JerseyMo Posted November 16, 2019 Posted November 16, 2019 this is a #105 that I'm working on now. You can see how the wheel is sitting flush to the plate. 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 On 11/15/2019 at 7:39 PM, JerseyMo said: ok so the trick to keeping the pallet fork in place is the balance wheel. By that I mean you back off the brass vconic screw adjacent to the regulator. This allows the staff to fall on to the plate when updise down . Than enguge the pallet finger on the jewel. zip zipp and your off. okay it still tricky but this will help you alot..... I wish I had seen this tip last night JerseyMo! I acquired a Timex with this exact movement. The mainspring was fine in mine thankfully, but the thing wouldn't kick off and run. So I made the mistake of disassembling the little bugger. Like you I had a hell of a time getting the escape and pallet to stay in position until I decided to try backing the v-conic balance pivot away. Just like you, that gave me the room I needed to get everything in place. The balance still needed a bit of coaxing to start swinging, but it has been running uninterrupted all night. I took mine apart before I took any pictures of it, I will post some later today. Quote
AndyHull Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) I got it back together, and it is running. I adapted JerseyMo's trick, but rather than back off the screw, I supported the balance wheel on a couple of small pips of rodico, to keep it in place, and level, then laid the fork as per JerseyMo's picture. This made life a lot easier. Still a bit of a faff, but certainly a lot less of the feeling of attempting to balance a bunch of marbles on an upturned dinner plate. I left it running overnight, (without the hands, in case I need to strip it again). I'll post some pics when I am happy with the way it is running. Thanks for the tip @JerseyMo I also cleaned up the unexploded mainspring, so that is now in my parts stash, ready for the next victim. Edited November 17, 2019 by AndyHull Quote
JerseyMo Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 two more vintage Timex back in service! Quote
JerseyMo Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 1970A 200ft Diver just in - missing crown and elapsed time ring. First steps in the restore. Note the Timex caseback tool. The movments began to run on windup but this will still go with a full cleaning and oiling. More to come - IMG_0520.MOV Quote
Johnnie Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 My new arrival, Avystyle datomatic ! I know nothing about Avystyle but I am thinking it's from the 1970s. It feels overwound and is locked up. Can't let the mainspring off, will have to investigate. Balance swings freely but I can see a rather large loop of hairspring. Would like to get this up and running as cosmetically it's pretty good even though it's ugly. 1 Quote
AndyHull Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 11 hours ago, AndyHull said: I'll post some pics when I am happy with the way it is running. As promised. 1971 Timex Marlin, running. New mainspring, new stem retaining lever, new date spring, new winder rocking bar, new case back, cleaned serviced and running.. after much effort. It would have been a lot simpler to swap in a fully working movement from a later date, but I thought fixing the original was a better solution. Little did I know how much it would fight me. 2 Quote
AndyHull Posted November 17, 2019 Posted November 17, 2019 2 hours ago, Johnnie said: My new arrival, Avystyle datomatic ! I know nothing about Avystyle but I am thinking it's from the 1970s. The movement looks familiar, French I think. Take a look here. 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 So, I'm flush with money in my PayPal account so I went on a bit of an eBay shopping spree. I picked up 4 watches. 3 are Russian and one is a Seiko. I know it's not very original, but I got the exact same 2 Russian's that Mark recently featured on his YouTube channel. I've been wanting a couple Russians for awhile and was hesitant to pull the trigger. I liked the ones Mark chose and found 2 identical models for a reasonable price. The third Russian has this really cool embossed/engraved dial that I've never seen on a Russian so I had to grab it. And finally the Seiko. It is a vintage Bell-Matic with a silver dial in good shape. It has an original bracelet with the tank tread style links. I've had my eye on a mechanical alarm watch and I'm excited for this one. Quote
ro63rto Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 So, I'm flush with money in my PayPal account so I went on a bit of an eBay shopping spree. I picked up 4 watches. 3 are Russian and one is a Seiko. I know it's not very original, but I got the exact same 2 Russian's that Mark recently featured on his YouTube channel. I've been wanting a couple Russians for awhile and was hesitant to pull the trigger. I liked the ones Mark chose and found 2 identical models for a reasonable price. The third Russian has this really cool embossed/engraved dial that I've never seen on a Russian so I had to grab it. And finally the Seiko. It is a vintage Bell-Matic with a silver dial in good shape. It has an original bracelet with the tank tread style links. I've had my eye on a mechanical alarm watch and I'm excited for this one. Nice lotDon't think the bracelet is a Seiko original. They never used a "one size fits all" bracelet as far as I know. Should have the coffin link bracelet. Quote
