Jump to content

Is it a good idea?


JJM

Recommended Posts

I'm a newcomer to this pulling watches to bits game, thus haven't invested in any component cleaning apparatus/chems. Could I use acetone as a degreasant?..... Well obviously I could, but do you think I may suffer unforseen complications come reassembly/commissioning time?....... I was thinking small amounts in a oil tray dimple rather than a 50 gallon vat, as the cat may well meet its Waterloo in such a hazardous contraption. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi  Cleaning can be done using Benzine, Naptha, and rinsed in Isopropyl alchohol as it dries with no residu. The small single portion jam jars are suitable for small portions and having a screw on lid the cat will be ok....   This subject has been covered many times so for further information use the search box in the top right of the home screen there have been various discussions relating to cleaning fluids and methods.  Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

To expand some on what @CaptCalvin touched on earlier, you have to be careful what parts you expose to acetone. In most cases, there are a few components that are essentially glued together using a natural shellac. The acetone dissolves this shellac and the parts come loose. The 3 most common parts that are shellacked are the pallet stones, roller jewel and occasionally the hairspring stud. I have made this mistake early on and have suffered with the struggle to get everything back in place. Ammonia is probably one of the more mild cleaners in addition to the ones @watchweasol mentioned above. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but Isopropyl alcohol is like trying to find unicorn poo at this present time, as it goes to make hand sanitiser. The price has gone from £5 to £6 a litre to about £50 to £100! This virus has brought out the worst in some people who want to make a fast buck. Be wary of anyone who is selling it too cheap, as this is probably not IPA and you'll only get a bottle of water, then find the ebay account has closed...

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some good news.Plasma extracted from blood of healed coronavirus patients' is showing good preventive properties.Nearly 8 thousand patients who have recovered and released from hospitals here are now donating blood for plasma extraction.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

Some good news.Plasma extracted from blood of healed coronavirus patients' is showing good preventive properties.Nearly 8 thousand patients who have recovered and released from hospitals here are now donating blood for plasma extraction.

Sounds innteresting! Can you post from where you got it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Showed on TV, same old approach serum are produced , surely you know from horse blood, however did not look promising for coronavirus, since same individuals were seen to contract the disease again, which showed human body incapable of producing anti-bodies to coronavirus, imunologist here are showing, the old serum is not totally ineffective after all.keep safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, transporter said:

get yourself some lighter fluid (petrol) its just as good as anything else and i use loads of it, as well as using my L&R ultrasonic cleaning solutions.

You still need to rinse the lighter fluid off though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A distilled water bath helps in between petroleoum ether (which is the proper hydrological product, formulated to clean unlike lighter fluid that contains oils and perfumes, incidentally is also cheaper) and IPA.

But what helps the most is your eyes observing each step in a clear jar against the light. If you can see filaments or any debris floating, thow it away and repeat.

Edited by jdm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest all my experience so far has been with relatively new analog quartz watches. Which I have found are extremely challenging...... The components are so small.... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • 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.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • 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 🤣
    • 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? 
    • 🤔 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...