Older Pallet Forks and Shellac

[JerSievers]

Just a random thought, I just cleaned a movement and inspecting before reassembly. Pallet forks seem to be "shellaced" on one side. Does the Shellac ever age and need reapplied, seem that opposite side could have new applied and insure feet don't come loose over time.

The pallet fork looks fine, no issues with chemical or current setting. Just curious.

There are a lot of topic regarding IPA other harsh chemicals that dissolve shellac, I learned the hard way and switched to L&R fluids. Topics talked about different evaluations of how quickly shellac was being dissolved, but not on age and insuring movement's longevity. Especially concerning with the vintage movements I've been working with...parts are a bit hit or miss, obviously.

(Ultrasonic with L&R 111 for 10 min, #3 rinse for 5, second #3 rinse for 5.)

 

[Marc]

6 minutes ago, JerSievers said:

seem that opposite side could have new applied and insure feet don't come loose over time

Pallet stones are normally only shellaced on the under side with no issues, there's no need to add more mass to the fork by adding more shellac.

8 minutes ago, JerSievers said:

Ultrasonic with L&R 111 for 10 min, #3 rinse for 5, second #3 rinse for 5

This regime shouldn't cause you any issues. There is some debate about u/s baths and shellac although I've never had any issues and a lot of pro-cleaning machines use a u/s stage. There is also some concern about excessive first bath durations as some cleaners can have a less than sympathetic effect on plating. Unless you're dealing with something really stubborn you should be fine with just 5 mins in the L&R111.

[JerSievers]

3 hours ago, Marc said:

 

Cool, thanks.

[Plato]

4 hours ago, JerSievers said:

Pallet forks seem to be "shellaced" on one side.

As @Marc says, the shellac is mostly visible on the underside of the pallets. No need to worry! 

[jdrichard]

6 hours ago, JerSievers said:

Just a random thought, I just cleaned a movement and inspecting before reassembly. Pallet forks seem to be "shellaced" on one side. Does the Shellac ever age and need reapplied, seem that opposite side could have new applied and insure feet don't come loose over time.

The pallet fork looks fine, no issues with chemical or current setting. Just curious.

There are a lot of topic regarding IPA other harsh chemicals that dissolve shellac, I learned the hard way and switched to L&R fluids. Topics talked about different evaluations of how quickly shellac was being dissolved, but not on age and insuring movement's longevity. Especially concerning with the vintage movements I've been working with...parts are a bit hit or miss, obviously.

(Ultrasonic with L&R 111 for 10 min, #3 rinse for 5, second #3 rinse for 5.)

 

I have worked with 150 year old Shellac on impulse jewels and palat forks with no issue at all.

[HectorLooi]

I just reshellaced a pallet fork last night. The watch is a Titoni titoflex which I bought from an eBay seller from India. The watch was running but the positional error was unacceptable. 

I found that the shellac was missing on one side and the other side was cracked.

When the OP said "shellaced" on one side, does he mean this?

[JohnR725]

On 3/9/2022 at 3:03 PM, jdrichard said:

I have worked with 150 year old Shellac on impulse jewels and palat forks with no issue at all.

 

On 3/9/2022 at 5:21 PM, HectorLooi said:

I found that the shellac was missing on one side and the other side was cracked.

Typically with pallet forks the shellac is usually fine even with vintage pocket watches. But you do always need to check just in case.

In the case of the roller jewel or impulse jewel in a pocket watch you always check to make sure they're not loose. There isn't any reason why the shellac should break down but more than likely if its vintage somebody's change the balance staff is always worth checking to make sure the roller jewel is in tight.