Oiling capped train wheel jewels

[mikepilk]

I've always struggled to get a nice looking oil distribution under capped train wheel jewels, as the hole jewel is flat.
The distance between the hole and cap jewels is variable, so it's not easy to get a nice circular blob of oil as you would with a balance jewel. 

I mention this now, as I'm working on a FEF 380, manual wind, with 21 Jewels - so all train wheels are capped top and bottom.

I use Fixodrop on the caps, and some have a nice circular blob of oil, but others where there is less distance between the hole and cap jewels, it just spreads out. And where there is a larger gap, it looks a mess.

I guess that's just the way it is.

Also this movement has a cap on the bottom pallet pivot (to borrow from the bard) : To oil, or not to oil, that is the question. 

(from the shape of the lower pivot, I think maybe?)

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by mikepilk
typo

[ManSkirtBrew]

Rank amateur here, so take this for what it's worth. On the last movement I did with capped train jewels like in your picture, I did the same thing, trying to get a drop of oil on the cap jewel just like a balance jewel, and had the same failure.

What I finally realized is the jewels in the plate have an oil sink facing the bottom of the cap jewel instead of a domed face like a balance jewel.

This led me to believe I should just oil the pivot as I normally would and then put the cap on. There's no reason the oil sink wouldn't work exactly as it would in any other watch, I reasoned, and the cap jewel doesn't do the same job as it would for a balance.

To illustrate: normal balance and bridge jewels:

And what I found in the watch I just did:

 

So I don't know if yours is the same, but that's my 2c worth.

[mikepilk]

28 minutes ago, ManSkirtBrew said:

What I finally realized is the jewels in the plate have an oil sink facing the bottom of the cap jewel instead of a domed face like a balance jewel.

I have never seen jewels like this. I can see no point in having the cap. I suggest that someone has put the jewels in upside down. 

I recently had a similar problem where I had to replace the balance jewels, as they were flat, not domed.

Edited October 26, 2023 by mikepilk

[rehajm]

1 hour ago, ManSkirtBrew said:

This led me to believe I should just oil the pivot as I normally would and then put the cap on. There's no reason the oil sink wouldn't work exactly as it would in any other watch, I reasoned, and the cap jewel doesn't do the same job as it would for a balance.

Yes, what I do, though I was told the cap jewel function is same as the escapement and the convex cup serves to help center the oil. More economical watches might have flat jewels under a cap. It's all a bit odd I agree, but any excuse to get the jewel count up..

Edited October 26, 2023 by rehajm