Well, I think I broke something!

[Watchscience]

hi all,

i finally took apart my eta clone (seagull 3620) movement today, including all jewels.

The disasemby process went ok .. one of the jewel springs flew off as i pulled it apart -- It took me about an hour to find it again, just as I was about to give up and packed everything up. I caught a glimpse of something shiny off the corner of my eye. I was so relieved!

However, while looking for the tiny bit (which is now safely stuck on some rodico with its respective jewel inside a jar), I found this - which i have no idea what it is, where it came from, or how it got to my work bench.

My only guess is that it's a sliver off something which i must have been a bit too rough with?

i'll plug my microscope back in tomorrow and take more photos as i assemble the movement again, and see if I can figure out where it could have come from.

It is super tiny - you can see it next to the pallet fork for scale!

Any thoughts what it might be? I feel like its question mark shape is almost mocking me.

[teegee]

Generic seagull factory swarf? Some of those Chinese clones are actually pretty nice -- some are terrible.

It also looks like your tweezers need some TLC 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

  On 5/13/2022 at 7:38 AM, Watchscience said:

hi all,

i finally took apart my eta clone (seagull 3620) movement today, including all jewels.

The disasemby process went ok .. one of the jewel springs flew off as i pulled it apart -- It took me about an hour to find it again, just as I was about to give up and packed everything up. I caught a glimpse of something shiny off the corner of my eye. I was so relieved!

However, while looking for the tiny bit (which is now safely stuck on some rodico with its respective jewel inside a jar), I found this - which i have no idea what it is, where it came from, or how it got to my work bench.

My only guess is that it's a sliver off something which i must have been a bit too rough with?

i'll plug my microscope back in tomorrow and take more photos as i assemble the movement again, and see if I can figure out where it could have come from.

It is super tiny - you can see it next to the pallet fork for scale!

Any thoughts what it might be? I feel like its question mark shape is almost mocking me.

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TG is quite correct i often find the stuff in cheap swiss. Your tweezers do need a bit of alignment fella. Make some investment into learning tweezer and screwdriver dressing. It will greatly improve your handling of parts which will add up to less losses.

[Kalanag]

Doesn‘t look like e technical item. Perhaps belonging to the (any other?) dial.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Kalanag

[Watchscience]

Thanks all! That’s (semi) reassuring .. it’s a bit poor that the movement would fall apart like this!

Yes - it is indeed a seagull AliExpress special!

Incidentally, so are my tweezers. I should have expected as much for $6 for a set of 10!
They looked ok initially but under high magnification they don’t hold up very well.

Thanks for the tips re. Dressing these! I’ll look into how I can improve them. 

[spectre6000]

Tweezers and screwdrivers are worth putting a little money into. Anything you use constantly. If you were to now go buy a pair of Dumont #2 or #5, they're just $6 more expensive than they would have been had you bought them the first time.

My kneejerk on the detritus is that it looks like a shock spring that went through the wash. Flatten it out, and it looks like it's missing the the end of one tine, and the hook that fits into the setting. If you have all of yours, then it's probably Sea Gull QC failings.

[Ashket]

Speaking to the tweezers, I've found an awesome budget option is getting some precision ESD tweezers which are normally for electronics repair. They seem to be of higher quality than cheap dumont clones.

[ifibrin]

Tweezers are essential, and you really do get what you pay for. If you treat them right, meaning you don’t drop them or use them to pry things apart, you won’t even have to dress them that often.

I find that you really do have to get Bergeon or Dumont tweezers… other brands require a lot more effort to squeeze them… Makes a lot of difference to hand fatigue or parts flying off.

If you are worried about cost, even pre-owned second hand ones are better than just about any brand, although you will have to dress them since they might have been dropped.

[Neverenoughwatches]

  On 5/14/2022 at 2:08 AM, ifibrin said:

… other brands require a lot more effort to squeeze them

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This is very true. Dumont tweezer tension does feel just right. You are able to reduce the tension on cheaper makes but there is a fair bit of effort and time involved to make a good job of it. Ive done it a couple of times and was getting a bit fed up towards the end and thought i wont bother again. 

  On 5/14/2022 at 2:08 AM, ifibrin said:

If you are worried about cost, even pre-owned second hand ones are better than just about any brand, although you will have to dress them since they might have been dropped.

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If i can just add to ifibrin very good idea here. I did once win an auction of 14 pairs of dumont all sizes and shapes for 60 notes. A great buy. But unfortunately a lot of them were carbon steel and frequently magnetise themselves which is rather frustrating sometimes. Although one was a no.7 bent anti mag. and is just fantastic to use and worth that cost alone. So if you go this route just be aware of that .