Endeavor

Thank you all for thinking along with me I'll first try Loctite as that feels & seems to me a less intrusive and a very valid option. If that were to fail, an attempt to solder the joint can still be done. The other way around seems less attractive to me. Soldering is still a good option provided, just like with the Loctite, we were to get a proper surface bondage. Loctite doesn't seem to have an issue with different material or surfaces. Unknown to me are the long term behavior of Loctite, from soldered joints we are all well aware of the fatigue problems. I'll report back with my findings

As you have read, I've tried soldering, admitting not using "Tix", without suc6. The Loctite 648 has been ordered. In order to increase the contact surface area, I may have to reconsider to take the bushing out, apply the Loctite and insert the bushing again. It all depends how time/setting-time & fianl strength test-trials with the Loctite will perform. I'll de-grease the joint first with brake-cleaner; thanks ;-)

I've been searching the internet and came across Loctite 648. One of Its application is to hold gears & sprockets to gearbox shafts. A 50ml bottle, from China, cost £3.57. The Loctite 243 bottle which I own, also ordered from China, was well within the BBD. The 648 is a high strength, has a bit higher viscosity but with ample curing time, up to 10 minutes before it starts to set. This should give me the opportunity to apply or remove where and when required before the setting occurs. If it is capable of holding gears/sprocket to gearbox shafts, surely it will hold a needle to a bushing ..... https://tdsna.henkel.com/americas/na/adhesives/hnauttds.nsf/web/1716575D28E43176882571870000D860/$File/648-EN.pdf The shipping time China-Denmark will be about 1.5 months (perhaps longer in the coming months?) and as soon as I've glued the bushing to the needle I'll report my finding back to you I think some very good ideas were brought forward, ideas which may very well do the job. So thank you very much for you help

That's perhaps another one. Reading the Loctite tech-sheet the Loctite will cure regardless. What is your experience working with Loctite 603? Do you think I would be able to apply a nice thin layer around the seem of the 0.45mm bushing with say; an old oiler? Another thing with the Loctite is that it seems to provide a good bondage even when 100% clean surfaces can not be guaranteed ........ Perhaps one of those; you get were you pay for ..... ?

Both ideas; UV cure epoxies and Loctite seem quite good. Looking at the tech-sheets it seems to me that Loctite has a lower viscosity (150 cP vs 450 cP for the lowest epoxy in AnyHulls link) and has a more than long enough (for me) working time (https://tdsna.henkel.com/americas/na/adhesives/hnauttds.nsf/web/4A89537CE4638581882571870000D851/$File/603-EN.pdf). Then again, these UV glues seem to come in small quantities and at low cost. Loctite comes in 50ml bottles, more expensive, limited shelf-live but recommended by BHI ....what is wisdom ? Decisions, decisions and decisions ...... I will further investigate both ideas and see which one will do the trick and is the most cost-effective. Thanks for all the help so far

In a way I like the idea of a none-heating, not touching to apply, binding method. Superglue sounds good but I'm a bit afraid of not having enough time to apply it nicely and thinly. If one could dilute it so it flows better and buys you time, that would be something.... @rodabodWhich type(s) of Loctite are you recommending? I do have some "soft"-Loctite (243), the one which doesn't need heating to undo, but that wouldn't do I guess. Would the one(s) you are recommending flow nicely thin around the joint, creep in the "cracks" and form like solid a "glass" layer? Obviously I don't want to unseat the bushing to get it in between the joint. Like what @AndyHull just mentioned, a type of glue which buys time and were one has (more) control over the thickness and it's curing time. Either one has to cure "glass-hard" and not stay "soft" or semi-hard. "Nail polish" doesn't sound convincing enough to me, however I never tried how hard/solid that becomes. I don't mind ordering & waiting from something that does the trick ..... this "project" has been hanging over my head for a long time. Now it seems that I have a chance of suc6 and therefor I don't mind waiting another few weeks to get or search for the right stuff / binding method ..... Anyway, thanks already for the good tips. I feel a solutions sits in the pipe-line ....