ro63rto Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 Perspective is everthing, lol. I meant at the shoulders.I could see it wasn't a hairpuller bracelet [emoji4] This is what it should have I think 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 I do like the coffin link bracelets. hmmmm... Time to hunt for one! Quote
AndyHull Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 Another "British Rail" Timex quartz. This is described as a "non runner", so it may have issues. They are pretty simple quartz mechanisms, so hopefully nothing major is wrong with it. It was only a couple of quid, so even if it is heading for the parts bin, I'm not going to shed too many tears over it. Quote
AndyHull Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 An early Texas Instruments LCD is winging its way to me from the fleabay penny lots. I just love the design. I couldn't make up my mind whether to paste it on Bender or Batman. 2 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 I've got another 2 en-route to me. I think I speak for many of us here when I say I'm especially attracted to rare, unusual and sometimes odd timepieces. I have a mid 60's, automatic, Citizen Jet, 25 jewel on it's way. For those that don't know, the jet has a very unique winding rotor where instead of the ubiquitous center pivot attachment, The jet uses a radially machined gear and the entire rotor is free to spin with no mounted pivot point. Finally, There is a vintage "Squadron" race/rally watch on it's way. This one has the pop-out movement housing and what appears to be the original plastic Rally strap. Should be fun! 1 Quote
dadistic Posted November 22, 2019 Posted November 22, 2019 I didn't know about that Citizen Jet, thanks for the heads up. 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 24, 2019 Posted November 24, 2019 The Bellmatic arrived today and it looks and runs great. It's clean and rings perfectly. I had trouble setting the day/date function at first.. But the Google of everything solved that problem. The only hiccup is the bracelet. Like @ro63rto said, it's a replacement. Someone grafted an old Seiko quartz clasp that was once gold but someone scrubbed the plating off. I'm on the hunt for a proper Seiko coffin link bracelet now. 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 24, 2019 Posted November 24, 2019 In regards to the Seiko, I learned that the movement best is 19,800 bph. It was running about 5 minutes slow a day. I got it timed closer to 3 to 5 seconds a day. Quote
AndyHull Posted November 24, 2019 Posted November 24, 2019 More Timex madness. 1977 Timex Marlin day date. It is a bit of a mess, and the case has a slight touch of the chrome pox on the rear, but at least the hands are still in the watch, and hopefully whatever impact caused them to dislodge didn't damage anything vital. I'm only into it for a couple of quid, so if it turns in to a parts watch, so be it. We will see. Quote
AndyHull Posted November 25, 2019 Posted November 25, 2019 (edited) I tend to shy away from pocket watches, but for some strange reason, this one appealed. As a result, I am another couple of quid closer to the poor house. Suspicious lack of hairspring, and no hands, but If nothing else it will make a great ornament... who am I kidding its going to get fixed if I can cobble together the bits. There does appear to be a fairly obvious dirt issue too, but I'll wait to see what shows up in the post and let you all know. Can anyone tell me what the non Latin script inscription says? Edited November 25, 2019 by AndyHull 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 27, 2019 Posted November 27, 2019 On 11/25/2019 at 4:23 PM, AndyHull said: I tend to shy away from pocket watches, but for some strange reason, this one appealed. As a result, I am another couple of quid closer to the poor house. Suspicious lack of hairspring, and no hands, but If nothing else it will make a great ornament... who am I kidding its going to get fixed if I can cobble together the bits. There does appear to be a fairly obvious dirt issue too, but I'll wait to see what shows up in the post and let you all know. Can anyone tell me what the non Latin script inscription says? @AndyHull, I like the 3 separate Bridges on the gear train. Reminds me of my Hampden. The engravings are very eye catching. The script under the 15 years part looks possibly Arabic... Where did this come from? 1 Quote
FLwatchguy73 Posted November 27, 2019 Posted November 27, 2019 I just purchased my first Swatch branded watch in over 30 years. It's a very sleek, vintage Irony Chronograph. I saw one online over a year ago and finally found one at a price I was happy to pay. On a side note, I got to see the world's largest Swatch watch at the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver BC. 1 Quote
AndyHull Posted November 27, 2019 Posted November 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, FLwatchguy73 said: The script under the 15 years part looks possibly Arabic... Where did this come from? I don't know its history, it was an impulse ebay purchase. I'll keep you posted when it arrives. I presume it is 1920s or 1930s. I'll need to look for hands for it too. Similar to this perhaps. Best I can tell it is a Langendorf 1725 or 25 Edited November 27, 2019 by AndyHull Quote
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