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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/31/22 in Posts

  1. Spent many years in the lube industry and oils degrade due to ;- Air - oxygen in air will slowly oxidise elements of the oil - remedy is to keep airtight. Best done by storing upside down so lid is sealed by the oil. Less free space the better. Heat - this will evaporate any light ends and cause the oil to thicken. Usually not a problem in watches c.f. engines. Keep as cool as possible, some people keep in fridge, but not freezer. Moisture - akin to air. All oil and greases contain minute quantities of water which will abet oxidation. Water will often degrade additives. Keep as dry as possible and avoid open containers in high humidity conditions. Again store upside down to seal lid as the free space will 'breath' air in and out as temps/humidity vary Light - this will slowly oxidise oil, so keep in the dark. Storage medium - glass is best, avoid metals as these may consume some additives (that is their job!) and plastic may leach into oil in some cases. Basically store upside down, in the dark in a cool dry environment with the lid firmly closed. This is more important with natural oils/greases. Some 'synthetic' oils are 'synthesised hydrocarbons (SHC)' and some are in fact not 'oils' but chemicals. Shelf life is a debatable topic. If oils/greases are stored in the best conditions as above they should last many years, more so with SHC types. Similarly watches that are tightly sealed should see less oil degradation, more so if they are assembled in clean, low humidity conditions. Just my opinions from my experience.
    3 points
  2. Auto Forward/Reverse is now a reality. https://vk.com/video617204413_456239029?t=5s https://vk.com/video617204413_456239030?t=10s https://vk.com/video617204413_456239031?t=6s It works a little differently, flip the switch up to reverse and it auto for/rev, flip it down to forward CW rotation only to spin off the fluids. everything else works as it did before see the videos.
    3 points
  3. Digital microscopes are not as good as a binocular or trinocular real thing but, for those of us that for any reason cannot afford one of these, digital units are a valuable tool for inspection and other tasks. I'm reasonably happy with my little toy, that I use for after cleaning inspection, oiling the pallet stones (usually uninstalled) and working with diafix jewels just to name a few things. I hope the OP can take advantage of his until he has a better one.
    2 points
  4. I sometime work on radium watches- I've just removed the radium from the dial and hands of a 60s Rotary. I have a "Pocket Geiger" so I can check any suspect watches - I didn't expect this mid to late 60s watch to have radium. Glad I checked. After plenty of research, I decided it's OK to work with radium (I try to avoid the watches*), but taking the following precautions (probably more than I need to) : I cover my work surface with cling-film, I wear a mask and latex gloves (probably not needed). The radium dissolves easily in water. To remove dots from the dial I used wet cotton buds. For hands - I put then in a very small plastic bag/container and a blast in the ultrasonic. Change the water, do it again until no reading on the geiger. I only use a teaspoon of water each time, then soak it up in to a tissue and bag it. Everything disposable used gets sealed in plastic bags and disposed in the household waste bin. All tools used get washed in the sink. *With some "more valuable" watches, people want the original patina of the dial and hands. I have a Universal Geneve with radium, but I'm leaving untouched. I'm just careful when working on it (seal the dial/hands in a bag)
    2 points
  5. Looks like a typical Mumbai special, did it come via eBay by any chance, I am starting to think almost all the Seiko watches on eBays pasted through Mumbai at some stage, sold to the unsuspecting around the world only the quickly go back on eBay once the owner realised what a crock of shite it really was. You do have to laugh at some of their descriptions though, with a new old stock watch being listed as having a new case, crystal, dial and strap because the old ones where rusty, a rusty crystal how did they manage that and not much of a new old stock left of that watch. When I started in watch repairs I bought quite a few 7009a movements to practice on and did buy a few Mumbie movements for spares as it was cheaper to buy a complete movement from India than one single part from the usual suppliers of second hand parts. Have fun with yours just dont expect too much from it and good luck using the digital microscope but most agree they are more of a hindrance that a help and only useful for inspection and almost no use for assembly, a low end stereo microscope is much easier to use for assembly as the stereo vision give you much better depth perception. But that's an expense for the future.
    2 points
  6. They told me to put my watch back this morning, so I put it back to the early 1960s. Another 404 club member brought back from the dead. Its BFG 866 was overbanked and in need of a clean. It also needed a crown. Surprisingly its lume still works. Its not exactly Lumibrite(tm), but it does work.
