Bulova winding pinion gear stripped. Is it common?

[otteray]

I acquired two Bulova automatics to practice disassembling/ reassembling, and both have winding pinion gears that are stripped so they cannot engage the sliding pinion.  Is this a common issue; and if so, why?

[GuyMontag]

I've serviced a number of vintage Bulova's and I haven't seen that before.

[otteray]

Well, that's a head scratcher then.  In that case, odds are I'm misidentifying the disassembled parts. I don't recall any other gears that mesh like that, and they both came from the keyless works. 

I'll double check.

 

[HectorLooi]

How about some photos, then we can see what you are seeing.

[mikepilk]

Do you mean the teeth between the winding pinion and clutch ? 

From https://www.timezonewatchschool.com/WatchSchool/Glossary/glossary.shtml

[JohnR725]

2 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

How about some photos, then we can see what you are seeing.

 

5 hours ago, otteray said:

two Bulova automatics

two things always helpful if you would like a better answer exactly which watch were talking about as opposed to generalizations. Then pictures so we know exactly what were talking about hopefully

5 hours ago, otteray said:

I acquired two Bulova automatics

now that is a helpful thing. Because usually I have to ask what condition is the watch Ian have you serviced it when the problem occurred etc. So basically these are unknown watches that you've received we don't know the history. But we can make some assumptions which are always subject to a certain percentage of not being right or being very right.

If you go to other discussion groups were there collecting watches you will find out that they complain about things like the high cost of watch repair. The often see discussions were somebody says I have my dads automatic whatever and it still running great and I don't have to pay the greedy watchmaker. But watches tend to be sealed up especially automatic watches. The problem with being sealed up is you can't see what's going on.

In the case of especially early automatic watches a lot of metal on metal pivots bike of the automatic assembly. So we have recommended service interval of around modern watches around five years. We have gaskets in the watches that have a limited life with the possibility of moisture getting in. Like you are there any signs of rust on the stem for instance? Any kind of rust to get CN mixing with the lubricant would be a grinding compound. The watch it's been running for 1020 whatever years it hasn't been serviced you'll start to see lots and lots of problems.

Although it typically the clutch wheel usually doesn't wear out. Notice how I didn't do an absolute never wears out I do remember in the past doing some wristwatches as typically do pocket watches where they didn't have a nice feel to them? In other words when your winding the watch at the crown turn in one direction you wind then you turned backwards and the teeth will slip over each other and sometime in the past I had one that just didn't feel right replacing that solve the problem. But typically the teeth do not wear off unless rust would be a great thing to do that or the watch hasn't been serviced may be ever and then yes no lubrication over time lots of metal on metal you basically end up with watches that art practical the service because too much is worn out

oh and since your watches in a case if you look at the case back is there any describes little scratched in numbers that makes zero sense at all? Not the stamping of the back but has someone scratched anything into the back. There is no standards on this and modern shops don't do it at all they usually record other information as to if the watch ever comes back as to whether they ever serviced it. But a lot of the watchmakers in the past would make a little note so if you look at the back of the watch you see scratch marks it's been serviced if you see no marks at all probably never been serviced and never being serviced that will be an issue or can be an issue for wearing out things but it would still be helpful to have pictures and a model number

 

[otteray]

I misidentified them. Turns out they were from the two watches winding gears. I located the winding pinions (one one the floor, the other in a parts box; don't ask me how it got in a parts box).

Thank you for helping and for being patient with a beginner.

[Karon]

Pinion breakage during disassembly and assembly is not a common problem with Bulova automatic watches. It's unusual for this issue to occur on both watches and indicates a specific circumstance rather than being widespread. The cause may be damage to the elevator pinion due to improper handling or improper engineering during the process. To avoid such problems, it is important to be careful and follow proper procedures when handling the delicate components of your watch.