ETA 2551 Service by Beginner

[bobm12]

Oooooh, I never though of polishing the oilers! Good call...and I was trusting Bergeon! Now I see you can't trust them giving you polish oilers...err...polished oilers! Shish, in any case they are Swiss non-polished oilers....oh come on, it is a joke!

A great idea Cad! Sorry I couldn't resist! I'll experiment with mine this morning.

By the way Alexander, hold the cap jewel with the tweezers when oiling it. I find it works for me that way.

[AlexanderB]

Thank you Cad and oldhippy for your encouraging comments.

Regarding the oilers I also use Bergeon. I had cheap ones but they still were too big. I use the red one only. So what do you mean by "polishing". I always dip the oiler in elder pith and that's it.

Bob, I still have one incabloc left which I work on after the balance wheel is in place, i.e. everything done besides the automatic assembly. Let's see if I find a better way.

Later today I will move on with the movement assembly.

[AlexanderB]

I decided to put in the screws that hold the dial at that stage. Not a big deal besides that is ever so fiddly.

1. took the movement with the left hand (using finger cots of course)
2. placed the screw with the tweezers on top of the threat
3. Tried to find the screw slot with the screwdriver with as little trembling as posible
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 until the screw doesn't fall down, e.g 2-5 times.

I guess the more I practice the better it'll go.

Then I placed the intermediate wheel and the barrel wheel. After looking very closely at my disassembly I decided to assemble the train wheels and the train bridge next.

[AlexanderB]

BTW I did some more experiments with the camera. I decided to use less aperture to have only the interesting parts in focus rather having everything sharp. How do you like that?

Next was the gear train. Since I was prepared for a real challenge to insert the third wheel after I inserted the escapement wheel. It has a pinion that connects to the intermediate wheel which has to go past the teeth of the escapement wheel. First was happened that I found the spokes of the escapement wheel and - wow! What a mess. Took both out again, inserted the escapement wheel again and ... took a deep breath and took the top pivot and was able to place it.

Also the fourth wheel wich - funny enough - is actually the second wheel (don't get confused!) because it carries the second hand was a challenge to put in.

The train wheel bridge was next. I hope I did not damage any pivot but after putting everything in place I started to screw it down very carefully. Only quarter revolutions on the screwdrivers and see if all the wheels are still spinning. After putting a bit more pressure on the screws the wheels stopped spinning. Too bad. Unscrews both screws by half a revolution and started over again. Now it runs very smoothly.

Lubricated the intermediate and third wheel with D5 and the fourth wheel and escapement wheel with 9010 removing excess oil with Rodico if necessary (it was, still don't know how to polish my oiler!).

Left me quite satisfied. Postman came with a small parcel from Cousins UK! Let's have a break and celebrate Christmas (like always when the postman brings a parcel from Cousins).

 

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by AlexanderB

[AlexanderB]

Next will be the barrel bridge. I found a tiny part that I wasn't sure where it belongs but since it was in the compartment of the barrel bridge it must fit somewhere here. Didn't really realize where it came from.

After having a very close look at the pictures of the disassembly (lucky I have them - no way to do this without the pics) it dawned me. I eventually figured it out. Too bad I have no drawing like I have for the 2824.

As I was wondering how on earth to fit this it dawned me: I need to screw it down before I assemble the barrel bridge. Later more...

[AlexanderB]

OK, here is what I did:

Put the parts together as shown in the picture above and grab them with Rodico.

Place the screw in and tighten it.

 

Assemble the barrel bridge and take away the crown wheel screw again. Here you can see that the part protrudes to take the crown wheel.

The next steps were pretty straight forward.

Next will be the click spring. After it slipped away a couple of times from my tweezers I remembered my own rules and stopped for a moment. Later more.

[bobm12]

Almost there! Very good going! I like the way your pictures are coming out and how you can pinpoint the areas you are working on. It is a great way to illustrate the walkthrough.

