Jump to content

My Time to say Hi!


Recommended Posts

I have been interested in wrist watch repair for years.  Finally decided to get some tools and other supplies to do some cleaning of my windup and kinetic watches.  In the past, I have figured out how to get a grandfather clock to run as well as repairing and cleaning some cuckoo clocks.  One  clock  needed new bellows which I made out of a large Ups envelope.  I think it is the Tyveck  type material.

 

 I want to start with an ll bean hack watch from the mid 80's.  I want to clean it, get a new gasket, and repaint the glow in the dark hands as well as the dots on the clock face.  So many parts in these instruments! Nervous about keeping track of where they belong after dismantling! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks.  Is there a step by step instructional about how to take apart a Hamilton hack watch, windup LL Bean, from the mid 80's?. Do you have to take it completely apart if it is just running a little fast?. I have read somewhere that watches run fast when the hair spring is dirty, oily....  Making the spring, in a sense, shorter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Triacon said:

Thanks.  Is there a step by step instructional about how to take apart a Hamilton hack watch, windup LL Bean, from the mid 80's?. Do you have to take it completely apart if it is just running a little fast?. I have read somewhere that watches run fast when the hair spring is dirty, oily....  Making the spring, in a sense, shorter...

Just wait until some of the "old hands" here come online.  I'm sure someone will have an answer for you.  Post your information request in the "Watch Repairs Help and Advice" section of the forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello from me.

I'll try and put you on the right path. First of all if a watch needs cleaning then the whole watch movement is taken apart. The hair spring if dirty or has any foreign body on or in it will cause the time keeping to become erratic and sometimes just cleaning the hairspring and re-oiling the balance pivots is all that is required. It really depends on the condition of the watch movement after you open it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, will post photos when I get the tools, and start dismantling the watch.  I used to wear this watch all the time.  Epically while fishing.  Noticed water droplets inside the crystal...  Where do I find a new gasket for the back cover?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Triacon said:

Ok, will post photos when I get the tools, and start dismantling the watch.  I used to wear this watch all the time.  Epically while fishing.  Noticed water droplets inside the crystal...  Where do I find a new gasket for the back cover?

You can buy a pack of various sizes of watch back gaskets on Ebay for less than ten bucks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • 🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...