Very weird Limit pocket watch movement!

[rjenkinsgb]

Hi,

I was given this yesterday while helping someone move stuff around for a house restoration.

The case is very poor but complete with a mineral glass crystal. There were no case screws, only the hour hand still present and the dial is wrecked - I'm guessing someone may have tried to force it off without loosening the foot screws, as the "craters" are over the dial feet.

 

The behaviour of the movement  is very strange! The balance wheel was very free and would oscillate for quite a while, with the escape wheel moving back & forth slightly as the pallet fork nudged it, but nothing else turning despite it being fully wound!

I've never seen any movement behave like this, so it got me really puzzled. I tried oiling the pivots at both sides in place, with no effect at all.

I then did a quick partial strip down. I though the pivot may have been bent on the wheel that carries the second hand. That looks straight - but the entire staff & pinion look black! When I removed them there was lump of something that looked charred on the plate?

Partially re-assembled & lubricated again, it started trying to run as soon as I put about half a turn on the ratchet wheel, but only just enough for the escape wheel to turn.  No different with around a half wind.

I tried a bit of 9010 on the pallet stone faces and that brought the amplitude up quite a bit - until it stopped dead.. I kept restarting it, it was barely ticking for a while then the amplitude came back up a bit, but only around half the best it was earlier.

 

It's very odd. I initially thought the black pinion was rust, but with the wheel out it looks more like a very deep blue, as if it had been heated?

Some of what's happened looks very amateurish, like the dial damage and blobs of mismatched paint - but I wonder if the pivot was bent at the seconds hand end and someone has straightened and re-tempered it?? The problem seems to be around that wheel & its pivots.

I don't expect it to run well without a full stripdown & clean, but with the movement problems and really needing a new case, I don't know if it will ever be anything more than a curiosity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nevenbekriev]

Hi, this is steel 'gun metal' case, so it is not a problem to grind the back and polish it, then give the case to someone who will be able to make it blackened (oxidated) again. This is a chemical process where usually the seel is boiled in NaOH at 150-60 degr celsius for several hours.

The movement is not a problem to repair, but it is a 7 jewels movement, so check the bearing holes for oval wear that must be restored. Yes, the second hand pivot has been bent and somebody has heat the entire pinion of the wheel, thus tempering it to be able to straighten the pivot without breaking it. Heating the entire pinion is a mistake, bit what is done is done. Check if the table of the wheel has gone soft as result of the heating, and if it needs truing. You will need to burnish the both pivots of the wheel and restore the bearings (and bring them to the correct places, as they can be shifted - signs of hole closing are seen on the bridge) to restore the normal function of the train.