Nearly gave up

[Albertros]

Hi,

well I thought I'd start by changing a battery. How hard can it be? grabbed the wifes Longines super thin and took the 6 screws out of the back.

Ordered a battery off ebay. Thought I'd put the watch somewhere safer and.... dropped the 6 screws (0.65mm across the threads)

Without boring everyone I found 5 of them but later lost the screw that holds the battery in place as well.

Decided to give up and walked away.

So this was very nearly the shortest hobby I have ever had.

[KarlvonKoln]

It can be hard and heartbreaking at times.  Frustration looms with almost every part we remove for cleaning or repair.  But I would encourage you not to give up so soon, if you still have interest in timepieces.  The first foray into our occupation is seldom problem-free.  And, if I'm being honest here, a Longines Super Thin would not have been my ideal recommendation for a first timer.  Don't feel too bad about having a rough time with it.
But there are things we learn that we like to share:
Some use rare-earth magnets to find those little wayward parts.  And they are often found right where we were just looking before.  If you use a magnet, you'll want to think about getting a demagnetizer.  Magnetized parts and tools are the bane of watchmaking.  Very bad juju.  We avoid whenever possible.
I am experienced in costuming and tailoring, so I made a special apron (like one I'd seen in a British watchmaking video) where the lower edge of the apron fastens to hooks below the front edge of my work bench.  If anything drops, it lands in there.
Others here have also learned that if you must remove a click spring, or any metal part under tension, to conduct that operation inside a large Ziploc bag.  If it wants to take flight, fine, but it's not going far, and it's easily found in the bag.
After a while you'll learn (sometimes after crushing defeats and vanishing parts) little tricks of the trade that help make this work a little easier.  You learn why we pay for the *good* tweezers.  And why we're careful about how we sharpen screwdrivers.  And why we do all the odd things we do.
Like anything else a person can do, the more you learn about it, the easier it becomes.  And that can give you a better idea of how deep you want to dive into this.  Here's hoping you find new joy in this hobby!  Good luck!

[jdm]

47 minutes ago, Albertros said:

Without boring everyone I found 5 of them but later lost the screw that holds the battery in place as well.

It's about preventing disasters before they happen. Before starting even trivial work, checklist:

Am I'm seated correctly, work at least chest high?

Do I have good light, and the bench free clutter?

Do I have an non slipping work mat, traditional watchmaker's or electronics silicone as preferred?

Do I have decent tweezers, and am I handling the correctly?

Do I have correctly sized screwdrivers (brand or price not important), which are dressed correctly so they wedge into the head slot and keep it firm ?

Do I have a dust tray, or at least a small clear box where immediately put and keep safe all parts in case I'm interrupted or a an accident happens?

If the answer to any of these is no, do yourself and the watch a favor and stop until all conditions are met. 

If one can't keep this kind of discipline then really the hobby it's not for him.

 

 

[Albertros]

Thanks for the check list.

The hard one is keeping things tidy. I emptied a  container with divisions to put my parts in.

Then discovered the partitions were removable and screws could slip underneath.

In one way it was perhaps not a bad thing, pinging the screws at the very early stage of the hobby.

[Michael1962]

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy.

Oh, and don't give up.