Jump to content

center seconds movement Bulova 11BLC

dwhite

By dwhite
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

dwhite WRT Addict

dwhite

Posted
Posted

This is probably a premature question but I'm about to attempt a cleaning of a Bulova 11BLC movement.  I noticed an extra gear on top of the plate so I guessed it was to run a seconds hand.  The best I could find on the internet was an arrangement called an indirect center seconds movement.  The watch does have a spring above the center wheel like the movements I saw online however it has no seconds hand at all.  I'm guessing they didn't use this arrangement to employ a seconds hand on this watch but all the stuff is still there.  Any pitfalls to working on this type of movement?  I read that this extra gear is attached to the third wheel.  Thanks!  Dan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wls1971 Distinguished Member

wls1971

Posted
Posted

The spring would have held the centre seconds hand pinion in place, it is doubtful that they would have used this movement on a watch that had no seconds hand and left the pinion and drive wheel on the third wheel pinion, are you sure that the centre seconds hand is not missing ? pictures would help if you can supply them.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wls1971 Distinguished Member

wls1971

Posted
Posted

You should be able to find a seconds hand via Ebay or a parts suppliers, the only other thing to say when servicing these watches is that the drive wheel for the seconds hand sit on a extra long pinion on the third wheel it must be removed with care and needs to be pulled straight upwards a presto hand removal tool can be used for this I always replace them using a staking set other than that it should be straight forward to service this movement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dwhite WRT Addict

dwhite

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Here is the picture, sorry it took so long.  I checked and it does have a pinion for a second hand!  When you say get one from ebay or a supplier, what specs do I use?  I tried measuring the pinion with a Seitz jewel gauge but that didn't work.  I can try a micrometer but there is very little sticking up.

When you say remove the top wheel from the third wheel with a presto hand remover do I assume you do this before you take the plate off?  And when you say to use a staking set to put it back on do you mean to put the entire watch on the anvil and press on the wheel?  Again, I want to make sure we are talking about the large wheel above the third wheel.

I did see the post you mentioned but couldn't make heads or tails out of it.  Perhaps it will become clear when I take the watch apart.  Anyhow, many thanks, I have learned a lot!

 

bull-11blc.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wls1971 Distinguished Member

wls1971

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, dwhite said:

Here is the picture, sorry it took so long.  I checked and it does have a pinion for a second hand!  When you say get one from ebay or a supplier, what specs do I use?  I tried measuring the pinion with a Seitz jewel gauge but that didn't work.  I can try a micrometer but there is very little sticking up

You can check the watch hand sizes by using a sight called Ranfft :

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Bulova_11BLC

In your case the pinion is 0.18mm for the seconds hand.

2 hours ago, dwhite said:

When you say remove the top wheel from the third wheel with a presto hand remover do I assume you do this before you take the plate off?

Yes

2 hours ago, dwhite said:

And when you say to use a staking set to put it back on do you mean to put the entire watch on the anvil and press on the wheel?

yes with movement held in movement holder there is enough clearance on my staking set

2 hours ago, dwhite said:

Again, I want to make sure we are talking about the large wheel above the third wheel.

Yes

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dwhite WRT Addict

dwhite

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

Glad center second hand pinion is found undamaged.

My question is:

Do we oil the hand and keeper joint?

What is a keeper joint?  Also, would you put a bit of grease on the little gear at the base of the seconds pinion?

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wls1971 Distinguished Member

wls1971

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

Do we oil the hand and keeper joint?

by keeper joint I assume you mean the friction spring and end of centre seconds pinion ? if so a tiny drop of 9010 can be used the springs job is to provide just enough friction on the pinion to stop the second hand moving in a jittery fashion when the watch is running.

11 minutes ago, dwhite said:

Also, would you put a bit of grease on the little gear at the base of the seconds pinion?

No not needed

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
dwhite WRT Addict

dwhite

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks everyone for all the help.  I got the movement back together today and it runs great.  I re plated the case and polished the scratches out of the crystal so it should look good.  I will have to wait to case it because I just ordered a seconds hand from Ofrei and that will take a few days to get here.  I might have to ask for advise on inserting the stem but I'll play around with it first before I install the dial to see if I can get it to work.  Learned a lot on this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Neverenoughwatches
      Setting lever spring

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      As an experiment i was thinking of not hardening it to see how it fairs. Now that i have a complete template i could knock up another in half the time if this loses its elasticity. I might play about with a few pieces today to test their bending and spring properties. This was cs 100 the supplier quoted in annealed state, it was nice to work with files so I'm taking it thats its state. What you are looking seems like it would need annealing to work it. This is why i went for this stuff that cuts out that process, it was so easy to work.
    • dnhb
      Is this a 'hack' ?

      By dnhb · Posted

      Showing state of hairspring on receipt, backplate & 'dished' wheel. 
    • mikepilk
      Setting lever spring

      By mikepilk · Posted

      I would harden and temper (to a light blue). It's so easy to do and only takes a couple of minutes. A search on ebay UK for "spring steel strip cs" finds plenty available in small quantites and thicknesses from 0.1mm up.  But the question is ( @nickelsilver) which "CS" number is best for watch parts ?  Also, from one of the ads : "CARBON SPRING STEEL. SIZE IS METRIC 15.00mm X 0.10mm X 304 MM  CS100 FINISH BRIGHT . HARDENED AND TEMPERD TO 480-530VPN" I've no idea about 480-530VPN. Does that mean it needs annealing before working?       Have you seen this video, he shows how to determine where the indents go ?  
    • Waggy
      Movement holder made with 3D printer

      By Waggy · Posted

      Here is the insert ring for rectangular or elliptical movements: Note that the length is the side with the stem cut out on the spreadsheet (in the picture below this is 15.15: Here is the fake pdf file, again you need to convert to .zip after download to access the FreeCAD and 3mf files. Rectangular insert disc.pdf    
    • JohnR725
      Omega cal. 565 - low amplitude

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      as you took the mainspring out what did it look like? It's amazing how much amplitude you can get if the mainspring actually has the proper shape. last week I was doing a 12 size Hamilton and was very much surprised with the beautiful back curvature the mainspring had. Then the watch had a really nice amplitude the group would be so proud it was 350 until I dropped the lift angle down to 38 that drop the amplitude quite a bit below 300. then with the beautiful back curve it still had really nice amplitude the next day. I really wish all my mainspring's look like this as the watch had beautiful amplitude the next day. So many of the aftermarket pocketwatch Springs I see now do not have anything resembling a back curve may be a slight curve and that's about all. They still work but they just don't work as nice as a properly made spring. then Omega as all sorts of nifty technical documentation unfortunately every single corner is watermarked with where it came from who downloaded it etc. very paranoid company. On the other hand I will snip out images like from the document on recycling a mainspring barrel. for instance here's the section on what your mainspring should look like. water damaged a lot of times means rust was there rust on this watch?
×
×
  • Create New...