Can't get this hour wheel off

[VWatchie]

This hour wheel (and center wheel) belongs to a Tissot calibre 781. When I try to lift off the hour wheel it moves about a millimetre but then it is stuck. I haven't used a lot of force as I'm worried I might break something. Usually I remove the dial train/motions works at an early stage but as the hour wheel was stuck I decided to dismantle the rest of the movement in hope of discovering what's keeping the hour wheel from releasing. The movement is now completely dismantled. All that's remaining is the hour wheel, minute wheel, center wheel, and the cannon pinion. However, no luck, so like the hour wheel I'm stuck.

[Graziano]

Hi there Vwatchie don't you hate that, do you have a jeweling press if so work away with have to keep the plate level and stable, leaving enough room for the center wheel , then press the center wheel out through the cannon pinion gently .This way you wont damage your hour wheel or center wheel ,there is nowhere to grab the hour wheel .Then maybe you will have the hour wheel stuck to the cannon pinion which can be removed with your stacking set .This has worked for me .Great photos by the way

Edited May 1, 2021 by Graziano

[oldhippy]

If you mean the hour wheel it should just lift off. I would run some oil between the hour and cannon pinion which it is over and if you have a watchmakers pin vice that will fit over the hour wheel and try to remove it that way.  

[Nucejoe]

You got a center tube thats attached to the center wheel, I wonder if you have pushed on canon pinion and expect center tube/wheel to come out? 

If you keep the hour wheel from turning whilst turning the center wheel, you will see they are not rusted or anything causing them stick together. A bit of penetrating oil might do some good too.

Regs

Joe

[VWatchie]

Thanks for your ideas and advice  I'll consider them all and will see what I can do.

[VWatchie]

Before doing anything else, I tried to lift the hour wheel one last time applying just slightly more force (w/o being abusive) than I had done previously, and off it came and nothing was damaged. Don't know what was binding and I didn't investigate. Anyway, if it's still binding during assembly (after having been cleaned and lubricated) I'll look into it again.

Thanks for your support!

[ifibrin]

17 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Before doing anything else, I tried to lift the hour wheel one last time applying just slightly more force (w/o being abusive) than I had done previously, and off it came and nothing was damaged. Don't know what was binding and I didn't investigate. Anyway, if it's still binding during assembly (after having been cleaned and lubricated) I'll look into it again.

Thanks for your support!

Did you use any special tools or just tweezers?

[VWatchie]

Just now, ifibrin said:

Did you use any special tools or just tweezers?

Just tweezers.

[ifibrin]

Oh ok. I was wondering if the bergeon style presto hand removal tool would have worked seeing as there’s a slight edge just below the tube which would allow the jaws of the presto tool to grip.

[Nucejoe]

A hydraulic lifter would certainly work, but lets not miss the point, if tweezers wont lift the hour wheel then something is binding which will eventually affect the amplitude.