Tmuir

Happy to buy the Chinese ones if they do the job. I have a very cheap Chinese ones where the dies just push on and its crap, so you reckon the Chinese ones with the metal threads are ok?

I''ve got one of those for fitting the 'unbreakable' acrylic crystals. I am talking about the flat bottoms solid domed mineral glass crystals which you need to push in that sit in the plastic I ring in the case. I'm pretty much sorted for fitting any acrylic crystal and for flat mineral glass, but the possibility of shattering a domed mineral glass does concern me if I use the wrong tool. These are what I'm talking about https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/250mm-domed-flat-bottom-cousins

I've got a cheap quartz diver watch (That isn't used for diving) that I'm replacing the domed glass crystal on for my dad. This will be the first glass crystal that I will be fitting that isn't just a flat one. I have the Chinese clone of the Bergeon 5500A press with all the aluminium dies. I'm looking at biting the bullet and purchasing the Bergeon delron dies for domed glass which are not cheap. Bergeon 6527-6CP Please confirm for me that I will be flirting with failure if I just tried to use my aluminium dies to fit a domed glass crystal as I just want some confirmation before I part with my hard earned cash. Yes I know I will be spending way more on tools than the watch I will be fixing is worth, but I don't mind that as its an investment in the future of fixing more expensive watches, but only if I really need to buy them.

Wow £70,000 I will definitely keep my hands in my pocket if I get a chance to look at it closely and will be sure to take pictures.

Yes I'm still struggling on a desk that is too low, I have a good stool that goes lower than normal which helps, but a higher desk would be much easier. If you in a basement how is the ventilation and humidity control? Ventilation as I am thinking about your cleaning fluids and humidity control so you don't have to worry about rust. Very few houses in Australia have basements, so its not really an issue I have had to deal with but I have friends in the UK that needed to install dehumidifiers to make his basement suitable as a workshop.

The Perth Observatory has in their possession a Shortt–Synchronome clock, this clock used to be the clock that provided the time for Western Australia. For those that have never heard of it, this is the most accurate pendulum clock ever made. When it was made in the 1920s and 30s it was believed to have an error of 1 second a year, but in 1984 one of these clocks was compared to an atomic clock and found to have an error of only 1 second every 12 years. It achieves this by having 2 pendulums, one that swings in a vacuum which is the master and via magnetic sensors it sends pulses to a slave clock that displays the time. I was just wondering is anyone here ever has had the chance to see or touch one of these clocks? Currently the observatory is looking to get this repaired, I have no involvement in this, but I do know people that are tendering to repair the clock and should they be successful I will be asking if I can atleast come up and see the clock whilst they service it. Just stressing I won't be working on the clock, but to get a chance to see a clock like this serviced would be too good an opportunity to miss. For those that would like to do some more reading on this clock it has a wiki page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortt–Synchronome_clock

Get yourself a good quality variable brightness LED workbench lamp. Having a good and bright white light makes such a difference for me.

http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXL2.html Scroll down the above link to LH in 1910 their was a LH, maybe he formed a partnership with someone else and became LHD & Co in 1911 L.H into an oval Leopold Heinzelmann, 60 Atlantic road London SW Birmingham 1910 hallmark

Its Birmingham assay office the anchor, Sterling silver, unsure of the year though. It could be 1911-1912, or 1810-1811, if you could show the whole watch we could quickly work out which year. The maker's mark is unfortunately not in the 'bible' of British silverware 'Jackson's Silver and Gold Makers', but it not uncommon for watch case makers to not be in the book

I agree with what oldhippy says, if its not perfectly clean it wont solder properly, and dont forget to scuff up the back of the spring material with some W&D, then flux and tin both parts before trying to solder them together

Just my 5 cents as a good oil to stop rust. Many years ago I bought a bottle of Camellia Oil to stop my Japanese woodworking saws from rusting. It is a very light oil that doesn't leave the item sticky. The japanese used to use it for protecting their swords first and then when the swordsmiths turned to making woodworking tools it was used on these high quality tools. I now use this oil on anything precision that I want to protect from rust. This is the stuff https://www.kriscutlery.com/other-weapons/camellia-oil-for-knves-swords-and-tools Of course this only helps you after you have cleaned the items.

When I did this recently I used tin / lead solder. I have a big bar of it that would of been for repairing car radiators that I just hit flat with a hammer until its very thin and then just snip a bit off. For flux I uses Bakers flux that you should be able to buy at any hardware store which as said above is zinc chloride flux. In the old days you made it by dropping Zinc into hydrochloric acis until it stopped fixxing and used the link which was Zinc Chloride. Now you just buy a bottle of it ready made, much easier. As said make sure you clean up after soldering it it will rust the part

Now that is an interesting clock, never seen one like that before.

So far the best I've found only has 25uA FSD, I'm looking for 12uA FSD like the old Timex one

Currently I have a Digitech analogue multimeter, but its lowest current range is 50uA FSD, which is just barely low enough. My Henry Fried book on repairing quartz watches talks about a Citizen 3002 meter which by the drawings has a range down to 12uA FSD, which would be much more useful. I don't like my luck in finding one of those meters for a reasonable price, but is anyone else aware of a brand of analogue multmeters that won't break the bank that has a range that goes down that low? My local electronics stores Jaycar and Altronics each only has one analogue multimeter and both of them the lowest range is 50uA FSD. Its not an essential need to get a better meter, but it is something I would like to have. I'm starting to develop a like for the 1970s and early 1980s better quality quartz movements.