Bulova 7AD (AS 1001)

[LittleWatchShop]

No big deal here.  This came to from from a friend of a friend...lol.  First off, I noticed a busted staff, so I ordered one on eBay before ever digging in too much.  However, I discovered that the balance wheel beam was split right at the staff.  I did not do it.  I removed the staff by chucking it up in the lathe and removing the rivet.  So, I guess the last guy did it.  I could tell that it had seen a few repairs.  Somebody tried to clean the dial and left scratch marks!!

Anyway, the new staff came in and it was rusty.  Not uncommon for NOS purchase on eBay.  I asked the seller to make it good and he did.  But, just to be safe, I found a donor for $10 (same price as the staff!!) and ordered it. 

The donor came in today and, frankly, it was in better shape than the one I was working on.  But, I just replaced the balance and balance cock, did a full clean and oil and called it done.

The watch is running...timed out well for an old watch like this.

I noticed that the ratchet wheel and crown wheel were both left handed.  First time to run into that.

Normally, I have found that getting the wheels in the going train aligned is a real pain for ladies watches.  They just seemed to line right up for this watch.  That's a happy face.

 

[LittleWatchShop]

Had to go back in this morning.  I noticed that when winding, the winding pinion was skipping.  Sure enough, it had worn significantly.  I took the winding pinion from the donor and it is winding fine now.

It is a rookie mistake--should have inspected all of the parts during disassembly.  I have returned to this craft now for about a year and a half and still making mistakes like this.  Give me another five years...I will do better.

[dadistic]

I've been told it really takes ten years to become proficient. Bah.

I just hope I last long enough