First watch project started

[Rocket]

5 hours ago, Tudor said:

Little bits of Rodico are great for handling the really small parts.

Either by itself, or stuck on the end of a toothpick or other small stick of some sort.

Toothpick, great idea! 

[Rocket]

Realized i didnt take any pictures of the weekend horology session. Well, maby just as good.

No worries, it isnt that bad. One thing is Crystal clear. Balancesprings is tricky. But logical. But tricky..

HSL is absolutly right. The spring is the culprit!

The reason it touched (shwon in picture) is because spring was scewed upwards and touching the underside of the bridge! That was hard to see. Som clever lightdirection and some tricky looking with the 1 loupe. Made me discover it. After some very carfully fiddeling with tweezers. Tothpick. I noticed the reason was the follower on the adjusting arm. Lead the spring in a low position. Compared to the bridge fastening position. Adjusted it. And it did run much better on the timegrapher. Not good. But about 10 times slower. 

Well. My handiwork.. let the spring go rough in the adjustingarm. So trying to regulate. The spring got loose from the bridge arm.

It was a fun evening. But then and there. I decided to give it up for the night. So I will go back to fix my handiwork this week. The reward is that I still haven’t destroyed the spring. It is still possible to get it fixed and regulate the movement.

If anyone has some skills/tips to share... 

 

cheers

Rocket

[Rocket]

Oiling! Or the magic of oiling.

I did just read that it is not advisible/good practice, to oil the palletfork pivots. 

Is that correct? 

Mine is carfully oiled..

[Rocket]

Hi! 

Haven't had much time for watchmaking practice, for way to long time!! 

But finally!!!

Well almost done with the st 96 project. First started. And first finished. And, im very pleased! 

I have to say, it was very frustrating at times. Many small issues. Most done by my own "fine" work.. 

I did source a replacement balance. Or, I got offered by a gentleman. 

So, I did install it. But the watch did not run very clean at all. With low aptitude. Was a bit concerned, to say at least. But I managed to get it to work reasonable on the timegrapgher. So I decided to but the cannon pinion back, diel and case it. Well.. It isn't going to be easy, is it?  Somehow, I do not really now how. The tub shaft on the center wheel. Was wrong.. I have no clue. But the cannon pinion was rattling loose fit.. When I realized. Well. some cussing did happen.. 

So, thank god. There is a donor movment to rob parts from. Bit disheartening to have to strip it back again..But decided I will improve the running quality, as much as possible. Well, at my skill level anyway.. That had to be the goal. And the possibility to "play" with my new ultrasonic cleaner. 

So, stripped it down again. Inspected it all carefully. But could not see any obvious problem. Put the wheel train and bridges in the sonic boom cleaner (sounds funnier, as an old aviation techie) So far, I have no real Watch cleaning fluid. But tried som 3M industrial cleaning fluid. Dunked a bit in a jar. And set the heater to 50 Celsius. And let it sit for 20 minutes. Rinced it carefully in isopropanol. Have to say, everything came out cleaner and shinier than before. Tried to clean the jewels with peg wood. But..he.. How do you guys get that done? Tried to sharpen as fine tip as humanly possible. But couldn't get it tru the jewels.. 

Assembly went well. Except the train bridge. Took a long time to get the timing wheel to align. But when that was fixed. Everything whent fine.. 

Now, having a beer, watching the timegrapher ticking a way with a slow variation of +- 4 seconds average. 

With that, Im a very happy camper!! 

Casing, dial and hands. Is tomorrows project. 

And BIG! thank you to all who has cheered on, answered my nooby question. 

HSL has to be mentioned extra nice ty!  As he as donated a spare movment. Extra screws.. (don't  ask..  ) 

Cheers all! And I wish you all a nice weekend with no pings!