    2 points
  7. I've had this Seiko Chronograph for years (and years). It's been sitting in a drawer with a dead battery (for years). I had a battery installed yesterday (because I wasn't able to open the back myself) and it has come back to life HOWEVER I had no idea how to adjust all of the non-timekeeping hands so they were where they were supposed to be. I downloaded a 3 page set of instructions and was able to reset the chronograph minute register and the chronograph second sweep to 0. Quite an elaborate procedure involving pulling out the crown and then pushing the upper and lower pushers in the correct sequence. In any case I had to re-do it after looking at the photo because I noticed that I hadn't gotten the second sweep exactly at 12 o'clock. It's there now
    2 points
  8. It's a good shout, after you mentioned it, I did some googling and the closest I found to something like it was from the naked watchmaker on mainsprings: https://www.thenakedwatchmaker.com/making-mainsprings Section 10 has an image that I could possibly see as being used for a spring as well, if it had this part. The spring loaded posts are still a bit of a mystery. Work permitting, I will try and get everything drawn up, I think I have tracked down a parts document of the Omega 920.
    1 point
  9. Not bad, it seems. -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_tree
    1 point
  10. Apollo 14 the "Moon tree" flight. It arguably included some of the most interesting science done on the moon during the Apollo program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_14
    1 point
  11. Here is my tresured Apollo 14 command module photo taken 20 years ago at the Nasa Kennedy Space Center. The follow up to the failed Apollo 13 mission. Named the Kity Hawk, i think it was an 11 day mission with 30 odd hours of moon walking. It had barriers around it so no sit in and play astronauts but i managed to sneak a hand pat of something that orbited the moon and brought its crew safely home. Behind it is one the 3 remaining extra Saturn V rockets, over 100 meters in length. Amazing visit and experience just to stand in awe of it.
    1 point
  12. I never regularly worked on radium dials. Maybe maximum two. Thanks for the reassurance. @mikepilk. Thanks for your comment as well. I unfortunately don't see too many hobbiest watchmakers talk about the dangers of radium. It's important to look out for the little guys. Those who are just starting out and don't know what to look for. We tell a lot of new watchmakers to practice on vintage watches (which is a good way to practice), but vintage watches can obviously be a bit dangerous when in the wrong hands, especially when learning to relume. Just a unsettling invisible danger. Thanks for the info guys
    1 point
  13. Hi Shane, that seems like a reasonable guess. Per @grsnovi's comment, I will try to soak it in a few things to see what dissolves it.
    1 point
  14. Haha yes matey. Pointy end first going up, fat heatproof burning up on reentry end first coming back down.
    1 point
  15. Just be a bit canny on the overnight soak matey. Small watch parts do not endure vinegar the same way large chunks of iron do. They turn a dull grey quite quickly. Also bere in mind that vinegar is at least 80 % water often more. Only a small amount of acetic acid, otherwise our fish and chips would dissolve in front of our very eyes ( ok slight exaggeration but you get my point )
    1 point
  16. A 60 second orbit. That's fast! And what about the orientation? Is that the direction these things fly when they are in orbit? I seem to remember a picture (PG-Tips tea cards?) of one re-entering the atmosphere with the fat end down and glowing, and it is pointy-end up at the splash-down, isn't it?
    1 point
  17. It sure does. I presume it is meant to represent the NASA Mercury capsule. .. or maybe project Gemini, in the run up to the race to the moon. Either way it is almost certainly from the early to mid 1960s when the world was hooked on the race into space.
    1 point
  18. Using Google Chrome, right click on the image, then "Open Link in new window". You can then zoom in to the original pic size
    1 point
  19. Prolonged and consistent exposure to radium would cause health issues matty. You will be fine dont worry, unless you were working on radium dial watches on a regular basis and being very careless. Just take precautions in the future.
    1 point
  20. What was it like before the new mainspring wudce ? Did you mean 800 seconds a day ?
    1 point
  21. https://www.mass.gov/service-details/health-effects-of-radium-radiation-exposure Long story short, unless you've been exposed to radium in large amounts or small/medium amounts over long periods of time, the chance of having any adverse health issues are pretty small. Unless you were scratching off the lume and intentionally breathing in the dust, handling a couple of watches without proper dust protection and/or gloves is unlikely to have any impact on you. I highly recommend against anyone doing this and urge anyone dealing with radium to take the proper precautions or just don't work on that movement.
