Greetings and Just Beginning my Journey

[ED209]

Greetings, hope everyone is well and staying safe. 

My name is Ed and probably like others, I came across watch servicing videos on YouTube and got immediately hooked. 

When I was very  little, I used to take apart everything to see how it worked, but I never knew how to put things back. 

Fast forward to adulthood and I began learning electronics repair, electrical work, computer repair and older vintage technology repair. I found it fascinating and still do. I’ve always been into gaming, whether consoles or actual arcade and pinball machines. I fulfilled one of my dreams in 2015 and purchased my first pinball machine, Funhouse. Then in June 2020 I took upon my biggest project and challenge, a complete restoration for that Funhouse, from cabinet wood work, decals, to cleaning every mechanical part, screw, riveting, polishing, rebuilding the playfield, etc.  It took me until the end of December 2020 but I completed it successfully. 

Anyway, that’s just a little background. I’ve always enjoyed and been fascinated with clocks, the cuckoo being especially my favorite. 

Watchmaking seems right up my alley as doing intricate and precision detailed work seems to ground me and relieve stress as weird as that sounds as others get frustrated and more stressed with that type of work but my OCD appreciates doing this type of work.  I had my first child back in 2020 and anything I can find to do in the little spare time I have, greatly reduces the stress of everyday life. 

So here I am and I am looking forward to starting my journey. So far I’ve gathered a list of tools, oils and grease to purchase, will attach to this message. I know I’m probably making the first mistake with spending this kind of money, but I’ve learned many times from my own past experiences that if you’re gonna do something and are committed, do it right and the proper quality tool is worth the investment.   I think I got the basics covered with my first two orders (two different sites).  I’m still going to be on the lookout for a mainspring winder\installer tool kit and a washing machine. Other than eBay, not sure the best place to find these tools, perhaps a forum where others sell their tools, but if anyone has a recommendation, I’d be grateful?

In the meantime and until I can find a mainspring winder set, any help on how to determine what size for new mainsprings to buy and where to purchase them would greatly be appreciated. 

In the same retrospect, if anyone can recommend a good crystal press as well as the best way to measure or determine the proper crystal size and where to purchase, I would be thankful. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do LOVE tools, but hoping as I gain experience, I can better decide if the upgraded tools will help. 

It seems like the consensus is to start with pocket watches, so I have been keeping an eye on those on eBay, mainly not working ones that are older, but if anyone has any specific suggestions, I’m all ears. 

My eventual goal is to be able to service my Dad’s old Timex auto mechanical watch, but I’ve seen a lot of people say that these are very difficult to service and weren’t really made to be serviced, so it will be a while before I attempt this. 

I’ll probably get a few books from Amazon,  “Watch Repair for Beginners”, “Watch Repairing as a Hobby”, etc. I’ve also seen a lot of great reviews for Mark Lovick’s online courses, so considering that too. 

I currently have an Ultrasonic machine I got for cleaning my pinball parts, and plan on just using Naphtha and ISO alcohol to clean until I can find a watch cleaning machine and then get the common cleaner and rinsing agent solutions. 

Lastly, I also plan on getting the common timegrapher that I see everyone use. 

Well I think I’ve rambled on long enough and thanks to everyone ahead of time for any additional help, tips, guidance and feedback you can provide. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year and please continue to stay safe out there. 

 

Esslinger.com - Shopping Cart Updated for Ofrei Order.pdf Ofrei Shopping Cart.pdf

Edited January 1, 2022 by ED209

[jdm]

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

I know I’m probably making the first mistake with spending this kind of money

Welcome here. I don't recommend to buy lot of tools before having at least taken apart a mov.t and judged if they like the activity for a while. Judging by the fact that a good 90% of new members declares high ambitions just not to be heard again, I'm right. Beside, buying at once or in steps costs exactly the same. It is also worth to buy used on Ebay, because a lot of old tools are better than new ones, or simply not made anymore,

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

I’m still going to be on the lookout for a mainspring winder\installer tool kit and a washing machine.

We have pinned topics for these and more subjects, please look in the tools section.

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

Other than eBay, not sure the best place to find these tools, perhaps a forum where others sell their tools, but if anyone has a recommendation, I’d be grateful?

I'm not aware of any specialized website. Our sites doesn't allow sales, but maybe you can find some on facebook.

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

In the meantime and until I can find a mainspring winder set, any help on how to determine what size for new mainsprings to buy and where to purchase them would greatly be appreciated.

Size would be the same that you're replacing, about where to buy have a read of our pinned topic below

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

In the same retrospect, if anyone can recommend a good crystal press

Below the dedicated topic from the list mentioned above, which has all the answers you might get here and then some.

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

It seems like the consensus is to start with pocket watches,

They are a reasonable  start but not the "consensus". Guess what, we have a pinned, running topic on that matter also:

 

2 hours ago, ED209 said:

plan on just using Naphtha and ISO alcohol to clean until I can find a watch cleaning machine and then get the common cleaner and rinsing agent solutions. 

