New Movements For Practicing On, Very Cheap.

[BlakeL]

I took one of the movements apart last night and have it soaking in Naphtha.  Tonight I'll run it through the ultrasonic a few times and then inspect.  I need to get back to fixing the hairspring on the 6498 that I'm using for the TimeZone course but thought I would try to get one of these working to get me back into the swing of things since it's been a few weeks.

[BlakeL]

Looks like these movements just need some intense cleaning.  I was able to get it running smoothly if the movement was face up which was odd until I realized I accidentally removed the shock jewel on the other side which I assume caused too much friction when flipped over.  I put everything in a plastic bag and will try my first attempt at cleaning/replacing these jewels.  

Edited February 11, 2015 by BlakeL

[Geo]

Good news Blake! :)

[BlakeL]

Soaking it overnight in Naphtha and 4 cycles through the ultrasonic did the trick.  There was still some caked on oil that I got off easily with some pegwood.  I bid on a Zenith cleaner on eBay yesterday since the seller was pretty close and shipping was reasonable.  I assumed it would go for at least $75 based on previous sold listings but I ended up winning it for $45 + $18 shipping so cleaning should be easier in the future. 

[steve855]

Blake- I made a simple little tool for reinstalling those anti shock springs that works pretty well. I can post the details here if you're interested.

[BlakeL]

Blake- I made a simple little tool for reinstalling those anti shock springs that works pretty well. I can post the details here if you're interested.

That would be helpful because they are VERY small.

[steve855]

Yes they are small. It's a lot easier with the tool i made. It's really just a tube with the correct ID and OD to press on the spring near the outside edge. You press on it lightly and rotate to preload the spring a bit and get the tabs engaged. Maybe not the textbook way, but it works and doesn't damage anything if you're careful.

I'll try to post some photos tonight.

Edited February 11, 2015 by steve855

[steve855]

Here is the tool I have- as I said, it's very simple. Please excuse the surface finish, made it in a bit of a hurry just to see if it would work and I never went back to clean up the appearance.

Dimensions are ID 0.035" / OD 0.049"

or .89mm / 1.25mm

[BlakeL]

Nice! What lathe do you have?

[steve855]

Grizzly. Not a watchmakers lathe. It's chinese made but I've done a lot with it over the years. You just have to know it's limitations. I would like to get a big old US made lathe like but i dont really gave the room to spare. I can do everything I need to worth this one, at least most of the time.

[steve855]

BlakeL- If you're not setup to make one of those tools let me know, I can probably make one for you this weekend. It doesn't take long. If you have a lathe of your own then never mind, you're probably done with it already!

Steve

[BlakeL]

Thanks for the offer but I should probably learn how to do it the proper way.  I don't have any kind of lathe right now and will probably be awhile until I get one.

[steve855]

What is the proper way? Once you learn it, please let me know if you don't mind. I tried inserting one of the tabs into the groove, then working the next one in and so on, but each time I would rotate it to engage the next tab, the previously inserted tab would pop free. It was maddening, which is why I made that tool. Maybe some of the more experienced folks will chime in here and enlighten me. I'm sure there's another way, but this works for me. I would like to know the proper technique, I am mostly into 60s and 70s Seiko models right now, and they use a similar arrangement on some of the jewels. I did read somewhere that there is a similar tool available (KIF maybe?)

Steve

[steve855]

I found this by typing "kif tool" into google. The section on the right shows assembly procedure, they use a piece of pegwood shaped in a way similar to the tool which I made. It's very possible that I saw this before somewhere and that's where I got the idea. Maybe it was lurking around in my subconscious or something, waiting for the right time to become important. Anyway, have a look. I think if the manufacturer of the jewel setting recommends it, then it's ok to use. I should have made mine from pegwood though, rather than aluminum.

[BlakeL]

Thanks for the info.  I guess using a tool similar to yours is the proper way.  After looking back at what I did during cleaning I think I already made something similar with pegwood albeit with less precision.  I used a knife and made a point and started to clean some of the jewels and areas with caked on oil and I think that is probably when I accidentally removed that spring.  I'll have to try putting it back in with the same piece of pegwood.

[steve855]

Ok let us know how it goes.