Bergeon 6016--a very useful tool

[LittleWatchShop]

This tool has been in the watch bench and until today, I had never used it.

Now I know that it is invaluable.

Today I was fighting with a second hand.  Bending and bending until it cleared the minute hand and did not hit the crystal.  Had to remove the second hand many times.  This tool was made for the task!!

[oldhippy]

They say with the right tool it makes the job easier.

[AshF]

My father always taught me "Pick the right tool for the job".  But my favorite quote is "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".

[oldhippy]

21 minutes ago, AshF said:

My father always taught me "Pick the right tool for the job".  But my favorite quote is "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".

[LittleWatchShop]

3 hours ago, oldhippy said:

father always taught me

Two pieces of guidance from my Dad: 1) if it don't move, don't force it, 2) cut toward yourself and you will never be disappointed.

[canthus]

I use a longish sewing needle with the eye end cut off to leave a fork shape.  Bit of polish/cleanup to remove burrs etc (so don't damage had finish).  Pop it in a pin vice and there you go.  Bit cheaper than Bergeon !!  I use similar needles for hairspring manipulation.

[AshF]

3 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

if it don't move, don't force it

That's where my upbringing differs, Dad always said "If in doubt, give it a clout".

[nickelsilver]

3 hours ago, canthus said:

I use a longish sewing needle with the eye end cut off to leave a fork shape.  Bit of polish/cleanup to remove burrs etc (so don't damage had finish).  Pop it in a pin vice and there you go.  Bit cheaper than Bergeon !!  I use similar needles for hairspring manipulation.

The idea of this tool is the blades have a flat side and round side, slide it under whatever you want to remove,  twist the handle and the blades twist too, rising higher and detaching the part. Two downsides; one the flat side leaves a mark unless protected, the other is the "lift" is not that far. So at some point you might want to pry a little, and on driving wheels (which these were initially marketed for) you end up often with a bent or broken pivot. I don't personally know any pros who use this tool, but do know some that just call it the "pivot breaker".

[canthus]

Maybe I misunderstood its purpose. I thought it was for easing the second hand by bending it slightly.  i would not use it for prying off anything as it could bust a pivot as is said. Only ever used this idea once on a particularly 'stubborn' new centre second hand and it did the job without continual removal to reshape.

[LittleWatchShop]

36 minutes ago, nickelsilver said:

I don't personally know any pros who use this tool, but do know some that just call it the "pivot breaker"

Warning received!

[KarlvonKoln]

I've only tried this once, but it worked.  My Waltham 0s pendant watch has one of the tiniest sub-second hands I'd ever seen.  And when I had to strip it for cleaning, that tiny hand had to come off.  All I could come up with was a doubled loop of my slenderest silk thread (I do quite a bit of sewing too) with the ends threaded through a small bead.  One loop went over the long pointer-end, the other went over the butt-end, and I slid the loops up to the boss, slid the bead down the thread to hold the loops there, and gave a gentle tug on the free ends.  The hand came off neatly and without damage.  
Later on, it was a little beast to put back in place, being difficult to manipulate carefully, but coming off was a breeze.