Greetings from Santa Cruz, California

[redbat]

Hello all,

I've been lurking here since 2015, but this is my first post.  

I've been interested in watches for a few years now and am now considering taking some time off of work to take the BHI distance learning courses in the hopes of making a career of watch and clock repair as an independent.

I've been acquiring tools and information for a while, and recently learned how to disassemble and reassemble a 6497 movement in preparation for the SAWTA course at the Watch Technology Institution admission test at North Seattle College.  I have recently come to the conclusion that I cannot make the move to Seattle for 2 years to attend the program, which is why I am now considering the BHI courses.

My most recent repair has been to my Maktime (Poljot) 3133 chronograph; the glass had gotten cloudy on the inside, so I had removed the movement from the case to clean the glass, and made the rookie mistake of not inserting the stem correctly, which meant removing the calendar works to reset the keyless works.  In the process of doing this, I did not correctly replace the date indicator driving wheel, which uses a small hooked wire connected to a planetary gear inside the driving wheel to move the teeth of the date wheel.  Figuring out how to adjust this correctly and reassembling the watch with a working date wheel was a wonderful feeling.

Anyway, apologies for the novel, and I'm looking forward to participating in the forum!

[dadistic]

Greetings, thanks for the introduction.

It's too bad that you can't attend the school in Seattle. I think that having access to modern (and expensive) tools and equipment, along with the instructors to demonstrate how to use them, is invaluable. Especially if you are planning on making a career of this. 

But, I agree, pulling up stakes is hard. I can't do it either, at my age I'd never recoup the investment. But who knows? I may do it anyway 

Edited April 10, 2017 by dadistic
Noticed your location

[RyMoeller]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Nice job sorting out the Poljot issue.  In this line of work there is much to be learned from mistakes provided you're disinclined to throw in the the towel. 

What a great idea to take the BHI courses- that's something I should probably look into also.  I've heard about the courses offered up in Washington and I think also in Texas or Oklahoma but like you, packing up and moving isn't really an option right now.  Hopefully things will work out in your favor to keep you on your desired schedule. 

Great profile image by the way.  I just love flying foxes. 

[Federico]

Hello! Welcome! I am also in Santa Cruz nice to see someone else on here is around my area


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[Vich]

Hello Redbat,

had to smile when I read your lead in. In the past I have also made all those sort of mistakes, in fact I would hazard a guess that lots of us have but philosophy jumps in to say mistakes are just lessons learned. Expletives also help in the moments after such lessons are learned of course

Welcome from me

Cheers,

Vic