed around for a good half an hour on increasing grit wet and dry. In the picture you can clearly see the solder surrounding the broken portion of the pin in the centre. The fitting will give the final opinion of success. Next time i think i will go with a non cored higher silver content solder. Experiment is the name of my game.

Sure. it is "Lexikon der Uhrentechnik" by Prof. Glaser. Horological science very very compressed. Frank

Awesome! Now you can go have a pint to celebrate - on me! Thank you sir! That one I bought a few weeks back actually. I just love the Seiko Save The Ocean dials and I couldn't resist getting that one. It's also my first Samurai so was keen to try something different than what I normally wear. This one I did myself. As in everything is aftermarket, including the case. As you'll notice I have a thing for interesting dials. Once you start messing with the Seikos you'll see how addicting it can be. There's a massive modding community so your imagination is pretty much the limit.

Hi peeps. Record high temperatures expected here today in Uk 104 ' F . So I'm twagging work although still registering on covid richter scale besides. My WoTD. Not enough Seiko divers on here. So heres my Seiko Padi chrono solar. A little large for my meager 7 1/4 wrists at 44mm but i just about pull it off.

Bought this cool piece today and wearing it out

My Buller Solar LCD quartz (3091 - 9003) ca. 1978 makes a re-appearance as WOTD.

$5 each at a yard sale today. The Omega has a 625 in it. Both are running.