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Bent mainplate

Omegajeff

By Omegajeff
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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Omegajeff Member

Omegajeff

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Hello all. I am new to the talk. I’ve been watching the videos for about a year now and look forward to new projects. With that I recently began restoring my first watch. I purchased an Omega 563 movement. I failed to realize the mainplate had a slight bend that caused it to contact the balance wheel. Is it possible to straighten the plate after disassembly?

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saswatch88 WRT Addict

saswatch88

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Are you sure the balance wheel or staff is not bent? I just cant see any circumstance which would bend a main plate, not saying it cant happen but i would think it would have to be deliberate. Maybe previous owner tried to repair and had fit of rage and slam dunked it on the floor.

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yankeedog Distinguished Member

yankeedog

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While anything is possible , I also think it unlikely. I would be much more likely to suspect wear in the hairspring assembly. I think that "debending " a main plate could be very tricky, because it would have to be done in a very precise manner.you would have to locate the exact spot and the exact amount of bend.unless you had some type of die made for this purpose you could make it worse,have you checked to see if the watch will run in different positions? does gravity have an effect?

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nickelsilver Distinguished Member

nickelsilver

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Can you post a few pics? I agree a bent mainplate would be a new one on me and I have a couple of decades at the bench. That's a really fine movement and while robust in use rather delicate to work on, not one I'd recommend as a first watch.

Edited by nickelsilver
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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Hi I would agree wit all the comments so far, to bend the main plate would take quite a bit of force and to straighten it out would weaken the plate, But like has already been mentioned what else has been distorted/broken/bent.  As requested by Nicklesilver post some pics and one of the bent plate with a steel rule to acertain the distortion.

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AndyHull Distinguished Member

AndyHull

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If you place the plate on a perfectly straight edge, and see if you can see light through the gap between the edge and the plate, you should be able to figure out if it is bent. Check across various different directions. A bent plate would almost certainly result in damage to other components. A bent gear on the other hand might give the impression of being straight, but the illusion that the adjacent plate was bent. 

I think we need some good close up pictures to see what is going on.

Edited by AndyHull
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AndyHull Distinguished Member

AndyHull

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3 minutes ago, rodabod said:

More likely to be a bent cock if anything. Ooh err. 

Could be, sounds painful... or maybe  misalignment of screws or pegs, leading to one side being pushed up and the opposite side down. 
Pictures.. we need pictures...

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ITProDad WRT Addict

ITProDad

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Hello all. I am new to the talk. I’ve been watching the videos for about a year now and look forward to new projects. With that I recently began restoring my first watch. I purchased an Omega 563 movement. I failed to realize the mainplate had a slight bend that caused it to contact the balance wheel. Is it possible to straighten the plate after disassembly?

Anything is possible. Be sure it is bent and not being kept out of true by a piece of odd debris or possibly some other cause.

Be careful and prepared for it to break, as a worst case scenario. Take before and after pics to share, please.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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saswatch88 WRT Addict

saswatch88

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12 hours ago, Omegajeff said:

I can see the bend. It is very slight but  enough that it is contacting the balance wheel and causing the rotor to not fully spin without binding. I will try and post some pics later tonight. Thanks for the feedback 

The balance has a decent about of clearance from the plate and if it is making contact then the bend has to be right at the edge of the movement. Which still blows my mind how it can occur, not to mention if there was something forceful enough to do that then i cant imagine how nothing else is damaged. I would really love to see a pic of this movement. It should be in some kind of medical journal for watches.

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AndyHull Distinguished Member

AndyHull

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Ouch.. I'm not sure if you will be able to straighten that without risking snapping it. Small gentle tapppity tap taps. 
If it were something less fragile, I would suggest heating it before bending, but in this case.. probably not..

Any suggestions anybody?
Put it in a vice between two soft jaws maybe?

I guess just enough unbending to stop the balance rubbing, then test, if still not satisfactory, then just a little more.

Edited by AndyHull
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yankeedog Distinguished Member

yankeedog

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Ok...here is my blasphemy....the plate is buggered.. it  may or may not snap back. It may snap  off! It might  cause  more damage  and make the  watch inoperable  all together.  Option  one replace  the main plate ,this would be preferred..option  two..attempt  to straighten  bend..option three relive the plate of the damaged  area..take a file to it.very judiciously  file away the distorted  area. The balance  wheel  will turn and the watch  should  work. This of course  should  be your last ditch  option. The absolute  last resort.. but  in my opinion  if you really  want  to put that  watch back into service  ,it is something  you may want to consider. 

Edited by yankeedog
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Omegajeff Member

Omegajeff

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I was able to put it in a vice and straighten a good portion of it. The balance moves freely now and the rotor spins. To my dismay the wheels were not turning. I found the fourth wheel seized in the bridge. When I tried to remove it, snapped clean off. 

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Omegajeff Member

Omegajeff

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I checked the wheels before straightening and they did not move. At that point I figured, just do it and inspect later. All other wheels move freely. I ordered a new 4th wheel and am working on getting the pin out of the bridge. I am also stumped with the dial on this watch. Seems to have an old steam crane logo on the bottom. Haven’t been able to find any information. Looking through the loop it doesn’t appear to be added later on. Smooth on the dial. 

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