Jump to content

Hello folks

m1ks

By m1ks
in Introduce Yourself Here

 Share

Recommended Posts

m1ks WRT Addict

m1ks

Posted
Posted

Hi all, 

My name is Mike, I have dabbled in 'collecting' wristwatches for several years, (nothing fancy i'll add, just things that caught my interest).
I've had a fascination with mechanical movements since I was a kid and dismantled my wind up alarm clock to see how it worked, (a favourite story of my parents for many years).
I have collected, gifted and sold many watches and only have a handful now and some years back used to buy old pocket watches, (starting on good old workaday Smiths), from car boot sales and stripping cleaning and doing minor repairs then selling them.
The interest was recently rekindled when I found among my Dad's things a lovely old Orient that I bought for him about 20 years ago and it got me searching again and interested in dusting off my tools and adding a few more to service these watches for use and display.
To add to that, an Orient and a roamer (the latter not yet received) from ebay, a really nice Seiko 5 from a flea market in Hamburg on a recent visit, (I like to bring back a little reminder from holidays and a watch seemed perfect, sadly the few old German watches there were asked laughable amounts for.
A very recent discovery is HMT, a brand I knew nothing of whatsoever but have piqued my interest being Indian made (kind of a movement under license from Citizen situation it appears), ideal for me too as they're prevalent and cheap to boot.
To refresh my memory and look up new techniques since my VHS video tape learning course on watch repair, (yes, that long ago, thankfully transferre to DVD or i'd not be able to watch it now), and books are quite old, I turned of course to Youtube and discovered Marks excellent, detailed, clear, well explained and thorough strip, rebuild, repair, questions and answers and servicing videos which, naturally, led me here, (My own youtube channel is SpidiQ8 and any who care to check it out will see I do a bit of a mix of things, most involving tinkering, mechanical tutorials, Coffee and coffee machines, home roasting green beans, (my biggest passion), Model kit making, 3D printing and so on, I hope to add some watch related videos as I acquire a few more tools and some new oils and look to service some of the new and older watches I've gotten).
While it#s evident there are newer and better things regarding techniques and tools, (like timegraphers of an affordable nature, on my list), for example, it's good to see that much remains the same, decent tweezers, screwdrivers, rodico and such.

So hi to all and if anyone has ideas for nice affordable watches worth a look, especially divers which i'm fond of please throw them this way.

 

Mike

I'll add also, while I remember, that in among the rekindling of my passion, my 14 year old son has shown a big fascination in mechanical movements and how a watch works, which is lovely to see in a tech driven age where he's typically all about consoles and the latest game so his birthday got him an inexpensive but truly nice skeleton watch in stainless case and bracelet which he winds lovingly every night and is delighted with, so far it's keeping decent time but as with the cheaper chinese movement watches i'm expecting to have to service it soon but he'll have a selection to choose from to wear while that's happening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • nevenbekriev
      Is this a 'hack' ?

      By nevenbekriev · Posted

      OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • RichardHarris123
      Any tips to correct a sloppy error?

      By RichardHarris123 · Posted

      Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • mikepilk
      Setting lever spring

      By mikepilk · Posted

      The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • Geotex
      Any tips to correct a sloppy error?

      By Geotex · Posted

      It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Epilame / Fixodrop

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...