Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I just took apart my first working watch and I am having trouble with the three gears. Everything else is easy to reassemble but the three gears leading to the mainspring. How do you guys put them back together? I am new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated.

  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I understand you correctly, I believe you’re talking about the gear train? It takes some practice, a lot of patience and persistence. It can be done! Some are easier than others I have found.
I am only a hobbyist, so someone who is more trained then I am, may be able to offer better advice.
The technique that gets me the best results, is to very gently apply a small amount of pressure (just enough to keep it in place) either with peg wood, or with my finger while I hold the movement, and use my tweezers to individually move the gears in place. When all the pivots are in, the plate will fall into place. DO NOT push down, or you may bend a pivot! DO NOT force anything. These are delicate pieces of fine mechanics. Tolerances are very exact.
I’ve picked this up from watching a substantial amount of videos. So just watch videos of movements being assembled by people who know what they’re doing (there are a number by hobbyists, and while interesting are not as refined) and you’ll pick up a lot of proper techniques.
Hope that helps!
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Edit: I meant to say “bridge”. Place the gears in the pivots correctly, place the “bridge” on top VERY gently and apply a small amount of gentle pressure with peg wood or finger on the bridge to keep it in place while you use your tweezers to adjust the gears to get the top pivots in the “bridge” (not plate).
I’ve also seen and done, putting the bridge in place and then putting in the bridge screws but NOT tightening them down (very important). You have to allow some play in the bridge so you can adjust the gears to get the pivots in. Either way, I would check out some videos first, see a pro like Mark Lovick do it a few times and then give it another go. If you get frustrated, walk away because you may try to force something at that point, and that’s when things go flying or break.
Good luck. You can do this! Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, mousekar said:

If I understand you correctly, I believe you’re talking about the gear train? It takes some practice, a lot of patience and persistence. It can be done! Some are easier than others I have found.
I am only a hobbyist, so someone who is more trained then I am, may be able to offer better advice.
The technique that gets me the best results, is to very gently apply a small amount of pressure (just enough to keep it in place) either with peg wood, or with my finger while I hold the movement, and use my tweezers to individually move the gears in place. When all the pivots are in, the plate will fall into place. DO NOT push down, or you may bend a pivot! DO NOT force anything. These are delicate pieces of fine mechanics. Tolerances are very exact.
I’ve picked this up from watching a substantial amount of videos. So just watch videos of movements being assembled by people who know what they’re doing (there are a number by hobbyists, and while interesting are not as refined) and you’ll pick up a lot of proper techniques.
Hope that helps!
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is really helpful! Thanks, can you recommend any good videos?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...


  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • I've remained silent on this thread, and at the risk of upsetting everyone, the thing that worries me the most the the apparent absence of Mark. The moderators do a great job and the members also pitch in, and the site seems to run itself, but it is a concern for the future of this forum when the owner is absent for all intents and purposes. Like many of the comments above I would hate to log in one day and things be closed down as I rely on this site for ideas and knowledge and also cheer me up. maybe the Moderators could reach out to him, assuming he does not read this thread, and express our concerns and let us know the plans going forward? some kind of WRT ark
    • That was the exact reason for me starting this thread watchie. Still we haven't worked out how the regulars are going to hook up if it goes tits up. I honestly think something should be arranged to stay in contact, we all help each other so much. 
    • Yeah ive watched that a few times before,  i couldnt find my old school dividers to scribe it up 😅 Yep thats the guy i bought a roll from . Thanks Nicklesilver that answers that perfectly and more or less what i thought an experiment over time would prove . The jumper arm is quite thick along its length, i left it that way intentionally, i thought the original was probably very thin, i didnt see that it was already missing. Setting isn't particularly stiff as such just positive, i still need to take it out and polish where it mates with the stem release. 
    • Yes, "Sold out" is difficult to understand. There doesn't seem to be a lot going on. It's been nine months since any new video was published on the Watch Repair Channel. The Level 4 course on watchfix.com has been in progress for what feels like forever (several years!?). Maybe Mark's enterprises aren't doing well or perhaps already so profitable there's nothing much to motivate him for more material. Or, perhaps these days he's more into crochet. The real reason is probably something entirely different but it would be nice/interesting to know. I don't mean to sound gloomy or pessimistic, but I wouldn't be surprised to be met by an HTTP 404. Every day feels like a gift. Speaking of watchfix.com I've been postponing the "Level 5: Servicing Chronograph Watches" course for a very, very long time. Anyway, I just enrolled on it so it's going to be very interesting to see the videos. I must say, IMO there's nothing really that can compete with Mark's courses when it comes to presentation and video quality. It's simply world-class and makes me associate with some really expensive BBC productions.
    • Steel has some funny properties, or at least counterintuitive. The modulus of elasticity is effectively (not exactly, but close enough) the same for steel that is annealed and hardened. What changes is the point of plastic deformation* . If the movement of your spring doesn't pass that, it should work fine. It looks a little thick, I would thin it a bit maybe from the main body out about halfway, maybe 10-20% thinner (not in thickness, along its form). But if it works it works!   *So- if you have two bars of the same steel, one annealed, one at 600 Vickers (general hardness watch arbors might be), clamp them to a table so the same length is hanging out, and put a weight on the ends, they will bend the same amount. But if you continue to add weight, then remove it, at a point the annealed bar won't return to its original straightness. That's the point of plastic deformation. But up to that point, as springs, they are the same. However- their wear characteristics will be very very different. And getting the hardened bar past its point of plastic deformation takes a lot more effort.
×
×
  • Create New...