Jump to content

Hello from the UK


plop

Recommended Posts

Hello there, I'm from the UK, Preston in Lancashire.

Due to coronavirus and various changes in my industry and life over the last year or so (I was a 3D animator and CGI type person, working freelance), my career looks like it is over and I am considering retraining into watchmaking as I have been a minor tinkerer (modifications to Seikos mostly) for quite a few years, and have been a bit of a watch obsessive for most of my life.

I'm a handy person, good at crafts and DIY, electronics, etc., and I'm hoping to pick this up over the next 12 months or so and then offer servicing to paying customers... I don't know if I'm being naive here? All the same I need something to focus on in the interim as the current state of the world isn't the best for my mental health.

I'm starting from zero, no real watchmaking tools except some cheap Chinese bits and pieces I've used for mods, budget of about £500 to get some starter tools (was hoping I'd be able to get some decent stuff from the start, at least for the most regularly used bits), and, well, apart from that, get practising and learning.

I was planning to pay for Mark's full course and get on with it. If anyone has any buying advice for watches/movements to start practising on it would be appreciated, I can obviously check out charity shops and eBay, but I wondered if it's worth picking up any of the Aliexpress automatic watches of questionable quality to strip down, clean and rebuild? Really don't know where to start with it.

Anyway, hope everyone is safe and well, take care.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome to the forum   As for tools you already have some cheaper versions so I would upgrade to either A*F brand screwdrivers or the french type, Tweezers of course Dumont . As the drivers and tweezers are the most used get the best you can afford at this time.  Watches to practise on  Usually advise to but Russian/Chinese, as they dont cost a mint and should you wreck one its no great financial loss, some of the Indian seikos are cheap but are sometimes cobbled movements and useful for practise work.  wish you all the best.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello and welcome.

Regarding practice movements, as watchweasol says, Russian and Chinese movements are good and low investment. Both tend to have conventional modern wristwatch movement design, so you learn to recognise the components and where they belong right from the start. Old pocket watch movements are good because of the size. Everything is a lot less fiddly, but many have significant differences to modern movements, which could be an obstacle to a steep learning curve. An exception to this is the Unitas / ETA 6497 or 6498 which has very conventional architecture and is of a size that can even fit in a larger wristwatch case (>42mm).

If you decide to do Mark's courses, and judging by the quality of his videos and free tutorials they are well worth it, you will need to get a Unitas / ETA 6497 or 6498 to work on. I think he actually uses a good-quality clone (Seagull ST36) which you can get for a good price on  AliExpress.

Other Chinese movements are available new or used for very cheap, but the quality varies wildly, and you will struggle to get exact fitting spares if you break something. I have found that generally the higher the quality of the movement, the easier the parts go back together. For example, the Swiss movements from the 50s and 60s were designed and manufactured to be serviceable, and are comparatively easy to work on. Ebay is a good place to shop for these, for a tenner or less. There are cheap mechanical watches from India available, but they apparently bulk-buy scrap movements  then canniblalise the worst ones for parts. The result is a running watch, but with dirty, worn, and "non-standard" components. Not good to work on!

Having said all that, in your particular circumstances, you might want to look at some alternatives to mechanical watch repair as a means of income. What about simple repairs and battery changes for quartz watches, or cosmetic work (case finishing, modding, individual dials). Just some ideas which might suit your existing skill-set better and give you a quicker way in.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Nice to see a local lad on this international forum (Penwortham born!).  New to this world too.  Just acquired (from fleabay) an old pocket watch movement and a couple of trench watches to experiment on.  Pocket watch is a non runner but only £12.99 so can't grumble with that.  Its about getting used to the parts and movements and cleaning.  What surprised me the most is the scale down sizes of a pocket watch movement to a wrist watch movement.  Probably an obvious thing but when you are working up close on them - it really stands out.

Hence i would advise on a set of magnifying goggles or equiv.  They come in handy with model making too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The question of Loupes and binocular visors  has been discussed at length before on the forum, so I would suggest you use the search function at the top right of the home screen and have a look at the many varied opinions and make an educated choice on the data gleaned,       all the best 

  • Like 1
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.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Have you ever seen grease spread?  I use Molykote DX on the keyless, cannon pinion, etc and cannot imagine it spreading. Similarly, HP1300 should not be a problem, as long as you don't splash too much about.  9010 does like to travel though. I've recently re-serviced a couple of my watches I first serviced about 5 years ago. I was a bit too liberal with the oil and grease back then, but it hasn't spread everywhere. I only epilame on balance cap stones, escape wheel and pallet stones (and auto wheels if they need it).   If you use it all over, the oil might bead-up and travel even further - think of using RainX on your car windows.
    • Polish it where the old part cracked as well. Get rid of the stress-raisers.
    • Sounds great! And yes, I would use grease for the keyless as well although treating the parts with epilame would make the grease less likely to spread in the long run. Not critical but won’t hurt. My current strategy is to epilame treat all parts getting in contact with oil or grease.
    • Hello everyone, for what it's worth, here is my approach: 1. Escape wheel submerged in Epilame, then dried quickly with a hairdryer. Then the final tip of the pivots are cleaned by poking into pithwood. The logic being that the Epilame is removed at the intended contact point (to avoid any residue that may mix with the oil), but remains in the areas where oil is not supposed to spread to (further down the pivot towards the wheel). The escape wheel teeth also benefit from having Epilame to keep the 9415 in place.  2. I use a syringe to treat only the pallet stones. I suspend the pallet fork with some Rodico so that the stones hang downwards. I notably use a rather thick needle where a drop WON'T form, but rather where the Epilame liquid stays in the needle tip, which I then dip into the pallet stones. It requires some practice to get the right amount of Epilame into the needle tip, but it works for me now. This way, no drop will "jump" onto the pallet fork and potentially go all the way to the pivots.  3. I let the movement run for a few minutes without lubricating the pallet stones... to scrape off the Epilame in the intended contact "channel". Then I remove the balance again and lubricate the exit pallet stone with 3-4 successive drops. See the "channel" that forms on the pallet stone in the picture -- not so easy to see, but it's visible.       I am conflicted about the use of Epliame in balance jewel settings. My impression is that the two jewels sufficiently suspend the oil (even 9010). Apparently Rolex recommends NOT to use Epliame there (heard from a former Rolex service center watchmaker), as it could cause additional wear. Apart from that, I follow specific instructions where I can find them. E.g. the infamous Rolex reverser wheels or sometimes (parts of) the seconds wheel. Exception: I'm currently servicing an Eta 2824 and will probably ignore the service sheet that recommends treating the whole keyless works with Epilame and then using HP1300... I'll skip the Epilame and use 9504 grease.        
    • I'm going to give this a try today/tomorrow on my UTC33/Seiko 66, thanks!
×
×
  • Create New...