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This thread is for achievements. I had one tonight, but I'm not happy about it.

thor447
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thor447 WRT Addict

thor447

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Typically this thread is for showing one's achievements.  I marvel at the ability of some of those here, and hope to one day have the ability to do the same.  Well tonight I had an achievement, I lost 2 parts and broke another.  That's a personal best for me in one evening!

I was working on a cool little Seiko Lord Matic with a 5606A 25 jewel movement.  The scape wheel and 4th wheels both have capped jewels on the bridge.  While reassembling, I managed to lose both jewels.  Not at the same time mind you, no no...  I lost one, then miraculously found it, then lost it again when it sprung out of my tweezers after oiling, never to be found again.  The same thing happened to the other one about 30 minutes later after I gave up looking for the first jewel.  Now I'm down 2 jewels for the bridge.  Whatever, I decided to carry on, and managed to accidentally get my hairspring pinched beyond my ability to repair.  I decided to remove the hairspring and see if I could sort it out.  I've done 'minor' hairspring adjustments with decent success previously, so I thought I'd give this one a go.  After about another 30 minutes, it was worse off than when I started.

Sometimes you have one of those days where your hands don't do what your brain tells them to do!  Today was certainly one of those days for me.  I decided to put up my tools and just walk away for the night.  Thankfully I have a donor movement coming in a week or two.  When inspecting the watch upon disassembly I found some bent teeth on the barrel and 1 broken tooth on the 2nd wheel.  It looks like I'll have more parts to use off of that donor when it comes in.  I think I'll just put this Seiko LM in a drawer and leave it out of sight until the donor 5606A arrives.  Just the thought of it right now is aggravating!  This watch has potential.  It has a gorgeous green dial and a faceted crystal, and I'd really like to get it back up and running.  It has fought me every step of the way though. 

LIke I said in the title, it is an achievement, but I'm certainly not happy about it!  Part of me just wants to go on ebay and find a couple of old Swiss manual watches with no complications and just work on those.  There'd be less stuff for me to screw up and I'd get a few 'wins' on the board.  I think I've just had bad luck on getting old watches in for repair.  I haven't had an easy one in a while (my definition of easy may vary greatly from others on here!).

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Neverenoughwatches Distinguished Member

Neverenoughwatches

Posted
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1 hour ago, thor447 said:

Typically this thread is for showing one's achievements.  I marvel at the ability of some of those here, and hope to one day have the ability to do the same.  Well tonight I had an achievement, I lost 2 parts and broke another.  That's a personal best for me in one evening!

I was working on a cool little Seiko Lord Matic with a 5606A 25 jewel movement.  The scape wheel and 4th wheels both have capped jewels on the bridge.  While reassembling, I managed to lose both jewels.  Not at the same time mind you, no no...  I lost one, then miraculously found it, then lost it again when it sprung out of my tweezers after oiling, never to be found again.  The same thing happened to the other one about 30 minutes later after I gave up looking for the first jewel.  Now I'm down 2 jewels for the bridge.  Whatever, I decided to carry on, and managed to accidentally get my hairspring pinched beyond my ability to repair.  I decided to remove the hairspring and see if I could sort it out.  I've done 'minor' hairspring adjustments with decent success previously, so I thought I'd give this one a go.  After about another 30 minutes, it was worse off than when I started.

Sometimes you have one of those days where your hands don't do what your brain tells them to do!  Today was certainly one of those days for me.  I decided to put up my tools and just walk away for the night.  Thankfully I have a donor movement coming in a week or two.  When inspecting the watch upon disassembly I found some bent teeth on the barrel and 1 broken tooth on the 2nd wheel.  It looks like I'll have more parts to use off of that donor when it comes in.  I think I'll just put this Seiko LM in a drawer and leave it out of sight until the donor 5606A arrives.  Just the thought of it right now is aggravating!  This watch has potential.  It has a gorgeous green dial and a faceted crystal, and I'd really like to get it back up and running.  It has fought me every step of the way though. 

LIke I said in the title, it is an achievement, but I'm certainly not happy about it!  Part of me just wants to go on ebay and find a couple of old Swiss manual watches with no complications and just work on those.  There'd be less stuff for me to screw up and I'd get a few 'wins' on the board.  I think I've just had bad luck on getting old watches in for repair.  I haven't had an easy one in a while (my definition of easy may vary greatly from others on here!).

Aw bless you Thor matey, you sound a lttle downbeat. Days like this make you appreciate good repair days even more . We all have had days like, I've had much worse from actualy stupidity, a nice watch that I'm still waiting to revisit almost a year later. Everytime i see the same watch on ebay and its finished selling price i relive my mistake, but you really have to laugh about it or you'll cry 🤣

watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

Posted
Posted

Head up Thor we have all been there and some times it happens again, walk away have a coffee and sooth the nerves and pick it up in a day or so and it will be fine. when working with the likes of jewels and cap, springs try to cut down the eacapees by using Rodico or a sticky stick to pick them up. Not being under pressure if the fall off the stick they dont go far

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