The paint was "blemished" during a previous "soft"-solder attempt. First I applied some S39 followed by heating up a small amount of fine grains of "soft"-solder to about 350 degrees C melting the solder. The solder sticked to the pipe-bushing but not to the metal. Today I sanded the blemished paint off; the paint is of my least concerns, there is plenty of the "correct"-red available I'm afraid by using "hard"-solder, using an open flame, that it may vaporize the whole lot ...... It's very hard to judge the temperature of an open-flame hand held burner. I scarified already a new hand and obviously the original can't take endlessly "abuse" , so before I do anything the next applied method has to be controllable and with a high degree of suc6 ....

Hmmm ...... That could be an idea ..... can one thin it so it flows a bit better?

One thing these old Soviet chronograph hands are good at, is stripping off their riveted pipe-bushing after having been 30 years (or more) stuck on a pivot. Not all of them do, but regardless how careful you are, it certainly happens more often than you wish for. So, this original chrono seconds recorder hand is not an exception. The problem is however, that the original hands are very hard to find, apart from another set with a whole other ($$$) chronograph attached to them. There are modern substitutes for these hands, but they are a poor copy / wrong shape of the real. Often you can press the hand back on the stripped bushing and with a 45 degrees point carefully rivet them back on, however I wasn't that lucky with this one. Using a pin-vice I deformed the old soft pipe-bushing and subsequent repair attempt made things only worse, to the point of a non-salvageable pipe-bushing . Now at least two years later, I decided to give it another attempt to repair the original hand. To get to a "new" pipe-bushing I scarified one of the modern hands. The "new"-bushing had to be carefully knocked out, hoping to recover as much of the riveted edge as possible. In order to fit the original hand onto the "new" 0.45mm pipe bushing with its "used" riveted edge, I had to enlarge the hole in the original hand to 0.5mm. The original hand "clicked" over the riveted edge, but sadly there is not enough material protruding to create a new rivet edge. It didn't take a lot of "force" for the bushing to drop out again. The nature of this game is such that with these fragile materials and fine edges, one doesn't have many "attempts" to get it right. Now knowing that "riveting" does not provide enough strength (there is simple not enough material protruding to do so), another solution has to be found. The current status is that I managed to get the pipe-bushing back on, it sits straight and square to the hand. Bottom view; Top view; as you can see the material barely makes it to the top of the hand. Most likely the pipe bushing is a copper alloy and the hand is made of "steel". Now the question is; who has a brilliant idea, which works (preferable somebody who has been in the same situation before), to connect these two metals? I would love to hear your suggestions

https://forums.watchuseek.com/f10/poljot-3133-commemorating-mir-space-station-5055311-3.html#post50264399

I'll send you a PM

Thank you A piece of history, just like with any watches out of the Soviet Union (CCCP), which never comes back. Sadly the MIR has been "burned" due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, further funding's and age. It was a "trail-blazer" for the current ISS. The "Buran" space-shuttle was another. I'm honored to own a watch which commemorates such an exceptional moment in time ! In a few days time I'll be updating & concluding the whole story of this MIR watch on the WUS-forum: https://forums.watchuseek.com/f10/poljot-3133-commemorating-mir-space-station-5055311.html

Just to report back; Ordered a sapphire 29.4mm crystal and pressed it (with my hand-press), using the gasket out of the new case, into the numbered case without any issue. The movement has been fully repaired & restored, dynamic poising of the balance and the case is now complete, original and in very nice condition. According to all the information I can find of the 104x Poljot "Mir"s made (number of individuals who visited the MIR during its lifespan between 1986 - 2001), this the 3rd known (the other two known cases are 035-104 & 070-104). It has never been featured in any catalogue. I'm pleased with the results and thanks for the help

From where about in Denmark Peter ? Can you give me a city name ? Perhaps we are "neighbors" and I can do a first assessment?

Have you tried the spring-calculator? https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/mainsprings.php There is a chance that the spring you took out and use as a reference may not be the original anymore (?) You have to have the height correct, else it doesn't fit in the barrel. Than you have to have the end of the spring (Bridle) right or be able to make it fit. A barrel with a hook (TR) will take a Normal Bridle. Also, modern spring may be a bit more stiff (read: more powerful). Start with the closest you can find and proceed from there ... Perhaps forum member @JohnR725 can give you a better advice ?