BTW, Alexander, this is what I do with the screwdriver tips that usually allows for more control. I got a diamond file/stone and with the blade perpendicular to the stone I file it -- I make sure it is squarely done -- until the screwdriver blade fits the screw slot snuggly, i.e. without play. Also, I make sure its width it is the same as the slot on the screw. After a while, and considering the blades are interchangeable, I end up with several blades, each to fit a certain screw head. I keep them classified and/or simply buy more screwdrivers! It depends on how often I work on the movement in question. This way I, knowing myself as I handle screwdrivers, also prevent the blades to skip and damage the finish or a part in the movement.

I recently came across a watchmaker of experience that does something similar: matches the blade to the screw head. I think it requires patience since it is a detour from the task at hand.

[AlexanderB]

Thank you Bob, I heard about this preparation of screwdrivers in an online workshop for beginners. I didn't do it so far but I have all the tools, a lot of spare blades so I will start this method now. I gave it a try and it worked without issues. It is a great help though and indeed the blade won't slip aside scratching the movement.

George Daniels mentioned this in his amazing book Watchmaking (highly recommended) as well.

Cheers Alexander

[AlexanderB]

Putting in the click spring of this movement is another challenge. It took me 10min. But it eventually worked out. I use sharpened peg woods to hold on side. In this case:

1. Put the long side in place
2. Hold it down with the peg wood.
3. Use another peg wood to slide the other arm in place.

I found using two peg woods easier than using my tweezers to put the other arm in place.

After that I put the ratchet wheel in place. Easy going, no sweat.

I then put a little power to the system. All wheels were spinning nicely. But: when they come to a stop the escapement wheel does not turn backwards a bit as it should be. Instead if I tap the movement holder very gently to the table it's getting loose again and spins another half or full revolution. One or two more taps and one more tiny movement. More taps: nothing.

I assume that some teeth are either damaged or were not sufficiently cleaned. I cleaned all the wheels in the ultrasonic machine for three minutes. They looked good after that and the movement was not in too bad a condition.

My question: would you disassemble it again and clean it or scrutinize the wheels with a strong loupe?

I won't do this now since this is for my experience only but I'm interested in your opinion. Let's see the outcome on the Timegrapher. Next will be the pallet fork and the lubrication of it. Moebius 941 just arrived.

And @bobm12 thanks for liking the way I took the pictures. I have to admit that this is as much fun as working on the movement. I am also extremely happy with the outcome. I should have spent a bit more attention to the first in this post. But it looks nice anyway.

[AlexanderB]

Next is the pallet fork. Installation was easy. Also putting the bridge in place. You do have to concentrate but it went pretty well. A couple of adjustments and that's it.

It was a bit alarming that the pallet fork did not flip over nice and easy as expected. I never did the lubrication of the pallets so I tried that for the very first time. Should I say "in my life" or is that too pathetic?

Anyway. The pivots of the pallet fork of course do not get any lubrication. I put a tiny drop of Moebius 941 to the outgoing pallet. You can see this on the picture pretty well:

Then flipped over the pallet fork five times and put another drop to it. Did this three times so that all the teeth of the escapement wheel are lubricated. Looks pretty well and I am anxious to put in the balance wheel and see how she behaves on the Timegrapher.

[AlexanderB]

All right. It's at least running again. I put the balance assembly in place (no top stone yet) and since there was a little power in the system it immediately started running.

I then took apart the top incabloc and, as Bob suggested (how can I NOT come to this idea?) held the cap stone with my tweezers and - et voilà! Perfect drop of oil. Maybe a bit too much, but I would say OK for a beginner like me who never did this before.

 

Placing the Incabloc in the balance cock went like a charm.

Now let's see how she's running after all.

[AlexanderB]

The results are very encouraging. This is where I started with:

Then I corrected the beat rate:

Next: adjust the speed and the beat rate rose again. Here I corrected it once more.

This is the situation face down.

