Jump to content

Date wheel spring for Certina 25-651

alexndr

By alexndr
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

alexndr Member

alexndr

Posted
Posted

I've been poking around with a Certina cal. 25-651 for some time now. When putting the last piece together, the date wheel mechanism, I realized the date disc was not moving no matter how many times the hour hand went around. 

I started looking into the problem and soon realized the date wheel, 2556 had a broken spring. The "hook" on the spring was missing.

1606212208_0.jpg

Googling the problem revealed two things: a.) the spring is fragile and my problem is a common one with this calibre b.) The replacement part is hard to come by and expensive when found. 

I've been buying scrappers on eBay before to get around this issue but taking the watchmaking craftsmanship to the next step for me would be to start manufacturing my own replacement parts. I like the idea of this since I think it's the only viable way for watchmakers working with vintage watches when more and more replacement parts, no longer in production, are sold out. 

I've managed to take the wheel apart using the staking set. Next thing would be to create this tiny spring. Where should I start. I have parts of it left (as seen below) and I think I can find pictures of it online, good enough to understand how it should be shaped. 

1606212244_9.jpg

I need to measure the dimensions of the material used in the original spring. Not sure it's necessary to get it correct on a micrometer level but it must be pretty much the same to fit in the frame on the wheel.

Some questions ..

1. Where can I get hold of material used for the new spring. I'm a regular customer at CousinsUK so i prefer to buy from there if possible. Other sellers with inside of the European union will do :). 

2. What tools are preferred when shaping the spring? Tweezers and pliers? Something more delicate? 

 

Thanks! 

 

/Alex

 

 

 

 

 

Cad101 Super WRT Addict

Cad101

Posted
Posted

Do you have a stash of old click springs of varying lengths and diameters a lot aren't tempered that much and are easily bent into shape I've made quite a few obscure springs that way.

alexndr Member

alexndr

Posted
  • Author
Posted

"Do you have a stash of old click springs of varying lengths and diameters a lot aren't tempered that much and are easily bent into shape I've made quite a few obscure springs that way."

That is one alternative I've been considering. A set of assorted click springs are pretty cheap to come by. 

Make sure you vote to stay in the European union. My purchases from cousinsuk.com are absolutely threatened a possible Brexit :). 

 

 

Cad101 Super WRT Addict

Cad101

Posted
Posted

Oh and I work with the spring I'm copying and the one I'm manipulating inside a clear thick plastic bag with a zip top and I work on the outside of the bag. There's nothing worse than nearly bending one into shape and it pinging away never to be seen again.:pulling-hair-out:

  • Like 1
sstakoff WRT Addict

sstakoff

Posted
Posted

Some time ago I purchased a small assortment of spring material - I believe it's a Bergeon assortment. They are probably still available. Chapter 15 of Donald deCarle's "Practical Watch Repairing" - available on Kindle - is devoted to making new parts. He walks you through an example of making a spring - heat treatments and all!!!

Screen Shot 2016-06-23 at 3.01.12 PM.png

  • 2 months later...
Henrique Member

Henrique

Posted
Posted

I have the same problem as mention by Alexndr.

The spring is mado out of copper (seems to me). The small dimensions put another question...what to use in order to shape the spring?

Did anyone solved this successfully?

BR

Henrique

  • 1 year later...
Josip New Member

Josip

Posted
Posted

I’ll bump this thread, because I’m also taking apart my 26-651, and it too has a a broken date change.

 

Did you have any luck making the spring yourself?

 

I have tried googling, but haven’t managed to get a good understanding of what it should look like, and how it should be mounted. High resolution images, and tips on solutions would be greatly appreciated! [emoji4]

 

537486165.175965public.thumb.JPG.c6468b7579d564f4a6dac4b2acae6771.JPG

 

537486171.458254public.thumb.JPG.9a8fb3723eca4446f715facaac8f303d.JPG

 

 

 

rogart63 Distinguished Member

rogart63

Posted
Posted (edited)

That is a real pain in the behind spring. Have broken 2 of those. Lucky to have a spare that time . But no longer. They are hard to find. Seen those that have tried to repair them. But never seen a good repair. Heard that a hairspring or mainspring could work. Somewhere here i think i have a bent one. Think it's bent like a triangel and only one side is attached to the wheel. Can see if i find it and take a picture. 

Edited by rogart63
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Nucejoe
      Greetings from Whidbey Island.

      By Nucejoe · Posted

      Hello and welcome to the WRT forum.
    • JohnR725
      A lathe with indexing that won't break the bank?

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      interesting video nice to see the machine what it can do now I wonder what it costs and I'm sure it's not in my budget. Plus the video brought up questions but the website below answers the questions? What was bothering me was the size of his machine 4 mm because I thought it was bigger than that? But then it occurred to me that maybe they had variations it looks like four, seven and 10. With the seven and 10 being the best because way more tool positions in way more rotating tools. Although I bet you all the rotating tools are probably separate cost https://www.tornos.com/en/content/swissnano   Then as we been talking about Sherline. Just so that everyone's aware of this they have another division their industrial division where you can buy bits and pieces. I have a link below that shows that just in case you don't want to have the entire machine you just need bits and pieces. https://www.sherline.com/product-category/industrial-products-division/   Let's see what we can do with the concept I explained up above and bits and pieces. For one thing you can make a really tiny gear very tiny like perhaps you're going to make a watch. Then another version the center part is not separate it is all machined from one piece. Then fills gear cutting machines have gone through multiple of evolutions. A lot of it based on what he wanted to make like he was going to make a watch unfortunately eyesight issues have prevented that. Another reason why you should start projects like this much sooner when your eyesight is really good or perhaps start on watches first and then move the clocks then local we have from the industrial division? Looks like two separate motors and heads. Then it's hard to see but this entire thing is built on top of a much larger milling machine as a larger milling machine gave a very solid platform to build everything.   Then like everything else that had multiple generations are versions the indexing went through of course variations like above is one version and the one below was the last version. Now the version below I mentioned that previously and somewhere in the beginning to discussion and somebody else had one in their picture. As it is a really nice precision indexing. Then I wasn't sure if I had a the watch photos here is his unfinished watch. No he wasn't going to make a simple watch like none of his clocks were simply either what would be the challenge and that.    
    • Titanium
      Lab Coats

      By Titanium · Posted

      Use a Portwest Howie lab coat. They are the biological type so they have tapped cuffs so you don't end up getting the loose cuffs of normal lab coats catching everything. 
    • Titanium
      Chinese tools debate

      By Titanium · Posted

      Some of the Chinese tools ae great and can be purchased at a fraction of the price of Swiss ones, some are complete garbage and some I'm convinced are coming out the same factory as the branded ones.
    • caseback
      Calendar work certina 25-651

      By caseback · Posted

      I found this string about this problem. I've not gone through it all, but I believe it also mentions making a spring. If not in this string, the info is online.
×
×
  • Create New...