cleaning tiny springs

[Terrinecold]

On 6/3/2024 at 7:32 AM, RichardHarris123 said:

The cleaning solution can be strained through a coffee filter, to recover any small parts.

 

I did that and it worked but was pretty cumbersome. I think I will go with cleaning them by hand. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

14 minutes ago, Terrinecold said:

I did that and it worked but was pretty cumbersome. I think I will go with cleaning them by hand. 

Yeah he coffee filter does need something to stop it flopping around, if i use one i sit it inside a small cut down plastic funnel. Thinking of buying a s. steel coffee filter, i refuse to use my v60 coffee funnel . I always clean screws by hand anyways. 

On 6/3/2024 at 9:22 AM, Waggy said:

I used to do the same and had the same issue, but I had a cunning plan......  "as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the U.N. at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning."

I now use the same setup, but I place an old glass crystal from a ladies watch  on top on the spring inside the mesh basket, this prevents the spring from standing up and it cannot now slip through the mesh:

I find the "with" option always results with a smiley face

[gpraceman]

I cleaned the fine springs in my cleaning machine up until one slipped through the mesh parts basket.  I managed to find it by sticking a telescoping magnet tool down into each jar.  Now, I just clean those separately in a small glass jar.

[Neverenoughwatches]

Eyup watch people, a little update on one of the cleaning solutions that i tested a few days ago. The Kerosene ( parafin )  suggested by waggy i used last night to clean up a really grimy greasy movement plate. I did this by hand in a glass jar using a fine nylon brush which within seconds dissolved and dislodged all of the dirt and grease. Next placed the plate on ordinary paper to soak up the majority of the fluid and then blown with a warm hairdryer for one minute. The plate still had a thin oily film on it which i brushed and rinsed off with a small amount of Holts break cleaner spray in a another glass jar and then blown dry for about 30 seconds as the break cleaner evaporated quickly. The result was a completely dry oil and grime free plate , no left over residue or film with very clean looking polished jewels. I'll continue to clean this way for a while and make up some fluid  jars with the two solvent to see how machine cleaning pans out. But it's starting to look like a promising cleaning method and very cheap working out at around a quarter of the price of proprietary cleaners.

5 litres of parafin £11.99 from a garage near me, not a cheap garage either and the Holts brake cleaner, cheapest i could find for that on the internet was 2x 5 litre tins for £27 which then had free delivery on the over £25 order. I expect a local motorist supply shop would have 5 litres for 15 quid ish. Thats a total of around £27 for 5 litres of both cleaner and rinse compared to L n R cleaner and rinse from Cousins that would be touching £100 for 3.8 litres  of both cleaner and rinse. 

Edited June 10, 2024 by Neverenoughwatches

[Geotex]

What’s the chemical composition of the break cleaner you are using? 

[Neverenoughwatches]

https://www.partinfo.co.uk/docs/11671

[RichardHarris123]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

https://www.partinfo.co.uk/docs/11671

Basically naptha, the propane etc are impurities that will flash off virtually instantly. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

34 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Basically naptha, the propane etc are impurities that will flash off virtually instantly. 

The data sheet quotes 60-100% naptha, which seems rather vague. So the Kerosene is 95 % petroleum and the brake cleaner is mostly hydrotreated light naptha which is again petroleum.  The brake cleaner i just used by chance as a rinse to wash the Kerosene off, i had a tin of it under my bench. The clean and rinse results were really good, yet to see if IPA rinses the Kerosene off as well. Either way whatever rinses best i will stick to. Will be interesting to see if it dissolves shellac quickly.

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 hours ago, Geotex said:

What’s the chemical composition of the break cleaner you are using? 

Here is an example of how well the Kerosene is cleaning, these pictures are of a fixed balance jewel that I have just replaced on a cock. After pressing the jewel in I pegged the jewel and surrounding metal, as we know this spreads any dirt and grease present which is then wiped off the pegwood onto some tissue paper, but still leaves a thin film of grease on the watch parts to be cleaned off. A 20 second hand brush clean in Kerosene then placed on tissue paper and folded over the part to soak up the fluid plus a few blows from a puffer. Then rinsed in IPA hand brushed and again dried with tissue paper and blown. The pictures of the jewel are as it was left after cleaning, the whole cleaning process was completed in under a minute. The jewel looks spotless and polished. 

[ScrewDropper]

On 6/3/2024 at 2:37 PM, eccentric59 said:

Small screws and springs always get hand washed in a weighing bottle with a little agitation from a fine artist's brush. (Seeing as I am a professional artist, I got loads of old brushes about, so there's that.)

 

Only those super heavy yoke springs that look like they came off the suspension of a '53 Ford go in the basket.

This is my method too and I would recommend it. A nice, deep, jar with IPA (they sometimes try to escape from these too) and a fine haired, soft artist's brush is perfect for small springs and screws. I never put spring in the cleaning baskets. Larger screws can go in the baskets as it helps keep them together with the other parts I am cleaning.

These deep jars are also perfect for jewels. I keep them in the jar of IPA when they need a bit of scrubbing with peg wood to stop them pinging into orbit.