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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. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Finally! Wearing it for a few days to confirm my standards. Bellmatic 4006a
    11 points
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. Just woke up on my side of the world and have seen the issue and fixed it. Many thanks for the report.
    9 points
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. .... your YouTube homepage suggestions all have pictures of watches ... your wife calls you out for thinking about "why that click spring won't fit under the ratchet wheel" when she is in the middle of a conversation with you about her sisters new curtains ... you see something in a store that you immediately think how to repurpose it for using it in watchmaking ... you find yourself shaking your head and rolling your eyes when you friend expounds on their great new smart watch, and they are confused when you don't share their enthusiasm as they thought you 'like watches' ... you get in trouble for all those little bits of rodico bunging up the washing machine, vacuum cleaner etc... ... your family don't find it unusual to find you on your hands and knees with a magnet swearing at the floor and mumbling about springs/screws ... your family know better than to use those 'little screw drivers' to change the plug on the kettle ... your family know exactly what they are getting for every birthday/christmas gift ... you don't have any idea what time it is, or that 5 hours have elapsed since you started that 30 min quick fix despite being surrounded by watches and clocks ... your family start a conversation with the words "it's ok you don't have to look up..." I'm sure I will think of more as the day goes on!
    9 points
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. Also done a few ladies watches, here is an absolutely tiny Tissot that I had to replate: Before: Plating process: And here is the finished watch:
    9 points
  25. 1974 Bulova on the original bracelet.
    9 points
  26. 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
  27. 1971 Oceanographer Q on the original bracelet. This one was a non-runner as it couldn't be wound. The culprit was a severely worn Connecting Wheel for the Auxiliary Reverser. Here it is on the left next to one from a donor movement on the right (which is starting to show some wear too).
    9 points
  28. Good day everyone, I just completed a watch for my wife's uncle as a gift, its a Seiko 6309 which was in pretty poor condition and a non runner for obvious reasons. I had to replace the crystal and the ratchet wheel which was completely corroded (see pictures below) I also had to replace a screw and the cannon pinion. A quick lume on the hands and polish the case and it was good to go. Let me know what you think: Before Front: Before Movement: Corrosion damage to ratchet wheel and screw(s) Here is the finished watch along with the time graph after 24 hours:
    9 points
  29. 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
  30. Ok my pro watchmaker friends from another group gave me the go ahead to finally....finally close this thing up. They said the only thing they could think of i could still do is tweak teh regulator pins to fix the crown down deviation but taht it's so risky with these old type pins that they told me not to do it. 2 days on the wrist and it's gained 15 seconds and i haven't even done my final regulation so i'm confident it's finally done. Today the sun finally came out so i could get some proper beauty shots of it. I'm just in love with this dial. The blue is just stunning.
    9 points
  31. Finally got around to fixing up my Tag, been on my to-do list for over 6 months. Got it as a treat for myself and after parts arrived and I got motivated I finally finished it over the weekend.
    8 points
  32. Due to my location (and I'm a cheapskate) it takes around 2-3 weeks to get a new crystal, hence I have had to develop my acrylic crystal refurbishment skills to revive the original crystals that come with vintage watches and I thought I would share how I do this as I now have pretty good results, assuming the crystal has only scratches and no cracks or chunks missing here is my process: Use 320 grit wet-dry paper over the entire surface of the crystal evenly to remove the deepest scratches - hold your nerve, this will look terrible after this step Use 600 grit wet-dry paper over the entire surface of the crystal evenly to smooth out the results of the step above Use 5000 grit wet-dry paper over the entire surface of the crystal evenly to further smooth out the results of the step above Use Autosol metal polish (see below) in small circular motions over the entire surface of the crystal evenly with a cloth until the paste disappears, may need to repeat this step 2 or 3 times, this will get you 95% of the way there Use Autosol acrylic polish (see below) in small circular motions over the entire surface of the crystal evenly with a cloth until the paste disappears, rarely have to do more than one application, this will finish the job Side note: I have tried the Autosol acrylic polish side by side with Polywatch and there is no difference in the performance or how it looks/feels - I even got my son to decant some of each into containers in a double blind test and the results were indistinguishable. Hence, in my experience, the only difference is that gram-for-gram the autosol acrylic costs 3.7% the price of the polywatch. Here is a quick example of before and after using the above process:
    8 points
