Crystal press modification

[Davey57]

I bought this press a while back but have been unable to use it. I think it is designed mainly for fitting acrylic crystals. I think it would make a really good all round press with a bit of modification. First thing is I think the lower surface will need to be checked to make sure it is perfectly flat and lines up square with the upper shaft when it screws down, it appears to be very slightly out. Then I will need to have the hole where the dowel locates the lower dies threaded to accept the new dies, and maybe an adaptor made for the dies to fit into the top shaft. I don't have the facilities for this kind of work. It's at times like this that you miss the benefits of being at work, I could have had this done no problem before I retired but not so easy now. Not sure if any engineering companies would be interested in taking on this sort of thing as it is probably not worth their while. I was thinking of buying some dies anyway and then asking around to see if I can find a place to do it, if I have the dies it will be a whole lot easier to explain what is required. There are so many die sets available but I would like some decent quality ones if I am going to have it done, can anyone recommend some good ones. Nylon or aluminium?

 

[presto0906]

Think the dies on the left are Etruscsan - would look great in the V&A

 

[presto0906]

Seriously though - not worth bothering with - with care you can manage perfectly well with a set of nylon dies off ebay and a 6 inch G cramp. Perfectly good (but naughty) big presses can be had off USA sites - OK they are Horotec and Bergeon rip offs but they do the biz - have to pay VAT on them plus the £8 Post Office handling charge but they are still cheap overall. The presses I refer to don't appear on UK sites - whether that is legal stuff I don't know - I do know the USA copyright laws are different - Rolex for e.g. have much more limited scope to stifle generic parts in the USA than they do in the EU (anti-trust laws I believe)

[presto0906]

IMHO nylon dies are better - less damage potential - they are threaded as standard @ 5 mm. Most of the ebay ones are double sided which can make them too tall to fit securely on the lower locating pin of many a press - but hey no problem - just get out the trusty junior hacksaw and cut them in half at the dividing point and dress the cut surfaces on a medium emery sheet - that is what I did and I now have a very flexible die set. The only addition I made was to cut some rings off domestic waste pipe for to use as receivers for crystal removal - most plastic dies are too shallow to accept a curved  crystal and they will 'bottom out' before being fully removed from the case 

[Davey57]

I was thinking nylon would be the best as you say. I would really like to use this press, it is built to do the job, just needs a little work. It has come in handy once or twice for popping back on really stubborn divers bezels  and crystal retaining rings.

Maybe if I get a good price from the V&A for allowing them to display the wooden ones I will be able to afford the modification.

[presto0906]

Even if you find a general machine shop who would do the work it is likely to be surprisingly expensive - they will charge you for tooling (milling cutters, taps, drills etc) on top of labour and materials - had some stuff done recently - £100 goes nowhere

[Geo]

It would be worth doing if you can find someone to do the simple machining at a good price.  

Here's a similar one I did earlier:- 

 

[presto0906]

Lovely job - should be proud of yourself  (Where abouts from Pictland BTW? - married one 30 years ago - no body warned me at the time - still doing what I am told  )

[presto0906]

Ah Broughty Ferry - just up the road from Bonnie Dundee

 

[Davey57]

9 hours ago, Geo said:

It would be worth doing if you can find someone to do the simple machining at a good price.  

Here's a similar one I did earlier:- 

 

That is absolutely brilliant Geo. What a great job.

Mine has slightly different base to yours but I think it could still be done. The hole is rather close to the edge and dies will overhang a bit but, I think it will be strong enough.

 

[oldhippy]

The dies on the right are for fitting low dome glasses. I had one and wouldn't have been with out it.

[Davey57]

39 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

The dies on the right are for fitting low dome glasses. I had one and wouldn't have been with out it.

So am I right in thinking that the domed ones went on the inside of the glass and the pressure from the top die flexed the glass slightly to allow it to fit into the case?

