Jump to content

Greetings from Central Florida

FloridaGary

By FloridaGary
in Introduce Yourself Here

 Share

Recommended Posts

FloridaGary New Member

FloridaGary

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I have been a watch collector for 22 years and have a great appreciation for the art and engineering of mechanical and automatic timepieces. I decided to retire a little early from a career  in corporate Human Resources and although I find it easy to keep myself busy, I have decided to pursue an education as a watch maker. I was one of those kids that always wanted to take things apart and put them back together. Ironically at 12 years old, I fixed a broken clock that my parents had on their bedroom dresser which turned into taking apart lawn mower engines at 14 and then working on cars at 16. It seemed I was destined for a career in some mechanical profession, but college changed that. Now I want to combine my mechanical interests with my love of timepieces. I look forward to learning from all of you.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
grsnovi Distinguished Member

grsnovi

Posted
Posted

Hi Gary,

Welcome to retirement 🙂 

Sounds like you understand taking things apart and figuring out what's wrong. The big difference with mechanical watches is the size - everything is tiny!

Here are a couple of things to look at that might help:

Mark also has online courses that you might consider: https://www.watchfix.com/

Welcome to WRT.

- Gary

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Neverenoughwatches Distinguished Member

Neverenoughwatches

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, FloridaGary said:

Hi all,

I have been a watch collector for 22 years and have a great appreciation for the art and engineering of mechanical and automatic timepieces. I decided to retire a little early from a career  in corporate Human Resources and although I find it easy to keep myself busy, I have decided to pursue an education as a watch maker. I was one of those kids that always wanted to take things apart and put them back together. Ironically at 12 years old, I fixed a broken clock that my parents had on their bedroom dresser which turned into taking apart lawn mower engines at 14 and then working on cars at 16. It seemed I was destined for a career in some mechanical profession, but college changed that. Now I want to combine my mechanical interests with my love of timepieces. I look forward to learning from all of you.  

Welcome Gary. It sounds as though you were destined for watch repair. Your background for fixing things will be a huge asset for you. The logical understanding of taking mechanical devices apart fault finding and then reassembling to working order  is the essence of watch repair. But then sooooo much more to learn. Everyone is very helpful and friendly here occasionally a little barmy but thats par for the course and makes here fun as well. Enjoy matey.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FloridaGary New Member

FloridaGary

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, grsnovi said:

Hi Gary,

Welcome to retirement 🙂 

Sounds like you understand taking things apart and figuring out what's wrong. The big difference with mechanical watches is the size - everything is tiny!

Here are a couple of things to look at that might help:

Mark also has online courses that you might consider: https://www.watchfix.com/

Welcome to WRT.

- Gary

Thank you and I appreciate the information. I do plan to complete Mark’s courses and look forward to it. I am so glad that loupes exist in this world to help see these tiny parts!

7 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Welcome Gary. It sounds as though you were destined for watch repair. Your background for fixing things will be a huge asset for you. The logical understanding of taking mechanical devices apart fault finding and then reassembling to working order  is the essence of watch repair. But then sooooo much more to learn. Everyone is very helpful and friendly here occasionally a little barmy but thats par for the course and makes here fun as well. Enjoy matey.

Thank you. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
grsnovi Distinguished Member

grsnovi

Posted
Posted

That's a good scope. You may also want a Barlow to give you increased working distance. If you do get it, be sure to show us some of your photos with that camera. I already had a number of cameras so I went with a different camera mount. You may also want to become familiar with focus stacking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
FloridaGary New Member

FloridaGary

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, grsnovi said:

That's a good scope. You may also want a Barlow to give you increased working distance. If you do get it, be sure to show us some of your photos with that camera. I already had a number of cameras so I went with a different camera mount. You may also want to become familiar with focus stacking.

Good catch! I forgot to display it. 
 

Focus stacking? Not sure what that means yet, but I’ll search to learn more about it. 
 

 

AF5E00C1-4689-4B02-8237-26A14699F3DD.jpeg

Edited by FloridaGary
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • HectorLooi
      Bezel removal tool (chinese) problems

      By HectorLooi · Posted

      I've had this for many years and have used it successfully with no issues on many watches.  But I've only used it mainly for removing glass bezels, opening casebacks and novelty timepieces which were not designed to be open. For revolving bezels, I usually use a caseback knife to pry it off. Chinese tool quality can vary greatly. Some are almost indiscernible from the original Swiss tools and some are just junk. I have many Chinese tools that were junk straight out of the box but after some modifications and finishing, end up better than original Swiss because it's now designed to my specifications. We have another thread somewhere which discuss Chinese tools. Which are good, which are bad and which are junk. Do have a read if you are planning on buying any tools.
    • BlueHarp
      Pocket watch caliber

      By BlueHarp · Posted

      Hi again, I've got a pocket watch in very bad condition, but the movement started again after disassembling / cleaning / reassembling, and it works pretty well for an old caliber. The thing is: I can't identify it. No indication of a name, no logo, only a serial number. I've tried to use Bestfit for the idendification, but without result. The diameter is 35,6mm (dial side) and 35,5mm (back side). Maybe is it one of those calibers made by the farmers in Jura during wintertime? There used to be a tradition for farmers in that eastern part of France to work for watch manufacturers in winter time because they had less work in the fields.
    • RichardHarris123
      Hello

      By RichardHarris123 · Posted

      Hello and welcome from Leeds, England. 
    • IDunno52
      Need help, Vibrograf Quick Checker 2 (VQC2)

      By IDunno52 · Posted

      Does anyone have the manual or direct experience with this one? Made by ETA circa 1985. I need to know where to place which probes, especially for functions 3 and 4.  Thanks in advance!
    • IDunno52
      Hello

      By IDunno52 · Posted

      Hello, I'm Tim from Oregon, USA.  Watch collector (mostly Seiko) and novice watchbreaker.
×
×
  • Create New...