Jump to content

New to watch repair with focus on Bulova


rph952

Recommended Posts

My goal is to service a 1970s Bulova Oceanographer I was given as a graduation gift. I first purchased one just like in on EBay for practice on the 11BLC movement. I'm also creating my own Word file of the Dictionnaire Technologique 1969, mostly so I can learn the part names. I've spent many hours on YT watching. My favorites: My Retro Watches, Wristwatch Revival,  VK Vintage, Chronoglide Watchmaking. What I've learned so far is that Rodico is your friend! Ray

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings @rph952, indeed Rodico has many uses. I've found it can serve as a stress relief when nothing seems to be going right... 🙂

So, you have your gifted 70's gift watch (which I assume you've not yet opened) as well as the practice 11BLC movement?

When was the last time your gift watch worked? Has it been damaged as far as you know? Is it hard to wind? Can you set the hands?

Now then, other than watching the magicians on YT tear down, clean, lubricate and re-assemble a non-working watch (without any missteps, hic-cups or other issues) in less than an hour do you have any other watch experiences? What about tools?

I haven't been at this very long but I have worked through Mark's online training levels 1, 2 and 3. Depending on how adventurous you are you might dive right in (and assume that those 1 hour videos are an example of how to spend a leisurely hour fixing a watch) or you might want to hang around here and see if you can find any Bulova owners who have worked on an 11BLC who might offer suggestions.

Welcome to the forum!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got the practice movement ready for disassembly. The gift watch hasn't worked in decades. Never serviced. It's pristine but no doubt all the oil is dried. It responds to winding for an hour or so. I'm sure it's fine. I've found a few videos on the Bulova, which helps a lot. My biggest fear is losing a part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • @Neverenoughwatches Many thanks for your remarks. As I wrote earlier, I was a bit reluctant to disassemble this movement, and you gave me further motives to be careful. I'll just remove it from its case so as to clean it a little.
    • I am not sure for the terms in english, but if I directly translate from Bulgarian or Russian, there are 'magnetic soft' and 'magnetic hard' magnetic materials. The first group will not get magnetised, thow they will be attracted by magnets. The soft iron for example. The second group, like hardened steel, will get magnetised. So non magnetic hairspring aloys belong to the first group.
    • Looks like it is only dirt. If rust, then this means the strenght of the spring is reduced in places with rust, so the spring is damaged and useless. Only light surface rust, which is rather residual from other places activity of rust can be cleaned, and no chemicals that can etch the metals of the spring aloy should be used
    • Hello, I'm after some help on getting a functional tool for removing and replacing case tubes, the friction fit type not the threaded type. I have previously owned two Chinese Ali Express tools, which worked, but in each case after using on a watch case with an angle the watch had to be manually held perpendicular and when this angle was not perfectly aligned the pusher pin inevitably received a slight side load and the tool body was damaged. Due to the fact that the hole which holds the pusher pin is so close to the end of the block and the material wall is so thin: The result was that the hard pusher pin stretched and deformed the hole and the pusher pin was then slack and no longer perpendicular, and eventually the material split altogether. After I looked at the tool I realised that the block the hole was machined into was aluminum, this coupled with the extremely thin wall made this hole very weak and prone to the deformation and damage I had experienced. I looked to another reputable supplier (see below) who advertised their tool as "all steel" and I even contacted their customer support who confirmed that the block in question was made of steel. I was very disappointed yesterday when it arrived and found that it was in fact aluminum and not steel as promised. I could tell by the feel of the material (weight) and confirmed with a magnet which would not 'stick' and have since requested a return/refund. Assuming the return/refund goes smoothly, I am still left with my original problem of not having a tube pusher tool - does anyone have any recommendation for a tool which will work and will also stand the test of time?
    • Drilling is going to be difficult, firstly because the drill bits are so thin and brittle, expect to break a few. The second issue is access to the 'hole', as the other lug will be in the way, meaning that you will have to drill at a slight angle, putting a bending stress on the drill bit and with the slightest drop in concentration .... and back to my first point. I would be tempted to grind them flat with a Dremel type tool or small jewelers file, and then put a center punch in the center of the bit to be drilled so the drill bit doesn't skip around and break... but expect this to be slow and frustrating work. By the time you have done 4 of these you'll be an expert and can come back and tell us all the best way to do it if you go down this route. However, I would seriously consider What @watchweasol said and drill from the outside-in, this will ensure straight holes without having to work around the other lugs. It may be worthwhile making yourself a simple paper template so you can be sure to match the position of each hole before drilling. In the end you will be left with 4 holes on the outside of the lugs, but many cases are made this way and unless you are looking for it you probably won't notice or realise that it's not the way the watch was meant to be in the first place.
×
×
  • Create New...