  33. Hi guys, As many of you are aware Roland Ranfft passed away earlier this year which is a massive loss to the world of watchmaking. I used his database of watch movements on a weekly, sometimes a daily basis to gain info on mainspring sizes, hand pipe sizes, and the like. I've also bought a lot of watches from the auction part of the site and when I say a lot, probably close to £5000 worth of watches over the past three or four years. I found buying from the site was a lot more pleasurable and friendly than some eBay deals I've done and was never disappointed by what I received and a lot of the time absolute bargains. What I've found over the last three or four years is that chronograph watches, both hand-wound and automatics have increased in value about three-fold in that short space of time, as well as some automatics I've bought from the site, as well as from German and Swiss eBay. Some Valjoux 7750s I bought four years ago for about £150 from the Ranfft site will now fetch close to £400 to £500. Not sure why chronographs have risen in price so quickly. I bought some Landeron 51s and 248s chronograph watches in working order for £90 four years ago and now they'll fetch at least £300 to £400. What on earth has happened for them to increase by so much? Does anyone know? Watchmaking tools have gone the same way. I was buying JKA Feintaster bench micrometers from Germany and Switzerland three or four years ago for £90 and now they'll go for £400 to £500. I saw one go the other day for over £1000 from a seller called 'watchmaker-lathe' from the Czech Republic who seems to have an endless supply of quality watchmaker tools. I think he's got a magic bag he pulls them from!... lol. Worth checking out what he sells, although they go for top dollar prices. Anyway, I feel I'm rambling a bit and wanted to tell you all if you didn't already know that the Roland Ranfft website, 'Pink Pages' is available as an archive at this address: https://web.archive.org/web/20230305223353/http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk The search box doesn't work, but all 221 pages of watch movement details are available which is a bonus. Hopefully, someone will pick up the baton and run with it and resurrect the website, let's hope. Until then, at least the amazing work that Roland achieved hasn't been lost. Share the love and spread the news this is still available. Much love and respect to Roland Ranfft, you'll be sadly missed! RIP Roland...
    8 points
  34. I agree, I purchased a Robour press from them and it siezed half way down on the first use, I was unable to move it up or down. All they asked for was a video showing the problem and once they reviewed it they (CousinsUK) agreed to replace it. They initially asked for me to return the damaged tool (also at their expense), but as shipping out of (but not into?!?!) the UAE is so expensive they agreed to let me keep the damaged one and just shipped a new on to me. Initially I was dreading reporting the problem, but pleasantly surprised by the level of customer service and the whole process was resolved in under 1 week - now I'm a loyal customer. Also, I have constantly compared their prices to the likes of eBay and Ali Express and found them to be extremely competitive and often cheaper. Technically contract of sale is made in the UK, i.e. you offer to buy the product from wherever you are located in the world and they then accept your offer, as the acceptance of your offer and, therefore, the creation of the contract is made by CousinsUK in the UK, hence, UK law (technically English law) applies no matter where you are in the world. Thus, the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies which states that your contract is with CousinsUK not with the original manufacturer (they have a contract with the manufacturer, not you) and they (CousinsUK) have a duty to replace or refund (at your discretion, not theirs) if the goods are not of "satisfactory quality" - See section 20 ss 7 of the act. There are some caveats for perishable goods, sanitary items and time limits etc. Unfortunately, Many retailers will try it on and fob you off to the manufacturer hence avoiding any liability/risk/cost, but they are relying on your (and probably also their) ignorance of the law, once you remind them of this they will usually back down and do what they are required to do, or you can take your complaint to the Trading Standards office (free of charge) and they will force them to comply. Basically, you just don't accept any nonsense about sending to the manufacturer, or "store policy states we only issue store credit..." or any other BS and insist on your consumer rights as per the law...the law trumps their "store policy" every time. Also, the principal still applies that 'you cannot contract out of the law', so any comments they try on about you accepting the stores return policy when you bought the goods is just nonsense. However, I fully agree with @VWatchie that the carrot gets you much further than the stick and a nice polite conversation will often get you what you need much quicker and nicer without having to argue the technicalities of the Consumer Rights Act. Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, but I have studied the Consumer Rights Act as part of my DBA, so please treat the above as friendly advice only.
    8 points
  35. I would like to give my support here. You may or may not know I've been retired from watch / clock making for years after around 30 years. I still learn a lot on here about many things, how you go about trying different things with some wonderful results. So members old and new keep up the good work and a Happy New Year to you all.
