Escapement wheel alignment

[nickpeh]

Hi, do u guys have better ways of aligning escapement wheel to the top plate? Third ,second and intermediate wheel got no issues going into jewel hole when plate installed, just tht the escapement wheel always cant get into jewel hole. Any good method?

[matabog]

I would use a sharp pair of tweezers to help the pivot into place - from the balance side, I think there is enough room

[Wesley881]

I've had pretty good success going in with an oiler or small diameter sharpened pegwood to nudge parts around. 

 

 

[RyMoeller]

I usually use a clean oiler to line up pivots beneath the plate.  It's not an exact science but an oiler is usually thin and narrow enough to slide under the plate without upsetting the pivots I have managed to set in place.

[Hamish]

All good ideas above. What I would suggest is to apply very light pressure to the bridge while you nudge wheels back and forth, again, very lightly. This tends to make them try to spin and moves the pivots across the jewel face and with any luck you get a satisfying click as the bridge fully locates.

[nickpeh]

I did try with the bridge tighened slightly rotate the escapement wheel but not easy to align as the cutout on bridge is minimum. let's say after installation of escapement wheel, when manual wind, the mainspring directly move the sec/min/hour  hands. Does that mean the eacapement wheel didnt contact the pallet fork? 

[transporter]

It could do yes I think, but have you had the setting system apart aswell? I don't know if that may have something to do with it. Is it a rep that you are working on? No dramas if you are ok folks on here don't mind them, unlike some other forums

[oldhippy]

Here is a way but it is a dangerous practice so be warned.

 

To stop wheels moving around and dropping out of there holes. Start to screw the plate down so it doesn’t move around, but be very careful not to screw it down to much if you do you will break the pivots off the wheels, with the plate in its correct position you should be able to use your tweezers and move the wheels into their correct position.

This way is much better and safer and is the way I used.

 

Hold the plate in position by putting a finger with a little pressure to hold the plate and carefully move the wheels into their correct place using your tweezers. When it is all in place and screwed down go over the plate using Rodico to clean off any finger marks.   

Edited April 26, 2017 by oldhippy

[Geo]

42 minutes ago, nickpeh said:

let's say after installation of escapement wheel, when manual wind, the mainspring directly move the sec/min/hour  hands. Does that mean the eacapement wheel didnt contact the pallet fork? 

If the movement is spinning freely with a little power added to the mainspring, either the escapement lever is not located in its pivot bearings, or you have broken a pivot off the the escapement lever.  It is highly unlikely to be anything to do with the setting mechanism.

[transporter]

Cheers geo, wasn't 100%  but what you say sounds a better diagnosis 

[clockboy]

With some fiddley movement alignments I have used old hippy,s method BUT be very careful as snapping a pivot is very,very easy to do. Looking at the original pics it might be easier for assembly by having the barrel bridge removed so manipulations are easier to see. 

[nickpeh]

I flipped movement around but no broken parts drop out from it, I assumed no broken pivot. I suspect the escapement wheel not aligned with the 3rd wheel and also with pallet causing the mainspring directly drive the hour,mins,sec hands.

[nickpeh]

I just sheared one of the top bridge screw, half of it is in the thread..now gotta find a drill small enough to drill out, measured about 0.75mm diameter.

[StuartBaker104]

Most times the broken screw will not have a flat surface where it has broken. Are you able to persuade it to unscrew by pushing the broken surface with a fine needle?

[mickey671]

Did u verify if the pivot is not in any way bended? Coz q
With that slot beside the escape wheel i dont see any difficulty setting the esc wheel unless its pivot as i say is bent

Sent from my SM-A720F using Tapatalk

[nickpeh]

On 4/26/2017 at 2:40 PM, Geo said:

I need to remove the sheared screw first, before this it wasn't bent..

[anilv]

In this watch, I would assemble the train before the barrel.

Even though the disassembly usually starts with the balance wheel, followed by pallet fork,escapement, train wheels and finally the barrel with the reassembly being the reverse.On most watches the barrel train can be fitted after the train bridge is safely secured.

 I would try this as it would allow you more sideways access to get everything lined up.

HTH

Anilv

Edited April 28, 2017 by anilv

[nickpeh]

Thx u anilv, one question on screw. Does the screw used in movt come with standard thread and pitch size, just differ length?