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I should have done this a long time ago. I would like to say a big thank you to all my followers new and old. If I can help in any way just message me and I will do my very best for you.

Tah-dah. A mini blow torch to harden it, then quench it and just a lighter held under a brass mainspring barrel that the part sits in to temper, Its important to wipe off any grease from fingerprints with ipa, you might be able to see i missed a bit at the top of the arm. Its a very satisfying process. I now just need to deal with the more difficult repairs, anybody any good at replacing rubbed in jewels ?

Finally figured out why my hands are so god damn steady. My mum 87 years old , 4 weeks after her stroke and has a macular hole in both eyes, she wiped the floor with me and my lad at a kids stacking chairs toy game. Here she in rehab placing the last chair into position, bloody ' Supergreatgreatgran' i hope I'm half as fit at her age

Hi, guys I got there in the end after several attempts using a screwdriver and Rodico, I couldn't wait for the tool to arrive and was getting pretty confident handling the stud screw without it flying away. At first, I was using far too much Rodico, and then realized you only need the smallest amount inside the screw slot. Putting the cock back onto the movement also helped as it gave me more to hold onto while my shaky hand tried to align the screw wobbling away at the end of the screwdriver Anyway, job done and I can move on. Thanks again for all the advice it's really appreciated for a beginner.

1973 Bulova Diamond Excellency Q. 11 AN mov't manual wind. Love the UFO look of this one. Not sure the size of the diamond but looking around for an advertisement to see if it is.listed....strap is not original but the buckle is signed along with the crown. In excellent condition.

Here are the pics of the bridge. Looks correct, but as soon as I screw on the rotor, the watch stops. Video here: https://1drv.ms/v/s!ArG5E62RGctxjokY5ws85BzuJLVakA Pics. Might have figured it out. I have been working on this watch for a while and since I got it as a non runner in a terrible shape, there was no guarantee that parts were proper. I think the main screw that was used on the rotor was too long, so it was stopping the main train. As soon as I fished out a much shorter and larger headed screw, things were good again. Please celebrate with me.

Moved in. Now working out the best place to have things so moving around the room makes sense. The wooden movement testing rig may end up being suspended from the roof with some pulleys and ropes that I salvaged from some alfresco blinds that we replaced. I always seem to salvage things from things we scrap thinking, "I have an idea what I can use these for." I hope I'm not the only one that does that. My wife hates me for it. "What are you going to do with all this crap?" Anyway, here you go. If anyone has suggestions for workflow around a room, speak up. All Ideas are appreciated. The bench on wheels will carry either a laptop or my Samsung table for using with the little camera that is on the tripod for photos while dismantling etc. The small bar fridge in the corners going to have water etc in it and I might move the coffee maker from the kitchen out there as I am the only one that uses it. I want to get an ultrasonic cleaner so I may set up some sort of cleaning rig in front of the glass of the sliding door. Where the grandmother clock is currently standing. I'm hoping that I will be able to transition my working area, which is the table that the stool is sitting in front of, fairly easily between clocks and watches. I'll be doing my best to make sure that tools for each are separatedwhen stored. Logistics. I'll have a bit of wall space for being able to hang clocks if I find some that I wish to keep or hopefully at some time to be able to hang customer clocks for monitoring after servicing/repairs. The clock on the left in the blue pillow slip and the grandmother clock are earmarked for Jarryd and his wife, Sara. He helped me move the benches in today. And then went on to tell me that ticking clocks drive him nuts. Who doesn't like the rhythmic ticking of a clock? I have a green pad for adding to the bench for a working surface. It is not a cutting mat or one of the Bergeon mats. It is actually a green desk writing mat. Was really cheap and will do exactly what I want, I think. I also have to get the sparkies back that put our new stove in to put some power points on the walls behind the benches. Hopefully this is all going to go well. I'm excited about it. It'll beat having to live out in the garage doing it. The other thing I have to do is cut a circle or square of plastic to go over the bouncing watch or clock part black hole in the middle of the floor. I would pretty much guarantee that anything that sproings off the bench would end up going straight down that drain. I think I have been on this forum about 4 years and still yet to really strike a blow. That's a bit sad isn't it. Signed up to Mark's watch course and have yet to buy the movement for working on. Have most of the tools I think I will need so now all just a matter of will. I have to make a crank handle for my Joe Collins spring winder as well and some spring retaining tubes as I can't find where I can buy them. I will be salvaging (here I go again) the aluminium tubing from my old hang glider which I have to scrap as I can't fly anymore and it is too old to sell. All the aluminium tubing is aircraft grade so I am hoping it will be suitable for the winder. I have also been making a bushing tool and I have just worked out that it will work well with my Dremel stand. So another thing that I can turn into a working tool. Don't know if you guys have ever seen the ad about the guy that buys himself a new 4WD and the son says "We're going to need a bigger boat." So Liz is looking at all the stuff we have to get rid of and says "We're going to need a bigger bin." Really difficult to work out how big a Dempster bin we need. Sigh.