    8 points
  36. So the house we live in has a dedicated spa room. (as in the water filled one) Liz and I hardly use used it and it has been empty for a while now as the circulation pump shaft seal died and all the water that was meant to be inside the spa decided it would be better off being adventurous on the outside of the spa. So out with a bit of garden hose and siphoned it all out. We have also bought ourselves a very nice free standing induction stove and oven. The catch with it is that it needs a 40A supply. The spa was 32A so the sparkle is going to disconnect the spa completely, upgrade the circuit breaker in the board inside the house. I am not sure if this will also involve upgrading the external board as well. New wiring has to be run to the stove. Not the easiest of jobs in a 2 storey house. We have some things in our favour so we will see how we go. The upside is that we have a friend who wants a spa so I'll be getting a new pump, fitting that and then selling the spa on. So now I will have an empty room with a very handy door to the house which has a much higher than usual door handle. Pool rules. So that will keep out nosy grandchildren unless Poppy is with them. It will be turned into a watch and clock workshop and I will be moving all of my gear from a dusty garage into a lockable, closed part of the house. Wife's idea. Go figure. I'm quite chuffed about it, to be honest.
    8 points
  37. yes, how can I continue now that the truth has come out that Timex is the evil empire of the watch industry! Oh wait just a minute. So when Rolex creates a product that sells for 35K ( those are the cheap ones too) and only can be afforded by a small percentage of the world population "that's not greed" ? I thought companies were in business to generate funds, create jobs, support economies and all that good stuff the politicians argue about? What am I missing here? I ain't missing nothing. In fact have a look at these NOS beauties I picked up a few weeks back. All from 1967.
    8 points
  38. Is it a knot ? Or is it not a knot ? Ive had coils jump inside each other, you can work it up to one end, the cock stud end with a fine needle. Fried was a bloody master of hairspring untanglement. If i can find the video, i once counted the number of times he said tangled and untangle, it was a lot, yes I'm a very sad and strange individual . Hairspring 101 i think it was, let me find it and come back. No it wasn't 101 I'm talking out my arse, but this is Henry the hairspring wizard performing his mystical art . https://youtu.be/egCwtMMoOCU?si=4LDRlpfqWVXKUHET
    8 points
  39. Hi. Just serviced a very slim Mappin and Webb 1970s gold dress watch. This is a 25 years service presentation watch which jeweller's used to supply back in the day. To my delight it had a Favre Leuba twin barrel 255 hiding inside - my favourite movment. A deeply clever design and a joy to work on. Despite clear evidence of at least two services, it ran at very poor amplitude. However the trace was clean so after a good scrub and lubrication the mainsprings were extracted. I've done three of these over the years and every time old mainsprings had been left by servicing watchmakers. This is unfortunate since the layout allows the two barrels to be removed in seconds. Jeweled barrel bridge - posh eh ? The barrel design is unusual because the winding ratchet wheel forms the top cover and arbor thus saving height and complication - see pic. A different approach is needed to replace them which seems to deter servicing watchmakers. The replacements should be 1.50 * 0.07 * 285 at 7.0 mm diameter - GR 4052 will do. The excellent Gleaves & Co supplied mine. The fun starts when you find the central coil is too large for the arbor hook to engage. I use two methods. The strong cheap flat tweezers fit inside the small barrel and careful squeezing will allow you to tighten that curve enough. The internal post in the barrel will help prevent snapping the spring - be gentle. Plan B is to temper the spring fixing point to a brown colour using a temperature controlled soldering iron and then bend it around a drill shank slightly smaller than the desired end loop size. Both work with patience. Hope that helps guys.
    8 points
  40. Just finished working on this 70s Paul Jobin 25 Jewel ETA 2772. As expected from ETA, easy to set up and great performance on the timegrapher. I'm wearing it today for a test. BUT . . . I didn't realise until yesterday, when I was casing it up, that this movement joins those ETA movements with the infamous design flaw. i.e. if you don't have the crown in the hand setting position when removing the stem, the clutch is not constrained, and the yoke can come out of the slot. . . . so off with the hands, dial, date mechanism to reset the yoke and clutch I've added a note in big red letters in my copy of the service sheet.
