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Dwdrummer97
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Dwdrummer97 WRT Addict

Dwdrummer97

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Does anyone have any links to online watch assembly/disassembly charts? I would love to buy some more movements to work on but without the Hope of getting them back together properly I feel a bit lost.

I know an experienced watchmaker can do it over and over but I need to experience quite a few different movements with complete assembly instructions to learn how to do it in the manner a pro would.

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WillFly Distinguished Member

WillFly

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The only charts I've seen tend to be generic ones and, like you, the thought of getting all those separate parts - some of them extremely small - back in the right order, has been daunting!

 

I think if I had the tinkering time, which unfortunately I don't have at the moment, I would take a series of digital photographs at every stage of the disassembly, mark them up with the part taken out plus an arrow showing where - and then use those as the basis for reassembly. I think Mark mentioned taking notes when he was learning the trade - and he may well still do that.

 

An alternative to digital photos is, of course, videoing the process - but that's a more complex issue!

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Craig WRT Addict

Craig

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I am going to work on a Montine to be my first watch to strip and reassemble so have bought quite a few cheap on ebay for basically pennies. Will's idea of actually taking stills at every screw turn and removal will be the way to go for me. Like when you were younger and fitted a car radio and marking the wire with tape and a colour (or was that just me...?).

 

Anyway good luck with finding any charts DW, let us know if you do.

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Marc Distinguished Member

Marc

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+1 on on what Will has said.

 

Take plenty of pics of each stage of the tear down.

 

Group related components and their screws in separate containers (or compartments of the same container) according to function and try not to mix them up. As you start to become more familiar with the architecture of watch movements this becomes less important, and you will actually find that a lot of really experienced watchmakers can just put everything together in the same pot and still get it all back together in the right place.

 

Make a note of whether or not the screws for any particular part are all the same or if they are different lengths, also if the heads are different so that you can put the correct screw back in the correct location. Alternatively do as Mark has suggested in one of his videos and replace the screw in its correct location in the main plate or bridge once the part has been removed.

This is an important consideration that I think may well be missed by a lot of fledgling tinkerers to start with (it certainly didn't occur to me straight off) judging by the state of many of my ebay "spares or repairs" bargains when I first open them up. Quite often though, where a bridge is secured to the main plate with  say 3 screws, you will find that one of them is slightly different in length, or has a slightly shorter head. There is a reason for this; put a screw that is too long in the wrong place and it pokes out the other side of the main plate and potentially fouls components in the calendar or keyless works. It's very easy to be so focused on what you looking at that you lose sight of what's happening on the other side of the movement.

 

Then when you get to reassembly, make sure that your tear down photos are on a screen in front of you, and just work through methodically in the reverse order and all should go fine.

 

Once you have finished and the watch is running again, put all of those pics into a folder labelled with the make and calibre of the movement and save it in an archive somewhere. Before long you will have built up your own highly detailed movement reference database which can be a really valuable resource.

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Mark Distinguished Member

Mark

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Your best tool is a digital camera take as many pictures as you can from many different angles. Back in the day we used a note pad and made notes and sketches.

 

Having said that you will find thousands of data-sheets on the Cousins website in the Documents section.

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southwesttimers Member

southwesttimers

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Craig, years ago we used to have a Bestfit Microfiche viewer. The viewer had most makers and calibers of movements on a microfiche chart which provided a schematic of the caliber movement . Great tool when working on more complicated movements. Once in a while I would see one for sale on eBay with all the Microfiche sheets. Later on if my memory serves me you could download the same thing with a subscription from one of our watch material suppliers, but that was quite a few years ago. Don't think it is available anymore. Today some modern and older movement schematics can still be downloaded from some companies that make movements such as ETA and Seiko, but more high end companies do not share this information unless you have an account with them.

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