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KelSolaar

By KelSolaar
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Vacherin Member

Vacherin

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Don't give up the day job just yet! Learn the skills for sure, then go freelance in IT (if not already), hopefully just pick the more enjoyable nice well paid IT contracts, balance one against the other. If you are freelance and operate the watch and IT from one company, perhaps training, tools of the trade etc, claim back VAT on purchases, courses. Hopefully this gives you a more secure future and a good work/life balance.

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ecodec WRT Addict

ecodec

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Hi Dan, I`m near Southampton. Good wishes for the career change but go slowly and carefully.  Mark is a very good and experienced Watch repairer. I do it for a hobby and  have received very some in depth  training from a now departed Geneve trained friend many years ago. A good start. However,  I only very occasionally  put it into practice until I sold my electronics business and retired and  I am Not a watchmaker, I call myself a Jobber Fixer. What the market is like for mechanical watches I do not know. Some good modern ones are sometimes badge engineered and are expensive. Most repairs will be Quartz and no doubt mainly batteries although there is a lot more to fixing a quartz watch than just fitting a battery. The mechanical watches I repair are mainly vintage ones from people who will not pay for  professional repairs. They are sometimes in use and sometimes they have been in a drawer for 25 years. There is little professional outside help forthcoming except from this fine forum where both very knowledgeable and experienced people will be found. As regards a new career in watch repair you must survey the market yourself and I give you my good wishes in all areas. Best regards, Mike.  PS, Vacherin offers sound business advice.

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KelSolaar Member

KelSolaar

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Thank you folks for taking the time to respond, sage advice no doubt and I take on board all that's been said especially detailed response from ecodec there.

I have started Mark's course now, which is so far very easy to follow. I've ordered some essential products online, compared to automotive tools for example things are comparatively cheap, which is nice. I suppose size has a bearing on that.

On a side note - I contacted both the British School of Watchmaking and the BHI by email (one does distance learning which is not what I'd call ideal) and have heard nothing for about 2 weeks. I had heard other people online mentioned a similar lack of communication.

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    • Waggy
      Without Our Forum

      By Waggy · Posted

      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
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Without Our Forum

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      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. 
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Setting lever spring

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      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. 
    • VWatchie
      Without Our Forum

      By VWatchie · Posted

      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.
    • nickelsilver
      Setting lever spring

      By nickelsilver · Posted

      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.
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