    8 points
  41. What do you do when the correct size mainspring winder you have has an arbor that looks like this? This is exactly the situation I encountered last night. I was servicing a Slava 2428, twin barrel movement. The barrel is so small that the only winder that could fit was a Watchcraft #2. But my arbor looks like it got chewed by a dog. I remembered a post a couple of months ago about a homemade mainspring winder using a plastic sheet and a pinvise to hold the actual watch barrel arbor. Then it hit me. I could mount the barrel arbor into a pinvise and wind it directly into my winder. Initially when I tried it, the mainspring kept twisting and buckling and wouldn't wind nicely into the winder. I had the idea of cutting a washer to cap the open end of the winder. When I finished doing that, I looked at the washer and thought it looked a lot like the barrel cap. I took the barrel cap and realized that the barrel cap fits perfectly. So I mounted the spring and wound it into the winder easily.
    8 points
  42. The two jewel ISA 1198 based " Montine of Switzerland" "Swiss Quartz" arrived, and It looks completely unworn. However the original battery had destroyed the lower battery contact. Bizarrely it hadn't corroded, in a conventional manner, but rather it had split into a number of thin strips. I fabricated a replacement (from a 10K ohm resistor leg, flattened in the vice), and now it is running perfectly.
    8 points
  43. My repair for the day, and wearing it. Sekonda. Slava movement 2427 automatic.
    8 points
  44. Spent the last few nights after work working on this atlantic which has a different look and reminds me of the watches you see from the 70s on programs like Minder and the Sweeny. I now have the Minder theme tune ear worm! It came in reasonable condition, and the timegrapher showed a rate of +227 s/d and an amplitude of 182° and a beat error of 9.9 ms. After a good clean and some TLC I managed to improve the situation, here is the trace after about 12 hours, I plan to tweak the rate and beat error tonight, but I'm very happy with the new amplitude of 307° which is a gain of 125°. I managed to save the crystal but the dial was literally flaking away in front of my eyes so had to restrict myself to how much work I did on it. I did a case clean/polish and reapplied the heavy brush finish to the bracelet, and here is the final result: I'm wearing this at work today, wonder if I'll get any comments, or arm muscle strain from the weight of it
    8 points
  45. To conclude my last project; on the picture it all comes nicely together; the monitor-arm for the microscope and the belt-driven Jacot tool. The microscope is equipped with the original 1:1 lens (7x-45x magnification) which gives, positioned above the jacot tool, the perfect working height. Initial test, everything works a treat
    8 points
  46. This Omega Genève, cal 625 from 1974 was a non-runner. I cleaned the dial a little bit too, but stopped before making it worse. Simple movement that went back to a strong beat after a good clean and oiling. BTW: pegging the jewels holes made a huge difference. I didn't do that at first and got around 270° amplitude (dial up, full wind) and lines were a bit choppy in the vertical positions. So I then disassembled again and polished the jewels with pegwood... and it went up to 290/300 with nice straight lines. I hope you like my "movement art"
    8 points
  47. Here is my watch of today, It was a non-runner and I started about 7:30 am this morning and just finished around 4:00 pm my time. New crystal and strap, and re-lumed the hands, quite proud of this one a definite keeper! Before Front: And the movement, all in reasonable condition but LOTS of arm cheese on the case and sticky oils/grease inside: And the finished result (complete with fingerprints):
    8 points
  48. This is my Vostok 2414 from the late 1980s. It was my first ever full (and successful) service. Photos in reverse chronological order. The final product. I like how the dial colour has cracked in different levels of intensity as the shade of the paint changes. Full wind. Couldn't be happier. I'm a bit of an OCD person... note: lift angle is correctly set to 42°. Not sure if this is visible at all . But maybe you can see the small black area between the pallet (exit) stone and escape wheel tooth. That's lubricant (9415). Took me a while to get close to the recommended 60-70% of contact area (maybe I went slightly above..). And it took me the same amount of time to film it with my basic phone+loupe+slowmo technique. Oh boy, it took quite a number of attempts to get that drop of oil done well (being a first-timer). But I probably spent even more time with that bloody shock spring!!! Including 2-3 hours of searching on the floor... When I received it, the watch wouldn't wind. Upon opening the barrel and removing the mainspring, I found that the bridle had broken off... I followed a cool trick I saw somewhere (can't find the source anymore) and used a lighter to heat the spring and then bend it backwards to create a bridle. To my astonishment, it works perfectly and I get the full power reserve. Just some pics of the movement.
    8 points
  49. 1970 Bulova Clipper 'BD'. Love that red dial.
    8 points
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