And here crown down:

All in all I am more than satisfied. But there is some problem in the gear train as I suspected earlier. Do you see the slight oscillation? But fine for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll find more time to finish the dial side and the date mechanism. I consider this one a challenge too!

BTW the lift angle of this movement is 51°, never mind!

Edited April 30, 2016 by AlexanderB

[jdm]

34 minutes ago, AlexanderB said:

But there is some problem in the gear train as I suspected earlier. Do you see the slight oscillation? But fine for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll find more time to finish the dial side and the date mechanism. I consider this one a challenge too!

There is no oscillation worth of speaking. The pattern is excellent - the machine is simply telling you that the rate measured within 10 sec changes between -1 and +1 s/day, that is is extremely precise all the time. Also, the positional error is absolutely acceptable. Nothing indicates any problem with the train. Remember that for an accurate regulation a freshly serviced movement should be let run a couple of days.

Good job!

[OmarHaltam]

Great work and a great walkthrough... nice clear pictures

thanks for posting and waiting for more [emoji1303]

[AlexanderB]

I decided to move on and assemble the dial side with the date complication.

First the canon pinion and setting wheels.

Then I added the wheels for the date mechanism which turned out to be wrong. Later more.

Date disc next

[AlexanderB]

The tiny date jumper spring proved to be a real challenge. First I attached the minute work cock to give the date wheel some guidance.

Then I tried to bring the date jumper spring in place. The date indicator driving wheel and the intermediate date wheel were obscuring the place.

After long fiddling the spring was in place!

I then added the two date wheels carefully and after all was set I experienced a little pin-prick on my left cheek. Of course it wasn't a needle that was miraculously jumping in my face. It was the spring! I was looking for that for a while with my magnetic broom but I'm done for today. I may never find it. I have a couple more 2551 movements and I will get the spring from another movement.

Done for today!

Cheers Alexander

[AlexanderB]

OK folks, I need your help now. I have cannibalized another 2551 to get the spring and tried to insert it, to no avail.

This is what I did:

1. Try to insert the spring first and then add the two wheels. As soon as the date indicator driving wheel comes in, it naturally touches the date ring, which in turn moves the date jumper and the spring will come off. It seem this is not an option.
2. I installed the two wheels and try to move the spring under the wheels. But when I try to set the spring the date jumper usually slides under the date ring.

I am totally stuck here and have no ideas what to do next. Any help highly appreciated,

Cheers Alexander

[AlexanderB]

Made it!

Method 2 worked with a slight difference: I left out the intermediate date wheel (the smaller one). It was easy to slide into place but it was also moving when I slid the spring under the bigger wheel. It took me another five attempts but it eventually worked out.

I was most anxious to put the date indicator guard in place and did it with utmost care. Then: don't mess with the screw. I saw a considerable risk here if I slip away with the screwdriver. But since I grinded my screwdriver as Bob suggested it held nice and firm.

I then tried to set the date (that's why I also added the hour wheel) and ... it worked!

There is no real fast setting but I figured out that if you go past midnight and change the date, you can go back to 10pm and then past midnight again and the date will move on. Pretty cool.

Now I can go to bed. Happily satisfied. But who the h... did designed this? And: there must be a better way, mustn't it?

Cheers Alexander

[bobm12]

Alexander, I have no words. That was not just excellent but a great journey through experience and the actual movement "nuances"! Very nice! Thank you!

Cheers,

Bob

[Geo]

What a great contribution to the forum Alexander.  I really liked your pictures and the way you described your problems as well as successes on your journey.  Very well done! 

[AlexanderB]

Thank you for your encouraging comments Bob and Geo. I have to say that I learned a lot this way. Presenting this here made me reflect and look at it more in detail.

Let's finish this. What is still missing is the automatic mechanism.

Unfortunately the automatic mechanism cannot be disassembled, at least I did not see how. It seems riveted in place. So I dared to clean it in ultrasonic, knowing that this is probably not a good idea. I just wanted to see if it does any harm. Did some D5 where I could reach it.