The final result is not perfect looking, but is working well. The wheel is pritty small - the OD is 1.8mm

Better than the last one , removing the guesswork by taking spring positions made that possible

[SBGA405] Grand Seiko “Godzilla” Spring DriveI always enjoy coming back at the end of the week to my first Spring Drive watch which is a combined automatic mechanical watch and a high quality quartz — a Spring Drive.Impressive accuracy (10 seconds per month) and wears remarkably comfortable at 44.5 mm in diameter and 95 gm.Love the power reserve indicator, and the colour of the dial amd the watch band.One of my “perfect” watches!!

My newest 404 candidate, a late '60's / early '70's Waltham with a UTC 33 / Seiko 6601 17 jewel automatic movement. It needed a new crystal and I put on a strap from my Strap Graveyard. The timegrapher was a snow storm before servicing but it cleaned up nicely. I really like the funky font used for the hour markers.

I feel like I've achieved the next level up . First watch with homemade part installed ( setting lever ). FHF 73, not bad to work on, simple and sturdy, and part working perfectly. An Avia and in time for this year's Olympics. It has a teenage dial ( bit spotty )

My second iteration. Cleaning to be underneath the towel rails. That makes sense. Moved the fridge and the maching/printing table around to the right. Changed the lathe to be used over the end of the bench. Not much room in front of the 3D printer, but you don't have to stand there while it is doing its thing. I may swap the fridge and the machining/printing bench yet. Not sure. And the 'doing' area. The power that was brought in for tha spa was 30A I think, so there will be more power than I need. I will have to check how level the benches are as well as find a spot for the movement testing rig to go. The tiles do have a fall toward the drain so I will have to work something out to be able to level the rig easily no matter where I put it. I'm also going to cut some slots in the bottom for pendulum clearance and some squares in the top section to be able to better see the movement. I'm getting more excited now.

Tbh thats how i would do it. Being a joiner and setting up a few workshops in my time. I would have full worktops all the way around instead of seperate benches, but still a station for each process. Dedicated disassembly/assembly (clean area ) cleaning, repair , polishing and lathework.

That can be tricky. Sometimes I hold the movement from the edges in left hand and with right hand I push the release with tweezers and simultaneously pull the stem out with right hand pinky or something.

Hope you mum keeps on mending. I was adamant that I was going to get myself going after my stroke. I was only 52. I still have a lot of life left to live. Some people give up. Some people don't let it beat them. Your mum sounds like one of the winners.

So leave off the seconds. Stand the movement on its edge, its the dial edge that rests on the pad ( either rubber or cork , something that wont slip ). Use a finger of your left hand to hold the movement upright, right hand presses the release and flicks out the stem. I do it this way so i can see what I'm under a microscope. But you could hold the movement between two fingers of your left hand, its the right that has to manipulate the stem out by pushing the release and flicking out the stem with right ring finger nail. Sounds more complicated than it actually is. I guess you could fix a push pin to something solid, then all you need to do is push the release against the pin, leaving your right hand completely free to pull the stem out.

I think what peter means oh is once he has fitted the hands and checked for alignment if them and that they dont foul, how does he then hold the movement to remove the stem in order to case up. The dial cannot be laid on a cushion or in a movement holder as the hands will get damaged. This can be quite tricky for a beginner, what i do is to stand the movement on edge on a rubber pad so it doesn't slip. Hold the top edge with one finger then my dominant hand uses 3 fingers to press the stem release and flick out the stem. See below peter, leave off the second hand as this is the longest and gets caught the most, then fit it once the stem is out. Alternatively place the movement in one of the cup style holders, i imagine this is what they are designed for. They only touch the very edge of the dial.

