Closing hand holes

[Neverenoughwatches]

Eyup watch people,  just thought i would share a little technique i came up with this morning to sort out a floppy minute hand on a Smiths 542 diving watch. The pictures are pretty much self explanatory, but i will do a quick run through of how i achieved a good adjustment.  The tools,  bits and bobs used are all shown and the only description needs to be the concave pusher that squeezes the tube's size down.  To begin,  stuff a piece of sponge into the bottom of a correctly sized stump to suit the head of the hand, this is to hold in place the pin that is pushed through from underneath. Next press a piece of paper ( paper punch ) that will protect the hand face finish, over the needle. Cut the needle as the tapered point will interfere with the hand centering. Use a piece of cork to hold the hand up until the chosen concave pusher engages the tube. Check the hand centering then press away, i didn't go crazy not wanting to damage the jewel tool, just short firm presses little more than you expect to exert when pressing a jewel in. Job done and lucky no broaching required. ,

[tomh207]

Very innovative, there are also a set of Seitz  pushers for this very job. I think they would fit the 4mm Horia too.

 

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/seitz-jewelling-reducing-hour-hand-hole-tools

 

Tom

[Neverenoughwatches]

49 minutes ago, tomh207 said:

Very innovative, there are also a set of Seitz  pushers for this very job. I think they would fit the 4mm Horia too.

 

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/seitz-jewelling-reducing-hour-hand-hole-tools

 

Tom

Eyup Tom, yes i looked at those yesterday, i have them in my basket already, not expensive either.  The pusher i used is a seitz so yes they do fit the 4mm clone, it was the biggest one seitz make so would not do an hour hand. It was just another idea of doing it.  I've done a few on a staking tool before and this way would work there just as well too. It made it a one handed operation by keeping the hand in place and added a little hand finish protection,  instead of trying to hold a hand on a stump with paper inbetween and drop the stake into position onto the tube.  Life is hard enough as it is

You could just use a flat full anvil if you have one for your tool or a metal plate laid over the clone's stump hole or even just free hand on a flat staking block. This just had a bit more control and i fancied a Saturday morning play ( that had a totally different meaning 20 years ago )  .

No doubt i will get a slap from the missus later for that comment

Edited June 8, 2024 by Neverenoughwatches