After assembly the movement stopped working. I must have messed something up. Took the automatic mechanism away once more, and after setting it in place again everything worked fine. I winded it a bit and heard the typical noise of a hand wound automatic watch.

FIN

Now I'd like to encourage you to do some debriefing and the experienced around you may point out what I could have done better, more proper, whatever comes to your mind. But: be open. I am a guy that wants to learn. If you praise me and think "I would have done it otherwise" it doesn't help anyone, neither me nor any future reader who could benefit.

Cheers Alexander

Edited May 1, 2016 by AlexanderB
rearranged pics

[Endeavor]

Hi Alexander........first of all, my compliments for the pictures You seemed to have mastered the trick, perhaps a bit too much exposure, but very good indeed !

I spend so much time under the table, looking for parts, that I now moved the whole work-bench to the floor Make sure you vacuum-clean first. When something flies, and as last resort, take a clean bag in the vacuum cleaner and clean the floor again. Then with a strong magnet search the bag......saved my *$$ on a tiny screw once !

As for the balance jewels; Bob sent me recently a link from a Spanish watch enthusiast; Jose-C, who used Rodico to put the cap-stone on. I thought the way he did it was really cool. I steal his pictures to show what he did......I hope he doesn't mind ?

He also oiled the pallet-fork the same way, and then placed it.

Here is the direct link to his work: http://www.hablemosderelojes.com/forum/showthread.php?67039

Thanks a lot Jose for all your work and excellent walkthrough........many good trick you showed

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by Endeavor

[AlexanderB]

Thank you Roland.

Yes I was also experimenting with the photos, this way I had a double benefit: watch repair and macro photography. My DIY diffusor worked perfectly. Had a lot of fun as well. Some of the pictures deserve a frame and a place on the wall, with all due modesty of course and it's my wall anyway .

Using Rodico for the cap stone is even better I think. I found it a bit awkward to put the incabloc on top of the cap stone which is smaller. The only question: how do you separate it from the Rodico later?

Regarding the pallets of the pallet fork I heard a slightly different story from a watchmaker. He told me to put a tiny drop on the outgoing pallet stone, tick the pallet for five times back and forth and repeat this in total three times. A regular escapement wheel has 15 teeth and he repeats that every 5 teeth. Any comments on that?

Cheers Alexander

[Endeavor]

Hi Alexander; Why not some pictures in your hall-of-fame? I think stripping and rebuilding a watch is quite an achievement !

I also struggled to keep the stone steady between the tweezers. Last time I used the "Spanish-method" and you just go with the tweezers between the Rodico and the capstone and separate them; worked like a treat.

As for oiling the pallet fork; I'm far too inexperienced to comment on that.....apart from, there seem to be different opinions of how to do it, how much, where with what, why yes or why no, etc, etc......if you get my drift........

[AlexanderB]

A lot of you already contributed. Thank you all for that. The pace of my postings was quite high so I looked over the thread myself again and like to sum up the questions that appeared during the work. Maybe one of you can comment on that.

1. How do I polish an oiler? I have problems getting tiny drops of D5 on my red Bergeon oiler. Although this is the smallest oiler the drops of D5 used to be huge (in terms of watchmaking ).
   How to polish an oiler?
    
2. Smoothness of the gear train: when the wheels come to a stop the escapement wheel does not turn backwards a bit as it should be. Instead if I tap the movement holder very gently to the table it's getting loose again and spins another half or full revolution. One or two more taps and one more tiny movement. More taps: nothing.
   What smoothness of the gear train can one expect from a movement that is used and quite old?
   How do I get the best results? What do I have to be aware of?
    
3. I had quite some trouble with the different U-shaped springs in the movement. I eventually lost one.
   Is there a better way to insert these springs? Would you have done it differently than I described?

Thank you for commenting on that!

Cheers Alexander