Looks like this watch will be my first vitim....

[Douglas1701]

Ordered this watch today so I could learn to take it apart, clean it and put it back together again. Its a 18 jewel movement that looks to be in pretty good shape. Hopefully no problems and I can just practice dissasembly and assembly.....any thoughts?

[Cad101]

Good choice big, simple and working. 

[sperki77]

Looks like you're ready for some fun!

[Douglas1701]

Hopefully

[SSTEEL]

Take your time, and if possible, do some research on that particular movement, so you don't have any surprises.

[WileyDave]

Don't think of it as victim, rather a patient that needs a doctor's touch.   I could see in the pic that your primary winding wheel screw has been used a bit more than normal. (often an indication it had been over torqued at some point in time) Probably wouldn't hurt to capture each step of disassembly with photos, in case you are called away from your "victim". Good luck and if you get stuck with something, just ask, someone should be able to help.

[LightDot]

Molnija 3602? An improved SSSR variant of a 15 jewel Cortebert 616. Good choice, I think. Solid movements, affordable and still plentiful. Quite a few sites and videos about them too, Molnija is quite popular.

Another bonus is that one can imagine working on a vintage Rolex movement in a Panerai while rebuilding it, as mentioned Corteberts were used by them...

[adiorio110]

Good Luck ... I am new too... What I did my first time was take just a few components off and put it back together , then the next attempt go a little deeper and put it back. It was a good exercise and built a little confidence also gets you familiar with where things go.

Also as WileyDave suggested taking photos of each step is invaluable. 

 

Using method I described above I was able to fix a broken watch ( it was just the mainspring) my first time out. Must have been beginners luck, because it seems the more I know the more problems I am starting to have. LOL 

 

Regards 

Anthony

[CapMoy]

Hey Douglas1701

Good luck !...

I'm going to do the same to this elgin and see how it goes...I will try to do the same way adioro110 did on his .

Regards...

 

[Douglas1701]

8 hours ago, WileyDave said:

Don't think of it as victim, rather a patient that needs a doctor's touch.   I could see in the pic that your primary winding wheel screw has been used a bit more than normal. (often an indication it had been over torqued at some point in time) Probably wouldn't hurt to capture each step of disassembly with photos, in case you are called away from your "victim". Good luck and if you get stuck with something, just ask, someone should be able to help.

I saw that screw you are talking about, it doesnt look to bad in the other photos.

[Marc]

Not too much to be wary of on this one. The crown wheel screw (with three slots) is left hand threaded though so urn it clockwise to undo.

Have fun.

[Douglas1701]

Why does it have 3 slots?

[Geo]

1 minute ago, Douglas1701 said:

Why does it have 3 slots?

It's to let you know it is a left hand thread.  A lot of watches have this identification but not all, so be careful in the future.

[Douglas1701]

Thats was a good idea...thanks

[Vich]

Lovely to be present at the birth of a new tinkerer.
Cheers and best of luck,
Vic

[Douglas1701]

13 hours ago, CapMoy said:

Hey Douglas1701

Good luck !...

I'm going to do the same to this elgin and see how it goes...I will try to do the same way adioro110 did on his .

Regards...

 

Good deal...hope it works out good...gonna be a little while before i get started. Still waiting on stuff to arrive. Im sure this one will look brand new when you get finished with it. 

Doug

[CapMoy]

It is in not working condition seller said balance is not good but I will try to take all apart clean it and see how it goes ...I do not know , if possible , how to fix it .

I will take this as a practice before servicing my working Rockford watch...

Moises

[Vich]

I always try to view problems as learning opportunities I believe the success at the end is so much sweeter.
Bit deep for me, obviously need malt whisky!
Cheers,
Vic

[CapMoy]

Hello Vic

Agree with you ...I will try to work on it with no shacking hands and at the end the learning it self will be a success..
Regards
Moises


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[donnie]

You got nothing to lose. Go for it!

[Endeavor]

Perhaps this may be of any use? http://linuxfocus.org/~guido/molnija-pocket-watch/

I just serviced one, very nice and easy to work on; great "starter";

Edited February 16, 2017 by Endeavor

[Douglas1701]

6 hours ago, Endeavor said:

Perhaps this may be of any use? http://linuxfocus.org/~guido/molnija-pocket-watch/

I just serviced one, very nice and easy to work on; great "starter";

Thanks for the post. I actually found that site a few weeks back. The one i ordered was runing a bit fast, so i adjusted the speed very slightly and I put to test with a digital stop watch to see of it was keeping time pretty good...tested it for 30 minutes and it kept up second by second untill i stopped the test. I jave check it for two days now and it remains insync with my ipad....not to bad for $45.

thanks again,

doug

[Douglas1701]

I was telling the guy I bought it from in bulagaria how much I like the watch and I hated the fact it would be my practice watch. So he sent me a free movement that needed some balance work for the cost of shipping...so turns out this wont be my first victim after all.....lol

[Endeavor]

That's a good price !! I guess you have seen on that website that a nearly similar, or similar, movement was used by Rolex. Can't be that bad.

The one I just serviced was very nicely polished on the back (even with blued screws), but crudely finished underneath. Money had to be saved somewhere.

Chances are yours has a good finish all around. That you received a next to "freebee" is even better as a starter. Take your time, and the first watches will be under your belt  

[Douglas1701]

Here is a pic of the one I ordered. There is a spot at the 10:00 o'clock position...looks like some hot gold solder or something similar dripped onto the plastic dial. Im going out on a limb here...and correct me if im wrong..but from what i have read about American railroad watch accuracy, this watch keeps better time. So far its at about 2 seconds per day which from what i understand is pretty dang good.