You don't need a washing machine to use horological solutions like petroleum ether, Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA), or ammonia based ones. The machines had been invented to help watchmakers that cleaned lots of watches to save time, that normally doesn't apply to hobbysts.

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to WRT forum.

 

[ED209]

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

Welcome here. I don't recommend to buy lot of tools before having at least taken apart a mov.t and judged if they like the activity for a while. Judging by the fact that a good 90% of new members declares high ambitions just not to be heard again, I'm right. Beside, buying at once or in steps costs exactly the same. It is also worth to buy used on Ebay, because a lot of old tools are better than new ones, or simply not made anymore,

 

Apologies for the delay but have been reviewing all the great information you posted which lead me to others and others and others and so on LOL and then the pinned topics, etc.  I appreciate the input and think for now I'll stick with tools to just do basic disassembly and reassembly and not worry with mainsprings or crystal presses.  Then if I still enjoy it and after I do this a lot, then I'll order some oils and oilers and eventually then work my way up as I start branching out like crystal presses, mainspring winders, etc.  I will splurge just a little to get a good set of screwdrivers and one set of #2 tweezers as I can find uses for these with my electronics hobby, but the rest of the basics I am planning to get won't be the top of the line but will be good quality.  I went ahead and sold some of my older computer equipment that was just sitting around for years not getting used so figured worse case I rather have tools than could be used vs. computer stuff that isn't being used.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

I'm not aware of any specialized website. Our sites doesn't allow sales, but maybe you can find some on facebook.

 

I joined the Watchmakers Helping Watchmakers as that seemed to be the most popular but plan to spend most of my time here.  For parts\tools that aren't new, I'll just keep an eye out on eBay and maybe get lucky.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

Size would be the same that you're replacing, about where to buy have a read of our pinned topic below

 

 

Thanks so much and appreciate your patience with my beginner questions.  I'm picking up the knowledge pretty quick, a lot to digest, but still excited to try this out.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

Below the dedicated topic from the list mentioned above, which has all the answers you might get here and then some.

 

 

This was perfect and glad to see I'm not alone.  Looks like some of the less expensive tools are of decent quality and do the job.  I have no problem going this route for tools that are used every once and a while and then hopefully finding a deal on eBay or other Watchmakers who are upgrading and willing to part with their older tools.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

They are a reasonable  start but not the "consensus". Guess what, we have a pinned, running topic on that matter also:

 

 

This was very helpful and I have been keeping my eye out on a lot of these suggestions and plan to get one as soon as the price is right.  I spoke with a friend and he asked me what my latest hobby I was into and when I mentioned watch repair, he said he had 3 old pocket watches that were just sitting in a drawer and I was welcome to see if I can get them going or just tinker with them with no expectations.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 1:20 PM, jdm said:

They are a reasonable  start but not theYou don't need a washing machine to use horological solutions like petroleum ether, Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA), or ammonia based ones. The machines had been invented to help watchmakers that cleaned lots of watches to save time, that normally doesn't apply to hobbysts.

 

Yeah as the more I read and watch videos, it seems the whole washing machine is more of a convenience and time saver vs. a significant amount of better cleaning.  Don't get me wrong, they do a great job but those I've watched doing ultrasonic cleaning gets just as good results, but just takes a little longer due to multiple cycles and having to remove parts and put them in different jars\solutions.

 

Thanks again so much JDM for all the help.

 

On 1/1/2022 at 2:11 PM, Nucejoe said:

Welcome to WRT forum.

 

Thanks Nucejoe, looking forward to learning so much more, getting experience and finding and exploring a lot of history through watches.

 

 

While I have removed a decent amount of items (oilers, oils, extra tweezers, etc.), my current plan is to get the following to allow me to practice disassembly and assembly:

 

 

 

1. Watch Casing Cushion
2. Rodico
3. Bench Mat
4. Watch Case Opening Ball
5. Dumont #2 Tweezers
6. Pegwood
7. Dust Cover with Tray (Generic)
8. Horotec 10x Loupe
9. Generic Brass Tweezers (#3 and #5)
10. Horotec Micro Ball Bearing 8 Piece Screwdriver Set (splurge item)
11. Bergeon 4x Loupe (I have a visor that goes up to 4x) so not sure if loupes work better?
12. Bergeon Loupe Headband
13. Horotec Lever Hand Removers (kinda splurge)
14. Bergeon Case Knife
15. Bergeon 4040 Movement Holder
16. Bergeon Set of 3 Hand Setting Tools with Stand (splurge)
17. Air Duster
18. Bergeon Cannon Pinion Remover (splurge but feel it's worth it to make this task easier)

 

Well that's about all I got for now, I truly appreciate everyone's help, feedback, tips and advice.

 

Stay safe everyone

 

 

[Michael1962]

Welcome to the forum Ed.