Alternative to a staking tool set

[Alienfox]

On 7/29/2016 at 5:33 PM, Cad101 said:

Mine I got for under £40 I had alot of work to do cleaning it up but it was a bargain you can find them if you look around enough.

How did you manage to get the stakes so bright?

[Cad101]

I ultrasonic cleaned them a few at a time to get rid of crud and dirt then put each one in a hand held drill and cleaned them with very fine grit wet and dry paper then each one with wire wool. The punch ends  which had a flat polished surface I left I only polished the shafts . Took me about a week to do the whole lot.

[TimFitz]

Just received my K&D staking set from EBAY its not to pretty now , but using the great ideas for everyone here, I have started to clean everything up.It is not missing any parts & I'm pleased.

The cleaning is going well however two of the holes in the die plate are plugged, with balance staff parts I would imagine. I bought a cheap set or tiny drill bits that instantly broke.

Any good suggestions on how to unclog these?

Again thank you all for the advice on buying and cleaning ,I wouldn't have got it correct without your help.

I took before pictures and will post them with the after pictures when done.

[tmac1956]

All:

For me, this is absolutely the best method for getting at rust and it gets it all the way down into the pits.

Thanks,

tmac1956

 

[Don]

On 8/21/2016 at 9:47 PM, tomcolson said:

I started out using only abrasives to clean up the stakes as described here. Currently (today in fact!) I start with an overnight soak in EvapoRust to remove most of the rust and convert what's left to black iron oxide. Then I use fine 3M radial bristle disks to polish up the working and marked ends. I take great care with the working ends to insure that I do not round over corners, etc. Usually the highly polished working ends are the least rusted parts of the stakes.

Awesome page! I enjoyed reading it.

[tmac1956]

All:

This is probably the best reference that I've found for the Inverto tool series. You can get either the hard cover or paperback reprint from lulu.com

http://www.lulu.com/shop/archie-perkins/the-watchmakers-staking-tool/hardcover/product-22409846.html

I hope this will help someone as much as it did me.

Tom

[david]

Here is a Levin Staking Set for $79.00 from Uncle Larry's Watch Shop. Check it out.

david

[tomcolson]

1 hour ago, tmac1956 said:

All:

This is probably the best reference that I've found for the Inverto tool series. You can get either the hard cover or paperback reprint from lulu.com

http://www.lulu.com/shop/archie-perkins/the-watchmakers-staking-tool/hardcover/product-22409846.html

I hope this will help someone as much as it did me.

Tom

I'll second this recommendation...the clearest descriptions I've found of how to perform many useful task using a staking set.

The book also contains a reprint of a 1986 K&D catalog, but if that's all you need you can download it for free from kanddinverto.weebly.com.

[tomcolson]

3 hours ago, Don said:

Awesome page! I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks Don, I'm happy to hear you found it useful.

[TimFitz]

18 hours ago, TimFitz said:

Just received my K&D staking set from EBAY its not to pretty now , but using the great ideas for everyone here, I have started to clean everything up.It is not missing any parts & I'm pleased.

The cleaning is going well however two of the holes in the die plate are plugged, with balance staff parts I would imagine. I bought a cheap set or tiny drill bits that instantly broke.

Any good suggestions on how to unclog these?

Again thank you all for the advice on buying and cleaning ,I wouldn't have got it correct without your help.

I took before pictures and will post them with the after pictures when done.

Here is the after photo waiting for the dome

[Don]

Awesome! Great job.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

[TimFitz]

48 minutes ago, Don said:

Awesome! Great job.

Sent from my XT1064 using Tapatalk

The plating and paint were both falling off so the rust cleaning removed the rest. Perhaps black enamel would be nice? what do you think?

[tomcolson]

48 minutes ago, TimFitz said:

The plating and paint were both falling off so the rust cleaning removed the rest. Perhaps black enamel would be nice? what do you think?

You could go full-on JG Hall and do black enamel and gold accents/borders :-).

 

[TimFitz]

6 minutes ago, tomcolson said:

You could go full-on JG Hall and do black enamel and gold accents/borders :-).

 

I have to know, Whats JG Hall?

[tomcolson]

21 minutes ago, TimFitz said:

I have to know, Whats JG Hall?

Inventor of the staking tool in the mid 19th century when, if it was worth making, it was worth decorating. His early tools were black enameled and decorated with bands of gold decorative motifs (Greek key and the like).

[TimFitz]

7 hours ago, tomcolson said:

Inventor of the staking tool in the mid 19th century when, if it was worth making, it was worth decorating. His early tools were black enameled and decorated with bands of gold decorative motifs (Greek key and the like).

Thanks, I thought it was something like that

[TimFitz]

Here is my finished $45.00 K&D staking set all cleaned up & the new glass dome arrived today. All finished.

Now back to watch repairing.

[Don]

On 8/30/2016 at 11:53 AM, TimFitz said:

The plating and paint were both falling off so the rust cleaning removed the rest. Perhaps black enamel would be nice? what do you think?

I'm partial to the light green that some of the old Star and Boley sets are painted. But black enamel would look very nice too.

[TimFitz]

5 hours ago, TimFitz said:

Here is my finished $45.00 K&D staking set all cleaned up & the new glass dome arrived today. All finished.

Now back to watch repairing.

The only thing I'm missing is the centering punch, I have tried all the usual places recommended from all the websites. I will eventually I'll find one. If anyone knows where I can pick one up please let me know. Thanks    

[94marconi]

Very stylish indeed.  The dome adds a nice touch and the overall package just screams old time watch maker. Keep an eye on uncle larrys site as he has stakes come up all the time. Looks like many years of use left in the old girl yet. As far as paint goes have a look into getting it powder coated, way nicer shine and super hard. We used to have our hydraulic jacks done and it would amaze me how many home projects came back with the shop work lol

[Don]

4 hours ago, TimFitz said:

The only thing I'm missing is the centering punch, I have tried all the usual places recommended from all the websites. I will eventually I'll find one. If anyone knows where I can pick one up please let me know. Thanks    

Dave's Watch Parts has a  Marshall centering stake. Not sure if it will fit,  but worth a shot. 

http://www.daveswatchparts.com/StakingTools.html

[TimFitz]

7 hours ago, Don said:

Dave's Watch Parts has a  Marshall centering stake. Not sure if it will fit,  but worth a shot. 

http://www.daveswatchparts.com/StakingTools.html

Yes I saw that one,not sure if it will fit either. Thanks

[Cad101]

That's a nice set now it looks shiny and new. It's amazing what a little hard work can achieve well done.

[TimFitz]

40 minutes ago, Cad101 said:

That's a nice set now it looks shiny and new. It's amazing what a little hard work can achieve well done.

Thanks, I remember you said in a post, to keep looking & one would turn up. You were correct. $40.00 for tool $13.00 for very thick glass dome. Thanks for your help.

PS. hard to believe the before and after pictures?

[chadders1966]

4 hours ago, TimFitz said:

Yes I saw that one,not sure if it will fit either. Thanks

Standard size for staking tools is 4.7mm. If yours are this size one from another ordinary set will probably (no guarantee obviously) fit.

Stephen