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Bulova VC-10 cleaning machine and others

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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I am returning from my Minnesota canoe trip today. Before I left Texas I found a guy in Kansas selling some watch stuff, so on the way, I stopped and paid him and then on the way back, I picked it up.

Lots of stuff which I will post about later,  but here I am posting this machine that came with the lot. I really did not want it, buy the guy wanted his garage emptied!!

I will never use it, but am curious if people still use these...???

This picture is not mine, just representative of mine.

 

---adding to this post another cleaning machine I got. Again, this is not my picture.

 

231475.jpg

s-l640.jpg

Edited by LittleWatchShop
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nickelsilver Distinguished Member

nickelsilver

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I have a friend who used one for pre-cleaning partially disassembled movements. I think they never got very popular for several reasons; no ultrasonic, hard to really clean things when changing baths (it's really important), and if a part escapes the basket- it does happen- it gets to travel through the tubing hopefully ending up in a bath, which aren't as easy to get into as a regular cleaning machine. The upside is the baths have very little air contact, and being a floor unit on wheels they are easily slid under a bench or table leaving more free space.

 

I think they came out with the idea of cleaning lots of assembled movements with holders that hold the whole movement. In those days that (cleaning assembled) had become standard procedure for many.

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  • LittleWatchShop changed the title to Bulova VC-10 cleaning machine and others
JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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On 9/20/2022 at 7:20 AM, nickelsilver said:

I think they came out with the idea of cleaning lots of assembled movements with holders that hold the whole movement. In those days that (cleaning assembled) had become standard procedure for many.

unfortunately this brings back memories. My very first job was in a shop that cleaned assembled watches. I'm going to skip over mostly gory details of how the shop operated but the procedure was the wife of the owner would disassemble the watches and the movement came out of the case the calendar mechanism usually came off but sometimes it didn't which was handy for putting it back together. The entire watch was run through the machine and the very last jar had the miracle substance.

what is a miracle substance? one of the material safety sheets I saw later in life indicated that particular one was mineral oil. So basically your nice clean watch runs through a bath the mineral oil insolvent. Then when the solvent dries the mineral oil by capillary action hopefully goes to all the pivots are but in reality covers everything in the watch. There other substances they use they claimed they had plastic and him or something no idea how they worked and there's even some dual two-part lubricants that might ask he still exist today but I'm not God think about that. So basically you don't have to take the watch a part and it gets cleaned and lubricated all at the same time.

Supposedly the balance wheels not supposed to be cleaned but they cleaned it anyway. The watchmaker's job was to rinse the balance wheel off because now they hairspring was covered with miracle substance. Cleaner oil was placed on the balance jewels although I don't know why because of course they would have miracle substance. We probably rinse those off fortunately I don't remember the details anymore.

The watchmaker got one third of what Dave.and the prices were wholesale. In other words very very cheap. So yes the machine was designed for production the quantity of watches that that shop produced was way higher than any shop I've ever seen basically anywhere. Each week Dave would look like Santa Claus dragging the huge bag of mailed to the post office hundreds of watches.

So enough of my bad memories yes it's a production machine you don't have to use any miracle substances in the last your you really could clean the watches I assume they must had something a basket for silly people who insist on taking the watches apart.

just in case your machine isn't working for some reason I have the service guide attached it's amazing what you accumulate over time.

The second machine is always of interest because it's a classic design that still in use. usually in a time of seen the machines with the glass lids those jars are usually much bigger than the regular jars.

 

 

 

 

 

Bulova VC-10 Cleaning-Machine.pdf

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Anthony7 Watch Enthusiast

Anthony7

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10 minutes ago, markr said:

50,005 guineas

I doff my cap to thee sir...You is truly a gentleman of taste and fine breeding...

50,005 plus a pound of genuine braking grease...and a genuine link removed from a watch strap worn by Sammy Davis Junior...

But be aware I am a notorious mountebank chased from Monaco to Marrakech by debtors for my outrageous bidding on things others would scorn...

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      Stem removal after fitting hands

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