    1 point
  22. I think 9104 is probably a little heavy to be using on all of the pivots? Then I carefully snipped out some images for you I already gave you one avoiding the watermarks on the corner of the page which is why one doesn't have the text to text exactly overlaps the watermark and while I can remove that it's a real pain so I'm not giving you the text in one of the images. You can see they are lubrication specifications oh wait no you can't that's because you need another working instruction. As I pointed out you don't get a clear-cut this is how you service this watch this is the problems you have with this watch you have to look a whole bunch of documentation to get the picture and they don't actually tell you what the problems are so for instance you're missing working instruction number 80 which is the epilam the entire watch yes everything so that the thin HP oil doesn't spread all over the place as a guess and yes it's really expensive apparently Swatch group at least the service center goes through quite a bit of it. Then I did ask no they don't keep it separate from the cleaning fluids so we can't go and steal it out of the dumpster wherever it goes it's mixed in with the cleaning fluids and set off to who knows where. Also you need the lubrication guide to understand what the symbols are I'm going to attach the version from cousins. Then even in the images notice they don't show you how to lubricate the keyless works because all this documents concerned about is the weird parts in the middle and I think I did ask you if you remove the second cannon pinion I'm going to assume you did. removing it is less complicated than assembly because assembly it does have to be down tight you definitely want to support the other side or you risk bending the plates at least that would be my interpretation of all of this. just a minor little confusion I attach three images and they're not actually in the proper order but should be easy enough to figure out how you're supposed to put it back together and what the order supposed to be. Omega 8645_WI_40_rules for lubrication cousins.pdf
    1 point
  23. Hi The oscillator controlles the speed of the watch so I would be looking for sticky spring, touching coils out of flat or rubbing on the bridge or centerwheel.
    1 point
  24. Doesn't look bad, a 48 hr soak in Coca-Cola and a used tooth brush cleans it to your surprise. I can wish you luck with everything except that cheap digital microscope they are just kids toy. Rgds
    1 point
  25. Hi sure is a crock of sh1t you got there. Try The Nucejoe method of soaking the rusty bits in coke and giving a thorough brushing . the acid in the juice shifts the rust. good luck with it and keep us posted onterested to see how it goes.
    1 point
  26. Hi and welcome to the forum. as I see it you have several options, a continue and practise on the one you have b a balance complete c look for a doner watch on ebay. If you are lucky you will find on with a good balance or second best with a good balance spring. fitting random springs does not work and for a beginner is a no go. What is the make and caliber of the watch you have , If you are really lucky a member may have one and is able to help. Look under the balance wheel for the logo and number on on the plates can be on either.
    1 point
  27. Agreed, best example from the food industry I saw was for a stated 200,000 year old Himalayan salt with a 3 month expiration date
    1 point
  28. I guess the manufacturing world has succeeded in messing with our minds. in our dental industry, things like liquid mercury and gold alloy have expiration dates. C'mon .... Really? Mercury is an element and gold is stable. So how do they expire? Previously a batch number or lot number was sufficient. Manufacturers became greedy and started putting expiration dates on everything. Making consumers feel guilty or unsafe using expired products, resulting in perfectly good stuff getting thrown away. I think some common sense is needed. Although they say honey found in an Egyptian pyramid is still good, I wouldn't want to try 3000 year old honey. But I would certainly use expired lubricants. (Ahem... not the personal type, of course. )
    1 point
  29. You guys do know you don't have to buy the WHOLE Bergeon mainspring kit right? Just buy the winders and arbours as you need them. Sure, you have to wait on shipping for the first time you need it, but then you've got it for next time. Most popular for men's wristwatches are the #6 and #7 ones. So get those to start (right and left set) and you're in for maybe 200GBP. Then you add as you need in future, bringing the barrier to entry muuuuuch lower, without resorting to having to molest mainsprings by winding them in by hand. If you're working on something you're not likely to work on ever again (like a pocket watch), then just buy the mainsprings themselves.
    1 point
  30. Lol. I used to do this with cars, " have i put that part in without damaging it i did seem to be a bit heavy handed, lets take it out and check it. Yes its fine " then break it on its second fitting.
    1 point
  31. Best option in my opinion. Hand winding springs in always leaves doubt about what damage could have been done. Have you ever taken a spring out and seen that its coiled upwards? Usually that's because its been wound in by hand - and so the spring can potentially be rubbing on the barrel lid. Not judging - I've done it myself in the past, even automatic (slipping) springs, but you never know if damage has occurred unless, of course, if you remove it again to inspect - a new spring is pre-lubricated and ready to fit into your cleaned barrel, and they're relatively cheap to purchase. Using Mainspring winders, like many aspects of watch repair, takes practice and patience to use them without damage - but I personally feel that the potential for damage is greater with hand winding in.
