The Omax Spaceman!

[ManSkirtBrew]

Just got this guy in the mail today. Initial timegrapher reading looks encouraging:

 

Got the bezels and strap off, got the split stem out, but now I can't get the movement out of the case. It looks as if the bezel around the crystal is melted into the case. You can see in these two pictures that one side is just normal, and the other side has plastic rolled and bulged out.

 

I have tried prying between the case and that ring with my case knife, but it will not budge. The case material also seems like *very* soft plastic, which is surprising to me given it's supposed to be fiberglass.

I also tried popping the crystal out with my air blower, but no matter how hard I squeeze nothing happens.

Any other suggestions?

 

Meanwhile, here are some more "before" photos:

[ManSkirtBrew]

Turns out the answer was "more leverage." I used my largest hand lifters to get under the ring and coaxed it off.

Looks nice and clean inside. AS1903 movement.

[GuyMontag]

Is the dial side during your disassembly? It looks like it's missing a few parts.

[ManSkirtBrew]

10 hours ago, GuyMontag said:

Is the dial side during your disassembly? It looks like it's missing a few parts.

It's just after I took off the plate that retains the date ring. I did notice there's a lever just floating around on there, but I assumed I displaced it taking the plate off.

[GuyMontag]

Oops, never mind. I was thinking this was the AS 1913 (not the 1903) with the quickset date function.

[spectre6000]

On 6/26/2023 at 3:58 PM, ManSkirtBrew said:

Wild looking watch! What is the strap made of? From this photo, it looks like you can only tell the time every other half hour between 3 and 9.

[ManSkirtBrew]

3 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

What is the strap made of?

Some kind of space age DuPont material, if memory serves. I'm trying to find the article where I read that with no luck yet.

 

3 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

it looks like you can only tell the time every other half hour between 3 and 9.

That's part of the charm

[ManSkirtBrew]

And now I need some help. I got it all back together, when I noticed it was difficult to set the time.

I traced it back to the second wheel, which apparently acts as the cannon pinion on these AS1902/1903 movements. It's tight enough that I can see a lot of wear on the sliding pinion in the keyless works, and I am unable to hold the wheel and turn the pinion gear with tweezers.

I assume there should be much less friction than that.

Can they be taken apart and cleaned/lubricated? I seem to remember seeing something somewhere about it, but can't find it again.

[GuyMontag]

Looks similar to the AS1916 that I serviced. They can be taken apart and lubricated. It's probably not recommended, but I used the Aliexpress Platax Lite® to separate by positioning so the two pinions are separated by the groove and then pushed down on the pivot with the handle of a brass tweezer. I've used a Presto hand remover tool in the past with success, but I've also twice accidentally pulled the entire thing out of the wheel so I don't use that any more. Might want to use a smoothing broach on the friction pinion if it feels overly tight, or maybe just put it on and take it off a few times to help loosen it.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by GuyMontag

[Nucejoe]

1 hour ago, ManSkirtBrew said:

 I got it all back together, when I noticed it was difficult to set the time.

 Put oil on the arbour, try setting time, oil  may loosen it a bit,  then the more the  canon pinion turns the looser it gets. 

Canon pinion should be greased   you might want to clean and grease it once loosened.

Good luck

 

Good watch are these spaceman indeed,   pitty no spacewoman came along.

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Nucejoe

[ManSkirtBrew]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:03 PM, GuyMontag said:

I've used a Presto hand remover tool in the past with success, but I've also twice accidentally pulled the entire thing out of the wheel

This was exactly my concern! After thinking on it for a bit, I finally remembered that I bought a roller table remover stump from Dave's Watch Parts a while back! It worked a total treat.

There was some wear on the shaft part, so I assume the parts had galled together. I cleaned it up with a polishing stick, added some grease, and reassembled. It's now setting smoothly!

Now time for final assembly.

Not too shabby!

Edit: lift angle should be 52 degrees, but that's still an amplitude around 270, and a vast improvement from the start.

Edited July 22, 2023 by ManSkirtBrew

[ManSkirtBrew]

Everything works except the date. The spring that jumps the date ring doesn't seem to be strong enough to push the ring around any more.

Which isn't really a problem for me, since I never set the date on my watches anyway. Mostly because I can't read them any more XD

[Galilea]

Wooooooooooow, that's a watch I've never seen  but it sure is interesting and ...can we say stuff like sexy or watch porn or centerfold here? I hope so. More pics please.