New Great wheel arrived, rebuilt the watch and managed not to break anything. Had a minor issue with a screw I'd found to use to secure the date corrector wheel - it was fouling the escape wheel. Changed for a shorter one and it seems all good. Running pretty well I think - not yet adjusted it, will let it run for 24 hours first.

Yep, that's exactly how it should fit. The reamer shank is tapered and the socket in the spindle is also tapered so that the one centers in the other and is gripped tightly. If there is any wobble when the reamer is seated as far it will go then there is a problem. The cross hole in the spindle is to allow you the push the reamer back out again. If the reamer seated much deeper then it would limit the access for pushing it back out again. Here is one of mine for comparison.

This is the 3th attempt for this specific pinion. Othervice I have made many for pocket watches, but they are much bigger. This is really small. The pictures does'n t show things correctly, there are blinks that my phone camera can't manage well

Not a family member, and yes, it no way near as good, as some information got lost from original site and some information got incorrectly copied. The original site is available as iOS app here: https://apps.apple.com/fi/app/ranfft-watch-movements-archive/id6502008939

What works for me (waiting for the villagers to assemble with torches and pitchforks) is to put a liberal (in watch terms) spot of 9010 on one of the pins of the pin pallet, this seems to improve amplitude and beat error.

More than enough. Here's mine at the height I work at. I think the working distance with the included 0.5x Barlow lens is about 9". So yes, that halves the magnification. The full story is the objective lens goes from 0.7x to 4.5x. The eyepieces are 10x, giving you the advertised magnification of 7x-45x. However the working distance is unacceptably short, so it comes with an 0.5x Barlow lens, reducing the magnification range to 3.5x-22.5x, but giving you a good working distance. What I did was buy a pair of Extreme Widefield 20x Eyepieces for when I need more magnification. You keep your high working distance, but get your 45x magnification back, at the cost of some width of field.

Yes Breguet overcoil, and A is OK, the damage is from B to the end. It should look lile this. The studd is fixed by the screw head into the cut.

Hi as said by @oldhippy it will need to be drilled out. Try usin£ a drill bit in a pin vice, it will be slow but doable. The other way is to drill from the out side of the lug a nd plug and polish when finished.

I use a similar Amscope myself. I love it. Wouldn't work on watches without it

I just broke my Rule #1 - Do not buy a watch unless you can see a good pic of the movement. I currently don't have anything to work on (itchy fingers) and as I just got this for £20 from ebay, (sold as "working"), I thought it was worth the gamble. I liked the look of it, It has 21 jewels, so I'm assuming automatic. The back says "Incabloc" and "waterproof", so it looks to be reasonable quality. The case looks good. From the little I've found on google, the Credos Lugran company was formed in 1954., and bought by Bucherer in the 60s. This looks 50s-60s to me. There's a reference to using good quality ETA movements. I hope so.

I'll be honest that benchtop all the way around was something I really wanted to do. At the moment, it is not a possibility due to some upcoming expenditure that Liz and I have to go through. I already had these benches, so that will have to do for now. I'll work the rest out somehow. Hey, it took me 4 years to get to this. What's another couple of months?

If I'm replacing the crystal, I like to leave it off until after setting the hands so I can use the case as a holder.

Thanks Michael, shes a real soldier, it would take a tank to knock her off her feet. Shes surprised even me and i knew she was a tough cookie. Good for you Michael, you keep at it. I've been reading your posts re. your watchroom they're inspiring and it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get there its about the journey. Rome wasn't built in a day, our watchcaves are our solitudes, our own little empires where we can shut ourselves away from the crap that goes on around us in the world. I look forward to seeing you progress, I have my own ideas how i like to do things. But in answer to your questions on that thread, just let your workspace evolve around you and how you work. You wont figure it out straight away but you will know when to change it and when to leave it alone. But most of all just enjoy it.

Off topic, but that just brought back an old memory! My mother once told me about a minor incident as a child (born 1917, so 1920s, at a guess). She used to use "Fish glue" for a hobby - an apparently smelly glue that had to be heated to be usable - and to heat it gently, she had to stand the tin in the kettle. One day someone filled the kettle without seeing the glue tin.. The tea tasted of fish for some time afterwards!