    1 point
  32. I do the same. I have a few winders that often dont fit and sometimes trap the spring so i use a pin vise with a dog leg bent needle in it. This helps me feed the spring in once i have it started, it actually wovks pretty well considering its a bodgy makeshift device. The bent end fits down into the bottom of the barrel center hole. Once you have the spring started place the device onto the spring and spin the pinvice while feeding the spring into the barrel. The barrel has to be mounted in a movement holder, i use an adapted jewellers vice with pegwood inserts for grips, these bite into the teeth of the barrel to stop it moving. It can be easier to spin the the movement holder instead of the device. Its much easier than it sounds lol. I'll see if i can upload a demonstration, here is what i use in the meantime. This is a very closely gaurded secret of mine, and the items i use are heavily patented. Please do not tell anyone or i may have to come looking for you . A very thin smear of oil on the mainspring is advisable, if anything to protect it from oxidation especially on an old carbon spring. You could lift the barrel lid and place a drop of oil across the wound spring. Not best practice and some may not agree with that ? The oil would eventually work its way around. Ideally the spring should come out and be properly cleaned, as dirt could remain trapped between the coils. You will need to tackle it at some point so now is as good as any opportunity . Try my method of reinsertion that I've left you after old hippy's post
    1 point
  33. Seiko 7009 Report Hi dear Watchbangers, and welcome back to another little report from me! This week I am keeping in my set deadline and delivering my next project on time haha (not like last week).I know there probably have been a million reports, reviews and video on this but hey, it’s a classic; so this weeks watch is: A Seiko 7009 with a fully lumed up dial! I was super lucky to have found this, since at the time of purchase, I only found the pattern and colour scheme interesting and suddenly, this dial is just glowing up during night! So yeah, as always here’s a link to the commented 4K YouTube video for the lazy readers out there: Lets get into the written report then: Arrival status So this is how the watch arrived after I ordered it on Speedtimerkollektion and it seemed in pretty decent shape. The case was still in a nice condition, the original signed Seiko strap as well and the glass only had a minor little chuff so no need for replacement there. Interestingly enough the watch did not move a second for the first few weeks of me having it but started working again once I was filming for the above-mentioned video. Disassembly 1. Remove the caseback. 2. Remove the Stem by pulling into second position and pressing on the revealed lever to release it. Then remove the case. 3. . Remove the watch hands. They seemed In very good condition with me so no repolishing or reluming. Yay! 4. . Remove the Dial by turning the lever knobs at the dial feet, on the back side, releasing them in the process. The dial texture looks super organic and it makes sense since it is fully lumed! I used a little new makeshift dial container here for the first time to store the dial! 5. Take of the Dial spacer ring. 6. Remove the Front clip folding down the Day wheel by user something thin and sharp ( a cutter knife for example) and follow up by removing the day wheel. This day wheel was in English/ Arabic, which I found really awesome, and it also looks great so Ill be keeping that! 7. Unscrew the day wheel spring. 8. Unscrew the front cover plate and take that off. 9. Remove the top part of the 24 hour wheel by unscrewing the screw holding it all together. 10. Take away the rest of the 24 Hour wheel, the hour wheel, the cannon pinion underneath and the date spring. 11. Then remove the day quick set lever and its spring and the translation wheel from the setting system. 12. Move on to the setting system cover, the yoke and the clutch lever. 13. Remove the cluth and optionally the stem (if its inserted). 14. Lastly unscrew and remove the large metal arch which goes around the movement and hooks against small metal pole. With that, you have completed the disassembly of the front! Turn the movement in the holder so we can work on the back. 15. Remove the rotor and the balance wheel so that no further harm could possibly happen to it. 17. Remove the Pallet fork bridge and the pallet fork (this is ideally in an unwinded state, if there is power, please unwind the mainspring first). 18. Now you can unscrew the winding wheel and the ratchet wheel for the mainspring. 19. Unscrew the main bridge and remove it to reveal the gear train! 20. Remove the small clips holding in the automatic winding mechanism to completely disassemble the main bridge. 21. Remove the Mainspring and its ratchet spring and the complete gear train. 22. Unscrew the secondary small bridge. 