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Hardest Repair to Date


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So it started with the purchase of this Hamilton 912.da053e496ada03fe047867d10c30482c.jpg

It had a loose balance and upon examination one of the pivots was broken. So off I went to eBay to order a 3050 balance staff. Three came in the mail.

I started by removing the hairspring from the balance and then removed the roller plate with Impulse Jewel and safe roller. 2ded6482cad2e37300638e6b03c49f86.jpg936926bbfe7f047bed59f23db34328ba.jpg

I then got out my roller remover and punched out the roller and safety roller.eb995bce56af5f2b42a8eb0038e75c85.jpg06cafdabc9ecb31ed469599e12ed87e2.jpg

Then I took the staff and balance and fit the balance and staff in my Staking set; flat arms on the balance flat against the Staking tools plate. I then got out my NEW staff remover.76d0cac733a4bf6ee48250a7eb87bb26.jpg

I then made a YouTube on how to use the tool.

After I punched out the old stake I staked in a new one56af9e7b17d68b304b037952bd7e3093.jpgc717746bf93a003f7e20940107fb4420.jpg

Did a good job. The next step was to put the double rollers back. That is when I noticed that the roller jewel was loose. I got out my combination tools and shellacked the jewel and tested that it was now in good. I then staked in the rollers and moved on the put the hairspring back on. I did so and noticed that the collet was cracked. I had another old Hamilton movement and started farting around with the two hairsprings. Need to use the older one so I cleaned in and installed in and put the balance back in.585bb1916ca480679c527fe9a028271e.jpg

Now the fun started. When I tightened down the balance cock the bottom pivot of the balance staff was too big ( my mistake) and it cracked the lower jewel. So I went into my collection of jewels and found and Illinois lower balance jewel that was the right hole size and also fit the opening. I installed it oiled in and screwed on the cap jewel. Reinstalled the balance and had to take it off again and take off the hairspring and straighten it a bit as it was touching the balance arm. So once I had in all in place I noticed that the balance was not down far enough to allow the upper pivot to extend into the jewel hole. So I took a slice of watch paper and wedged it into the back of the balance. Finally that did it and with a little work in the Banking Pins I was able to get a beat. About 200degree turn is all I could get, but I had no energy left to try and get more. A new crystal is now on order and the watch works fine. What a day.19b73ff7c68b77410bbc3c0da09debf9.jpgPaper jammed in.4cd92bb517c54283b4ee1369f0f06ca0.jpgHappybecf9e8f861de2dab8e05a57f8b54f5f.jpg

 

 

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    • The Boro has changed quite a lot over the last 20 years, and not for the better. I actually moved out of the town 15 years ago to a small village not far away. Thanks for the pdf! Looks a great read. I'll get it printed today and put it on my work bench!
    • Not having all the fancy equipment, this is a way I came up with. I never said it was the best, the most ideal or the safest way. Working on balances is always a delicate task whereby full concentration & common sense should prevail. I was well aware of the "dangers" / short comings involved, hence my "warnings", as quoted above. The balance wheel of the Omega was nice true, flat and one could clearly see how much gap there was left before the grinding wheel would touch the balance wheel. My idea of penning this article was to show/share a way which, in my case, perfectly succeeded. If deemed to risky, or if the balance wheel is not true or has a wobble, other methods have to be followed.
    • I loved his explanation of a teardown 😅 Ex military Richard Perrett, pretty knowledgeable guy.
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