[oldhippy]

In your top picture that is the correct way, the other type went on the bottom, you would make sure you had the correct size, you would  put your watch case over the bottom one and turn until the top had just enough room to slide the low dome glass under then screw down making sure the glass would be domed more , hold the case up to the glass and it would fit in by screwing down you sort of shrink the glass until it fits into the case, make sure it is well centered, when its in  you unscrew and the glass expands to its normal size and it should be fitted. You can't fit high dome glasses it won't work.  I hope its clear for you any problems just ask.

[Davey57]

No that's fine oldhippy I get what you mean. It's a nice old thing, hard to believe what they are charging for screw down presses now. It would definitely be worth trying to have it modded to take normal dies although it would be nice to have it able to use the originals too. Do you think those wooden ones on the left were specially made or would they have come with the press? They are just a tiny bit too small and the clip in the top doesn't grip them like the it does the bakelite ones.

 

[oldhippy]

I have never seen a wooden set and if they don't fit right I would say someone has knocked them up.  

[Davey57]

Geo

Just wondered what had happened. I got an email notification of your post saying that they are probably made from Tufnol, very interesting stuff by the way, but it does not seem to be here in this topic.

Just thought I would mention it in case there is a glitch somewhere.

[rogart63]

On 4/4/2016 at 11:59 PM, presto0906 said:

Seriously though - not worth bothering with - with care you can manage perfectly well with a set of nylon dies off ebay and a 6 inch G cramp. Perfectly good (but naughty) big presses can be had off USA sites - OK they are Horotec and Bergeon rip offs but they do the biz - have to pay VAT on them plus the £8 Post Office handling charge but they are still cheap overall. The presses I refer to don't appear on UK sites - whether that is legal stuff I don't know - I do know the USA copyright laws are different - Rolex for e.g. have much more limited scope to stifle generic parts in the USA than they do in the EU (anti-trust laws I believe)

Have tried to find that Bergeon copy but can't find it? Do you have any suggestion? PM if it's not okay to post it here? 

[oldhippy]

The original dies will not harm or mark the glass in any way, so their is no need to spend more money when you have a perfectly good working tool.  

[presto0906]

This is the Horotec clone I noted. Have not bought this one myself but did buy the bezel remover off the same site (which I believe is a Rolex clone tool) it is very good and will also open pressure fit cases

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160820762477?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[chadders1966]

23 hours ago, Davey57 said:

No that's fine oldhippy I get what you mean. It's a nice old thing, hard to believe what they are charging for screw down presses now. It would definitely be worth trying to have it modded to take normal dies although it would be nice to have it able to use the originals too. Do you think those wooden ones on the left were specially made or would they have come with the press? They are just a tiny bit too small and the clip in the top doesn't grip them like the it does the bakelite ones.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the dies on the left don't actually belong with the press. I got some similar ones once with a press I bought and they clearly didn't fit, but the seller probably included them as they didn't know what else to do with them ;).

The ones I have (kept to one side in case I ever find a use for them) feel like they are made from some rubber like material, presumably synthetic.

 

Stephen

[rogart63]

If you could do some kind of support for the dies on the lower part of the press i think it could be a nice press . A round part with a screw in the middle? From some harder material that won't bend? Then you could use some generic nylon dies or the ones that Geo used on his homemade press? 

Edited April 6, 2016 by rogart63

[Davey57]

You might be right there. I bought the press from someone who said they had emptied an old watchmakers repair shop. They had other stuff too so maybe just lumped it all together.

[Davey57]

6 minutes ago, rogart63 said:

If you could do some kind of support for the dies on the lower part of the press i think it could be a nice press . A round part with a screw in the middle? From some harder material that won't bend? Then you could use some generic nylon dies or the ones that Geo used on his homemade press? 

Yes I know what you mean. I was thinking maybe a nice block the same height as the lower surface would support the overhang of the dies. I have ordered a cheap crystal press that comes with some dies. When I get them I will tour the local engine reconditioners and see if anyone would be interested in tackling it. It will be easier to explain how it needs to be if I have some dies to take along.