23. Remove the final wheel underneath it to fully disassemble the complete watch! Congratulation!! Cleaning Cleaning as always is the hand cleaning method. Let the parts marinate in some naphta and then brush them if necessary. After this treatment I rince the parts of with Isopropanol alcohol to get rid of the previous cleaning fluids and left-over residue. I did however do some searching for vintage cleaners and what not but they really are expensive, around 200 Euros. And while that is a worth while investment, im not really sure if I want to and even can spent that money on something that ill only be using a few times a month at most. Well it’s a dilemma haha. But im also thinking about putting jars with cleaning fluids into ultra-sonic cleaners but I’m not sure if the jar walls are too thick for the ultrasonic waves to be effective. Mainspring Service As usual, I did not have a replacement Mainspring so it came down to servicing the mainspring. Upon opening the barrel, the spring seemed in decent condition, maybe a bit dirty but no visible physical defects. The barrel lid however did show signs of wear, so that place would get some well needed lubrication. Here is is unwinded and the back in its serviced barrel before closing it up. Lubrication Moebius 9010 : All jewels except for the pallet fork jewels Moebius 8200 : Mainspring lubrication Moebius 8217 : Breaking grease for mainspring barrel wall lubrication Moebius HP-1300 : Lubrication for slower turning/moving parts. On the barrel arbour for example. Moebius 9415 : Lubrication for pallet fork jewel teeth Molykote DX: Grease for heavy contact points. Mostly for the front in the setting and winding system for example. Reassembly Just reverse the disassembly Process above. Don’t forget to lubricate the balance and shock jewels and reassemble the main bridge correctly. Timegrapher Test So after cleaning and lubrication, I slapped the watch onto the timegreapher to see if the whole process did anything at all. Here it is preregulated: And post regulation within acceptable parameters. Im very happy about the Amplitude since this amplitude was the highest I have ever gotten in all of my projects! Final Results Concluding Fotoshoot strapped and lumed up again: Conclusion: All in all, restoring this old Seiko 7009 was really fun! Despite me not having the spare and clean replacement parts to replace all parts with visible damages and wear, I still managed to get the watch running in good condition again. Also the very unique and rare dial adds to that and Im happy that the light brushing with th Q-Tip did not damage the Lume on the Dial. Sadly, since the dial is a bit older (70s I would say), the fully charged lume on the dial does not hold its glow for very long and I have no possibility to relume the dial. Either way, Im happy if it even shines a little and yeah! Was a cool little project to work on! So if you guys have any comments, questions, criticism or suggestions/tipps, please write me or put them in the comments! I hope you guys enjoyed reading or the video and stay healthy! Till next time Watch bangers!
    1 point
  34. Hello! I've always enjoyed watches and started modding the ol Seiko SKX watches about a year ago. Since then I've started collecting some rudimentary tools and watching a lot of material on YouTube regarding servicing. I think I'm a ways out from servicing a movement but invested in learning how. My latest adventure was picking up an old Elgin pocket watch from eBay and I've disassembled it and reassembled it like 5 times to get used to it (no cleaning, no lubrication, yet I'm afraid). I ordered a $25 Seiko from India with plans on doing the same as I did with the pocket watch, while reading up and learning about lubrication. My end goal at the moment is to be able to service my own watches (and friends), which I know the cost of materials, oils, etc isn't proportional to--but am ok with that since I enjoy it as a hobby. Looking forward to learning more.
    1 point
  35. Originally when It came out 941 was still recommended for low frequency watches. Then 9415 for high-frequency. But with time the manufacturers probably realizing how cheap watchmakers are changed to an either or and now typically it's just 9415 for everything. Otherwise as stated above before 941 9010 was recommended The only problem with 9415 is it is a grease with thixotropic properties. To understand the meaning of that I have a link. Which from the description brings up a problem for us? So in superthin quantities it slides really really nice. But if you get too much it's basically grabbing the edges of the escape wheel causing the problem you had noted loss of amplitude. The watch companies are recognizing the problem which is why in the attached PDF you'll notice the extreme lengths they go to to get a superthin quantity. No you really don't have to go to these extreme lengths you just have to have less grease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy Omega 8645_WI_40_rules for lubrication cousinsuk.pdf
    1 point
  36. I'm really excited about this project. I bought this watch because it looked interesting, not sure if it was repairable. Thankfully the movement was in good shape, despite missing a couple parts. I removed the last of the "gold" plating, polished the case, polished the crystal. I figured out how to Nickel plate the case (which turned out okay) from some sources online. Super happy with how it turned out! Before: After:
    1 point
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