Is My Pallet Fork Misaligned?

[Lawren5]

I haven't developed a trained eye yet but to me the guard pin looks fine. It's the lever that looks bent.

[rodabod]

Wow. The whole lever is bent?!

[Lawren5]

So how does a pallet fork lever get bent like this? My friend wore the watch for about 15 years and doesn't recall it ever being serviced or the back taken off.

[JohnR725]

One of the problems with being new to watch repair is finding nonexistent problems when you cannot spot the real problems. This is where you have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions and runoff fixing things that may or may not be the problem.

[Lawren5]

19 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

One of the problems with being new to watch repair is finding nonexistent problems when you cannot spot the real problems. This is where you have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions and runoff fixing things that may or may not be the problem.

I understand what you're saying but how does it relate to this specific problem?

[JohnR725]

5 hours ago, Lawren5 said:

I haven't developed a trained eye yet but to me the guard pin looks fine. It's the lever that looks bent.

So bent lever that would be a new one sort of. If you work on hundred-year-old watches like I do that is a possibility but on a modern watch that hasn't been played with the last hundred years it's not impossible but it's extremely unlikely. So my wild guess would be it's something else perhaps.

So I don't suppose you're pallet fork is either bent up or down is it? So one thing that isl really easy to do is break off pivots on the pallet fork. From your pictures it looks like the upper pivot is still in place perhaps. If one of the pivots is missing the fork would be either bent up or down possibly if the pivot is bent then the pallet fork may appear to be up or down. Otherwise the guard pin looks good except Looking straight down it looks almost like the guard pin is rubbing on the main plate but it may be a optical illusion?

[Lawren5]

The problem was the bent pallet fork lever. I straightened it out and the balance wheel now turns freely in both directions. To straighten the lever, I used two sets of tweezers to gently bend it back. It surprised me how soft the metal was and how little force it took.

Thanks to everyone who commented and offered advice on the issue.

[rodabod]

On cheaper watches, the pallet fork may simply have been pressed out of (potentially mild) steel. Good work!