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owlet72

By owlet72
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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

Posted
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Hello and welcome to the forum , Get the best tools you can afford in order to persue your hobby, Dumont tweezers  A*F/bergeon/french pattern screwdrivers and of course some good optics, regarding a cleaning machine, not totaly necessary for the Hobbyist. Cleaning by with Benzine, Naptha, Isopropyl Alchohol  or a small ultrasonic will suffice .       enjoy 

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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

No not necessary but once you have used a watch cleaning machine you will see just how quick and how much better it is. 

watchweasol has suggested tweezers and screwdrivers I support his advice. You will probably need a few different eye glasses for  very close up work normal work etc. of cause it will depend on your sight, do not strain your eyes,  good light is also very important and posture so get a nice comfy seat and make sure you have ample leg room. Working on carpet is not advisable as things get lost. 

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Pjmat2 New Member

Pjmat2

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Hi folks, Im Paul, another new member here. I'm keenly paying attention to the advice given. Great tips on what tools to start collecting, got A*F screwdrivers on the spindle, got some locking tweezers from when i did gemmology, but I'll look for the dumonts.

I'm inspired to fix my grandfathers watch, but I'm scared to touch it as my first. So I'll need to get some tinkering watches to start. Any advice on good books to read? 

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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Hi welcome to the forum,  A good idea not to start with the family heirloom,  Have a look on the bay for some cheap Russian and Seikos (india)  to plactice on there is plenty of data on them and they are sound and robust.  Regarding books  Henry B Fried and Donald De Carls books although quite old and probably not relavant to todays modern watches still contain a wealth of knowledge on Horology.   Our Administrator Mark Lovick has produced some videos on UTube  and are well worth the time to look at. He has also provided a paid for watch repair course on line which is available.  It depends on how far you want to go.           cheers

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Pjmat2 New Member

Pjmat2

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Great suggestions, I shall get cracking this weekend. Thanks watchweasol. Very exciting. I do worry about the condition of the dial on grandpa's watch, i think that is the only thing that can deteriorate over time. Is there any way to arrest the spread of oxidation or verdigris? At least until i am good enough to restore. It's very sad, looks like algal bloom on a pond :(

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Pjmat2 New Member

Pjmat2

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That is a fabulous document, what a remarkable collection of tips. Thank you for sharing, and thanks DrG for creating it. It's such a daunting prospect to start from scratch, but this site is a treasure trove of wisdom and friendly advice.

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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Hi  You can try a moist cotton bud  and only moist not wet  mild soapy water,  and remove as much as you can but be careful of the printing some will come off , A soft pencil rubber may also be used but again careful is the watch word, and try the method in an unconspicious place first.

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HSL Distinguished Member

HSL

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57 minutes ago, Pjmat2 said:

Have you seen a more tragic dial?

Usually one uses a petri dish to grow fungi in. 
I would recommend you sent the dial to a professional restorer. It will be a stunning old watch when finnished.
 

403477404_RolexFungi.jpg.861582dcdc0454abdcd83a2f05008b3b.jpg

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