First time experience with those TINY screws

[JWSimm11]

So,  My watch Longines L3678476,  7750 movement with chronograph.  The movement ring was out of alignment and the pushers action where a little rough.  I removed the movement from the case and gently cleaned the case.  Removal took all of 10min.  Putting those TINY screws back in to the two anchors that hold the movement secure within the case... It took me the better part of 3 hours the get them back into the holes.  I was seriously thinking I might have to take it a different watch repair place.... but perseverance won out ... Thank God...... Mark makes it look WAY to easy and the VERY CHEAP tools i bought where not a huge help either.    I am getting a cheap mechanical movement to practice removing and installing tiny screws,  and looking for a better set of precision screw drivers.  Any one else have similar first time experience...

[jdm]

Mov't ring, tabs and screws. Sometime one struggles placing back springbars, mind you. With time you will acquire handiness that is just the understanding how tiny parts behave, what is the best way to handle them, and controlling your movements and techniques. Sometime it helps using small tricks, e.g. using, rodico etc. Don't be too quick in blaming tools. is use now a $15 drivers set, it was a $10 one before, and have noting to complain about either, but you MUST make sure that the tip is dressed in the right shape to wedge in, otherwise the poor grip will just make you go crazy.

[oldhippy]

Good tools help a lot.  Patience you need a hell of a lot of. It all takes time, one day it will just click and that will tell you you have mastered such a task.

[watchweasol]

Hi As jdm explains its not always the tools ,I have been using a moderate set of drivers  but a set of dumont tweezers and had no problems over many years, Its more down to patience and aquiring the technique and dexterity required and that comes with experience and time, the more you do the better you get and you will not even realise how adept you have become it just sneaks up on you. well done on you first attempt.

[KayMan]

Excellent advice above, particularly about dressing your screwdriver blades correctly.  I started with a £5 set of drivers from Maplin which were fine as long as I looked after the tips.  I would only add that I found modest magnification to be a great help when handling those little screws.  I always use a 2.5x Binomag for all general watch work with higher mag devices for the trickier jobs.  Get some magnification and stick at it, you will improve in no time.