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Removing Rust In Place (Prior to Unscrewing)


Gramham

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Hello Everyone,

In an attempt to accumulate some practical Watchmaking skills (and not just constantly talk theory) I want to go about refurbishing three major components in the Winding Work of a Pocket Watch Movement I recently purchased here in Hong Kong, as a practice piece:

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/elgin/23687805

 

The three components in question are:

- Click (or Ratchet Wheel Pawl)
- Ratchet Wheel
- Crown Wheel (or Main Wind Wheel)

Here's a photo of the movement in question, with the components identified:

image.thumb.png.115ac1a1dc94a29d448296c1e4f76097.png

Here's my question:  How do I get the corrosion off the screws prior to unscrewing them?

In a really interesting Verge Movement Restoration video I recently watched, the Watchmaker used "Turpentine Spirits" to loosen rust before taking components apart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwmzYC0zOF0&t=2m45s


Can my UK brothers help me out?  Is "Turpentine Spirits" the same stuff that we Canadians simply call "Turpentine"...or is it a distillate of our "Turpentine" and something else?

Also, is "Turpentine Spirits" the only solution available, or are there other or better solutions (pardon the pun) that I can use to loosen potentially rust-welded components?

image.png.dafba25aa635ec2bcfd20cdf946220c8.png

If this was a different machine (car, boat, lawnmower) I'd have a bevy of other options...but I'm new to this so I want to be careful and draw on collective experience.

Lastly, this is a very mature site.  If there is already an existing discussion about this, I'd be happy to get just a pointer to it so I can review and not force a re-run of a well-discussed topic.  I'd prefer to draw my own conclusions on my own time in those circumstances, and not waste everyone else's.

Thanks in advance!

g.
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Edited by Gramham
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The highly respected Dutch watchmaker Kalle Slaap puts a drop of WD40 on the screw and let it soak a while. But seeing the screw heads in your pic I wouldn‘t do anything other than just unscrew.

Edited by Kalanag
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Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all the tips!  I got the wheels off and I have decided to started with the click.

I'm not done yet.  (A) There's still pitting  at 10 O'clock; and (B) I want to dress the screw notch a little bit.

But I thought I'd put a preliminary image up here to just get some fast feedback and I am also trying to remove as little material as possible.  I'm using a dry stone, a pair of utility tweezers and (sometimes) my fingertip to "drag" the parts across the fine side of a Carborundum stone, which I got a long time ago to sharpen my kitchen knives.

image.png.5db577aa41b4cf82e64eb6fae221f479.png

 

Here's the stone...


image.thumb.png.7176b9636f6ab32e064c79d0ebeda368.png


Does anyone have feedback for me?

g.
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2022-08-26 Update:

I dare not remove more material from the click, for fear of leaving the screw too proud.

Sadly, I do not have a dressing tool small enough to chamfer the screw notch.

Here's the latest results.  Apologies for the bad focus, I am using my mobile phone to (badly) take 2X photos.

Next steps are:

- A 12-hour bath in some white vinegar to clean corrosion from the back and rim
- A dip in baking soda & water to nullify the acetic acid in the vinegar
- A quick bath in IPA to get rid of any water
- A little blow dry to get rid of any traces

Does anyone with more experience disagree with the above protocol?

image.png.cf29a0fb058a460b7e056d4d56aec0ce.png

 

image.thumb.png.194323c6520f7bed390dc2224b26a210.png

g.

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Edited by Gramham
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