Elgin 607 Bumper & new clueless owner

[SuspectDevice]

This little watch intrigued me so I wanted to see it for myself.

I wasn't planing on liking it so much, now I'd like a full restoration. The problem is that it's my 1st non-Swiss watch. I have no idea where to send it.

Does anyone know a 607/618 expert?

 

 

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to WRT forum.

[diveboy]

any watchmaker can service it, if you get stuck, Jeff Sexton of Elgintime services them.

 

 

[SuspectDevice]

Thank you for the welcome and advice.

I'll be sending it off soon & will report back when it's wrist ready.

[SuspectDevice]

So...Instead of sending it out, I decided to go on a shopping spree.

I'm now researching lubricants and cleaners. Expensive little hobby you folks have here.

(And yes...I have a couple junk 607 movements to play with before the good one gets messed with)

[Nucejoe]

I,d be extra careful with its overcoil. 

Adjusting in four positions is also challanging. 

Mainspring is the uncommon two piece too, so I start looking for a replacement.

Good luck.

[SuspectDevice]

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

Good luck.

Thank You...I might be picking your brain later. I was careful to remove the regulator 1st and unhook/unscrew the balance wheel hairspring before doing anything else. I'm looking into a product called One Dip to see if there is a consensus on its beneficial use.

I had a bit of luck while looking for parts movements and picked up what looks like a NOS round case bumper. I'm not sure if it's a 607 or a 618 because I'm trying to locate a tool. I thought a "screw-ball" would do the trick but it is really stuck.

Beautiful though and almost/maybe 70 yrs old.

[Nucejoe]

Beautiful watch indeed.

A bench case opener should do the trick.

One dip is fine, B-dip is a new improved product.

Regs

Joe

 

 

 

[SuspectDevice]

Now for cleaning...

1) Zippo ultrasonic bath for 5 minutes for everything except the escape wheel, pallet fork & balance/hairspring.

2) Remove from bath and peg wood all jewel holes & anything else that looks dirty.

3) Zippo ultrasonic rinse for another 5 min.

4) One-Dip escape wheel, pallet fork & balance+hairspring. Hand clean end stones & jewels on regulator w/ One-dip also.

5) Treat escape wheel & pallet stones with Epilame.

 

[jdm]

55 minutes ago, SuspectDevice said:

5) Treat escape wheel & pallet stones with Epilame.

Epilame did not exist at the these watches were made, yet they could attain remarkable "railroad" precision. One wonders if it is really needed for beginner then. 

In my opinion a better approach would be to avoid smoker's products and maybe use a specific product to brighen the movement. 

[SuspectDevice]

All clean and waiting on a spring winder from the UK. I started to assemble it but had to stop.

Everything went well except I think I'll wash the barrel & lid with the main plate next time because they were so dirty that they needed an additional rinse. 

I found 3 tiny screws in the dirty solution that I didn't remove from the watch. That was puzzling. They look kinda like those screws on the balance wheel and are about jewel cap size but are steel. I never used my orange (0.05mm) screwdriver once but they are that size with a really pointy end.

Also, the yoke spring was horrible looking and appeared home made. It also looked like someone smashed it in there with a center punch & was a real problem to get out. Not sure what I'm going to do about that.

[SuspectDevice]

Here is a sample from the Timegrapher App.

The watch only ticked 343 times before stopping and it was fully wound. It didn't record a amplitude.

Edited April 19, 2021 by SuspectDevice

[markr]

Are the screws for the dial?  They vibrate out sometimes.

[SuspectDevice]

7 minutes ago, markr said:

Are the screws for the dial?  They vibrate out sometimes.

They have a shoulder and are smaller. The only screws I've seen with a sharp point. No clue where they came from.

I did ultrasonic my oscillator bridge but the jewel cap screws are still on it. Plus, there are 3 of them???

[SuspectDevice]

The most satisfying tiny little click was when the train bridge dropped into place. I was tickling it for so long that peg wood fibers were accumulating on the gears. (about 30 min)

Next up was oiling the center wheel and I totally messed that up. I approached with a large drop of 1300 and it sucked it in so fast that I couldn't pull the oiler away in time. Lesson learned. No way I'm pulling the bridge off to clean the excess oil. I tried sopping it up with rodico but I'm pretty sure there is still too much on there.

The 9010 went fine. I switched to a smaller oiler and only put enough on it to lubricate the bearing. Same thing though, it sucked it in very quickly.

The pallet fork & cock where easy. Still waiting on the winder from the UK.

Edited April 24, 2021 by SuspectDevice

[JohnR725]

On 4/16/2021 at 12:04 PM, jdm said:

Epilame did not exist at the these watches were made, yet they could attain remarkable "railroad" precision. One wonders if it is really needed for beginner then. 

In my opinion a better approach would be to avoid smoker's products and maybe use a specific product to brighen the movement. 

as you're a beginner it seems like may be perhaps rather than spending money on Epilame you could probably find something else to spend your money on better.

Then the second paragraph above cryptically at least it was cryptic for me is indicating he should look at some of the discussions we've had on cleaning products. It's amazing what these modern cleaning solutions for watches can do for you. Because spending time and effort with marginal cleaning fluids long term is not going to have the desired results you want and even if you do use surface treatment on a few components the other components are going to have issues eventually.

[SuspectDevice]

3 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

as you're a beginner it seems like may be perhaps rather than spending money on Epilame you could probably find something else to spend your money on better.

Then the second paragraph above cryptically at least it was cryptic for me is indicating he should look at some of the discussions we've had on cleaning products. It's amazing what these modern cleaning solutions for watches can do for you. Because spending time and effort with marginal cleaning fluids long term is not going to have the desired results you want and even if you do use surface treatment on a few components the other components are going to have issues eventually.

Yes...I think I walked into a discussion about Epilame that was over my head for a beginner. I also found the topic of cleaning solutions to be very confusing and so I went with something I thought was simple. Everything is new to me and I'm trying to make sense of it all. So far I have not destroyed or lost anything so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

[JohnR725]

 

7 minutes ago, SuspectDevice said:

So far I have not destroyed or lost anything so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

 

my bad you're doing good don't worry about it you doing fine

[SuspectDevice]

IT LIVES!

I haven't done the 9015 yet but the little fellow just really wanted to tick again.

The winder came today and it's good that I had an old spring to play with because this happened twice when I was trying to reposition my fingers to feed the braking attachment into the winder. I got the hang of it after a few tries and my new spring went together without too much drama.

[SuspectDevice]

All back together & a new strap.

Apologies to Markr, the screws were from the dial & the 3rd one was the hairspring stud retaining screw.

The timegrapher results were mixed. I have to work on correcting beat error & getting better at oiling.

And yes...It bump winds!