What a struggle.

[RichardHarris123]

Hello all 

Rebuilding my Cortebert 720, what a struggle.  Half an hour to get the arbor into the mainspring, the same with the bridge for the escape and forth wheel bridge.  The click spring was bent, when screwed down it popped up at the click end. Carefully straighten it.  About 3 hours to get so far. 

[oldhippy]

Poor you. We all come across movements that can be a pain in the ass. You have to just keep plodding along. What type of screwdrivers are those? 

[RichardHarris123]

  On 11/29/2023 at 5:57 PM, oldhippy said:

What type of screwdrivers are those? 

Expand  

Bergeon but I can't remember which model. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

  On 11/29/2023 at 3:56 PM, RichardHarris123 said:

Hello all 

Rebuilding my Cortebert 720, what a struggle.  Half an hour to get the arbor into the mainspring, the same with the bridge for the escape and forth wheel bridge.  The click spring was bent, when screwed down it popped up at the click end. Carefully straighten it.  About 3 hours to get so far. 

Expand  

Keep going you'll get there, I've had ones where its been backwards and forwards for months. Soak up that learning experience no matter how long it takes.

[RichardHarris123]

Don't worry, I'm not giving up.  The wheel train is running freely, the click works.  I'll have to wait until the weekend to continue but it will be worth the effort. 

[watchweasol]

Dive on in there Richard,  watch repair is like being married.  Good days very good days, some bad some very bad but you can’t let go .50 years on still the same and a nice comfy dint in the wall you have made with your head over the years. Have a beer there is always tomorrow.

[mikepilk]

  On 11/29/2023 at 3:56 PM, RichardHarris123 said:

Rebuilding my Cortebert 720, what a struggle.  Half an hour to get the arbor into the mainspring,

Expand  

It gets easier with practice, keep going 

This afternoon I has the same problem as you - I fitted a mainspring where the inner coil was much smaller than the arbor. You can either take the spring out, and open the inner coil slightly with some round nose pliers, or do what I did. Put the arbor over the inner coil and press down lightly with some tweezers. Then I used an old sharpened oiler. Push it vertically down in to the end of the spring, to force it out a bit so it goes round the arbor, then slide the oiler back around the coil, opening it as you go, and in pops the arbor !

 

[rehajm]

We feel your pain …

I struggled with arbors the same way, until… So for when the going gets tough or if you just want to try a different technique- instead of the anvil or the bench or whatever to rest the barrel upon, use one of those pithwood buttons, a big one, flat with a good hole in the center. It grips the barrel sufficiently so you can use the arbor to gently open the spring. Arbor hook in the spring gap, light pressure with the tweezers and turn the whole kit (not the arbor) opposite the spring direction so it opens up the coil and accepts the arbor…and if it doesn’t work, the button’s grip on the barrel will allow you a free hand to manipulate the spring a bit with a tool to coax the arbor in.

Makes quick work of it every time or your money back…