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IFELL's Watch Repair Blog


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HI all,

I would like to start my blog where I would like to post pictures of movements that I am now working on.

As mentioned before I am a watch enthusiast who is fascinated by movements for over a decade but it is now when I stopped just wandering through pages of Watch magazines and Youtube videos and actually bought myself some equipment to start really digging into it.

To be honest, the first things I bought on eBay were not tools or books but about 20 scrappy movements from all over the world (UK, Ukraine, India). What a nice surprise it was that some of the movements do actually work! So those are now put aside as I want to learn on those broken/not working movements.

Obviously I did not finish with just buying the movements so I can look at them so there has been a nice delivery from Cousinsuk.com and at this moment I am awaiting few more parcels from eBay with additional things that I found cheaper or just better to buy there.

I do know that this will be a lot about learning so I ordered two books: Watch Repair For Beginners and Watch Repairing As A Hobby. The second book has already come and I must say that it is a great help. It is actually a re-print of a book from 1948 and it is just stunning how up to date the book is.

So, some pictures of my tools and movements coming very soon.

Take care.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looking forward to your blog! One recommendation, start with something that works so you know when you are done and if it still works that you are doing it right. Then, try to repair the ones that don't work! Just MHO.

Cheers,

Bob

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

My first clean + assembly went quite well, all the parts are now in place but unfortunately some of my tools got magnetised so I am now waiting for a demagnetisier.

I will probably face an issue with putting hands back on, because I don't have any tool for it. What hands fitting tool is ok to use and won't crack my budget?

Some photos:

IMAG2048.jpg

IMAG2049.jpgIMAG2050.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Some news:

Finally new demagnetiser arrived which will hopefully push me forward so I will be able to finish my first two experimental services.

Also my birthday brought very nice surprise in a form of two Czech original PRIM movements, more specifically calibers 52.1 and 66.3
I am now working on obtaining some service sheets from Czech main horological forum and hopefully will get my hands on some and then proceed with service and repair.

I will definitely post some photos later on during this weekend. 

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Hi,

my budget has opened for my final order so I can start reassembling and oiling.

Any advice on a basic oils and greases? So far from the videos and books I am prepared to order Moebius 8300, D5 and 9010.



I also would recommend some 9415 if you Service movements faster than 21.600.
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On 11/18/2016 at 1:56 PM, IFELL said:

Finally new demagnetiser arrived which will hopefully push me forward so I will be able to finish my first two experimental services.

Do not assume that all watches to be service are magnetized. Often the reason for poor timekeeping is another. You have not mentioned a timegrapher, that is what you can't do without, or an equivalent application and suitable microphone.

Edited by jdm
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On 11/18/2016 at 8:16 PM, atimegoneby said:

Nice work IFELL :thumbsu:

hand fitting tools are not expensive whether ebay or cousins ,

I always keep watch parts in one of those storage trays with a dust cover, they look so vulnerable just sitting there on the work mat.

Thanks for the advice, fitting tool bought on cousins :)

Yeah I also keep parts somewhere safe, this layout was just for the purpose of the photo...

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On 11/19/2016 at 8:30 PM, jdm said:

Do not assume that all watches to be service are magnetized. Often the reason for poor timekeeping is another. You have not mentioned a timegrapher, that is what you can't do without, or an equivalent application and suitable microphone.

Thanks, I did know that my tweezers and screwdrivers were magnetised, that is why I knew I could not proceed until demagnetised.

Timegrapher is way out of my league now, as my main goal at the moment is to take scrap ebay movements and practice disassembly/clean/reassembly with a simple aim => make the movement run again...As to 'how' it runs is really another step forward if you know what I mean.

Out of curiosity, what do you mean my Equivalent application and suitable microphone?

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Timegrapher is way out of my league now, as my main goal at the moment is to take scrap ebay movements and practice disassembly/clean/reassembly with a simple aim => make the movement run again...As to 'how' it runs is really another step forward if you know what I mean.

Out of curiosity, what do you mean my Equivalent application and suitable microphone?

Do not assume that a timegrapher is anything advanced. It s a very basic and simple tool that will tell you if the watch has been serviced properly and runs well, plus of course allows accurate regulation. Unless you work only with quartz watches is indispensable. A basic one cost $180 or you can search on this forum or google for timegrapher applications. Much more important for the beginner than collecting a pharmacy of exotic oils or using expensive tweezers and drivers.
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I have finished work on two scrap movements as a part of my self-training.

The first one is this old Durex movement (15 jewels). Poor dial condition but the movement itself seemed without any particular harm and all parts were at their place.
I was able to take it apart, clean and put together, oiling where necessary (all guidance taken by watching hours of Mark's YouTube channel - thanks for that).
My absolute favorite moment was when the balance wheel fit in and started moving! So my first 'finished' service was actually a success, which was mind-blowing :) 

Photos:DSC_0348_1.jpg

DSC_0347_1.jpg

Obviously the watch will be still out of beat and probably losing huge amounts of time per day just by looking at how it runs, but this won't make my day any worse :)

 

Moving on to the second job:

Old Avia (15 jewels) with off center second hand was in a bad shape. Some missing screws followed by a ratchet wheel stopper spring flying across my room which I did not find. I managed to replace the spring by another one but there was also a twist and a band on the hair spring which I was not able to fix (watched the hair spring videos, but I am short of one more fine tweezers) + the balance wheel when back in the movement moves strangely up and down so it seems that one of the tiny pivots is short (snapped).
So the result is not as comforting as on the previous movement but I spent some quality time fiddling with the balance wheel and hair spring.