Definitely worthwhile, if you are working with old watches - just be sure it's an actual Geiger counter, not one of the vast range of scam/fake "Radiation detectors" on ebay & amazon etc. that detect RF or static electricity... In the mean time, I'd put the dial and hands in zip bags & wipe down the work area with a damp cloth to pick up any dust, then discard the cloth. The emitted radiation from radium lume is not normally harmful - but inhaling or ingesting a single particle of the material can cause serious long term harm, so do take care with it.

Sometimes you can see a burn mark on the dial from hands that have stayed in one place for decades, which is a clincher, but I don't really see that here. An inexpensive detector could let you know for sure, but considering the dial/hand style and the darkened condition of the dots on the dial in the absence of any clear water damage, I'd give 90% likelihood that there is radium there. Tritium is usually marked out on the dial, and although it moves to yellow and tan as it ages, it doesn't get as "toasty" as those dial spots based on what I've seen.

Thanks, that's useful to know. Will save some expense. "school in the 1900s" ! I didn't know you were so ancient @nickelsilver

I use these https://adjustingvintagewatches.com/tools-for-adding-weight/ I picked mine up from a watch fair years ago. Great for this type of work and for removing poise screws to fit timing washers. Cousins do a set, which aren't cheap, but I find that more than one size is definitely needed https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/balance-screw-holders-set Otherwise, if you have a really small pin vice that'll work.

I'm confused, I can see the click in the usual position next to the ratchet wheel. Surely the click spring is there?

That looks like normal behavior to me. That movement only winds in one direction, not both, so when the rotor turns anti-clockwise it winds the main spring and so is fighting against the mainspring tension. As a result it will turn under its own weight but it won't free spin. When it turns clockwise though it has no resistance and so can spin freely.

Removed a couple of mm of grout from every tile joint on the floor and regrouted it this morning. Final clean up tomorrow and then I am going to start moving things in from where I have them in the garage. Just have to work out the layout of the room once I start moving things in. Garage just didn't work out. So if you are setting something up, don't consider your garage. Not really a viable option.

Not listed in Watch Makers/ Clock Makers vol 1 & 2. He is an unknown maker. Its low quality movement going by the balance and balance cock. The hands are spade design. Looking at the chart it is 1829. Here is a photo of the difference between good and low quality

The part is roughed out with a speed run diamond disk. Finish both the ends first that way the spring doesn't get any stress and then go ahead and bring the jumper down to size last. Slowly cutting my time down. This one will be 3 hours when its finished, two hours is very doable with some practice from start to finish inc. a little polishing up on the main contact points.

Thanks, ManSkirtBrew. I started looking for a setup like yours and ran across this. It was about half the price of the JKA Feintaster (depending on what auction you were in), and it's a Bergeon. I bought it because I thought the price was fair (eBay - Buy it now), and I'm a sucker for vintage tools. It also has a table, so it should be easy to use for measuring jewels. I wonder if the the contact points can be changed out. Bergeon seems to manufacture new tables and accessories for the contemporary dial version. What do you guys think of it? I'm sorry this post seems to have taken a detour. I'm new here so let me know if I should start a new topic.

Next one up an AS 554, looks like a bit more to this one. First job is to check thickness, most springs are somewhere between .3 and .4, this one measures .35, that matches in with the .4 spring steel i ordered. So for marking up a permanent marker comes in handy to colour up the steel to be marked later with a scriber once its dry. Bestfit provide the extra bit of info for the jumper spring that is missing.

I see Mark has sorted this one out.

Only £2 more than you are worth. Hehe.

Just installed it on my iPhone (my only iOS device) and it appears to be intact and functional. I may have to go out and buy myself an ipad just for this app.

The original database is available on iOS devices here: https://apps.apple.com/fi/app/ranfft-watch-movements-archive/id6502008939

Update: I posted over on NAWCC and it looks like I melted the fine coil wires where they come into the solder lugs. After dropping the heat way down on my iron and being absurdly careful, I have a humming fork!

It was £10 + min fee, total £16, could not leave it there. Its a Stanton A.D.2. http://stanton-instruments.co.uk/

Just to wrap it up, here are some shots with that vintage Caravelle strap.