Photos:

DSC_0346_1.jpg

DSC_0345_1.jpg

 

Finally I have come across one big problem and will need some advice.
When I take out parts from my ultrasonic cleaning machine, some of the previously shiny surfaces (mostly screw heads) lose their shine a become very unpleasant to look at. You may have noticed it also in the pictures above (ratchet wheels as well as screws), but one more example below.

DSC_0340_1.jpg

Thank you and as to drag your attention to my blog I have now started work on a movement with automatic winding and date display. See you soon.

IFELL

 

Edited by IFELL
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10 hours ago, IFELL said:

yeah it seems that they are somehow plated given the result. I rinse in isopropanol btw.
What is the name of the German brand you use? This fluid is for general ultrasonic cleanings...

Be careful with isopropanol (IPA) as it has a tendency to dissolve the shellac used to 'glue' the impulse jewel on the balance & the jewels on the pallet.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Hi all,

so my last post actually said that I will add something later in that week, so sorry for that week to take a whole month. Personal things to the side, let's focus on the movements.

Last weekend I finally had time to unpack my big box from Cousins, which contained one crucial part for the above HB 313 movement, a new cannon pinion. I snapped the old one when I was taking it of the movement and I had to find it, order it, open it and fit it. All went good and I also found a replacement for previously snapped hour hand (not snapped by me this time) and at the moment the whole movement is almost ready. The only thing that is not working is that hour and minute hands are not moving (center second is moving). I think I made a small mistake when I was fitting the new cannon pinion and it is not fitted properly to the bottom so it is actually a bit loose and refuses to turn itself (and the hands). Unfortunately I did not have time for further fixing but will get back to it when I have a chance.

Couple of pics from assembly of the  HB 313:

Back side of the movement with balance wheel running and before fitting the self winding mechanism

forum2.thumb.jpg.0a3b846d646796a9ef481706782f424a.jpg

Dial side with fitted keyless-work and before cannon pinion + calendar mechanism

forum3.thumb.jpg.ac68659bac99b08d71b526347caf56bb.jpg

More pics of this one in the next post.

I have finally found a proper cleaning solution which does not take off the coating of various parts so I started working on a watch which I received as a Christmas gift.

It is Czech watch brand PRIM, cal.52.1 hand winding and date with off-center seconds hand at position 6. In a fact this movement is so old that is has 'Czechslovakia' on it (Czech Rep. and Slovakia split in 1993).
My parents bought the movement on Czech version of Ebay as a non-functioning piece but as it turned out, it had only broken click spring which caused the movement to appear as broken. 
I made a quick research and also thanks to the fact that PRIM is still producing watches (in fact, the only Czech company with in-house mechanical movements), it was quite easy to find a retailer who sold original click springs. I ordered them to be shipped to my parent's house and collected it in the second week in January when I was there on a visit.
The repair itself needed also removing some rust on crown wheel and few screws were affected as well, but nothing bad and the watch is now running, I will just have to clean the balance wheel once again because something caused the hairspring to stick together on one side.
I am very much looking forward to finishing this piece as because it has the original case and I would be able to fit it with a new strap and wear it.

I was very busy with the repair so only one pic and a video for now:

Back side with balance wheel running

Forum.png.0d91e85678af9253b74bd11549b88ce2.png

Slow motion video of balance wheel working (before the hairspring started to stick together)

As a last thing I would like to ask you:
How can I oil the top stone on balance wheel if the stone is capped from the top and cannot be taken off? It is the case of this PRIM movement.

Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

last weekend I was able to finish work on the PRIM caliber, which meant putting in back to its case and refitting the bezel and glass (most PRIM movements are removable from the front, meaning you have to remove the glass every time you want to remove the movement form the case), then cleaning the case and turning attention to the scratched glass using standard glass polish. I also did a 24 hour test to see how fast/slow the watch is. This turned a result of about 5 min/day behind so I adjusted the balance wheel and after another 24 hour test the watch is now very accurate. On top of that I did a full wind test to find out that the power reserve is 44 hours.
I am now in a process of picking a new strap for it, will probably buy one of Cousins, unfortunately the range is quite limited as I need 17 mm width at the case which is a bit unusual size.
Pictures now...

Movement back in case, view from the back with back lid off:

PRIM1.png.1349ad3916c0a94a80f5be276e33c491.png

Front with already polished glass, some scratches still there but those are quite deep so no idea what to do about them:

PRIM2.png.ad572dda223f233e3b95f7a365fbd2be.png

Strap I will probably buy for the movement (with steel buckle):

PRIM_strap.png.c3ec3f0e40bde4721c22a8620a6385d8.png

More posts coming very soon ;)

Have a nice Saturday

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