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Update on this project. Where it was left last week, I was not quite getting an unlock on the entry stone and had to start adjusting it inward. Following Nev's advice to push it all the way back and then gradually move it out until it had correct action with the escape wheel, I moved it not enough on the first two attempts. First time it didn't lock at all, second time it just barely caught the escape tooth and the watch ran with about 10° of amplitude and the balance merely wiggling back & forth. I attempted to move it again and the front edge of the entry stone fragmented away. It was possibly fractured during the many reassembly rounds. Darn. Well I have a couple of additional Elgin 18s watches made in the same decade that take the same fork and stones (x546 old style) so I swapped in a different fork with good stones. It didn't lock at all, both stones needing to come out. I removed shellac and starting with the exit stone which was worse than entry, and it also fractured as soon as I grasped it with tweezers to pull it out. So clearly my technique at pulling pallet stones out is poor. I now have 1 fork with a good entry stone and bad exit stone, and another fork with a bad entry stone and good exit stone. Next step is obvious to combine them and hope not to damage another impulse face. Otto Frei is so far the only source I have found for Elgin pallet stones, but at $30 that is as much as I paid for both my inoperable 18s movements. elginwatchparts.com does not list separate numbers (nor do ofrei) for entry and exit stones on the older Elgin 18s. Does this mean they are the same stone pointing different directions? On the bright side, I let the watch run with the broken entry stone and it actually did tick at about 100° of amplitude and no lubrication. So I had at least gotten close with positioning the entry stone before I attempted to swap the forks. -
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I thought you sold parts as well. Dial face attached -
Update! So I was thinking about how to do this in the best way possible without breaking the hour hand. And i decided to build a little rig specifically for this. So I 3D-printed a small block with a hole that created a snug fit for the hand. I made a small support for the base of the hand which it could bend against. I made a small red dot to mark the starting point to easier see when the hour hand had moved. Since the bend in the hour hand was very close to the base of the hour hand, my idea was that the support also had to be very close to the base to make it bend at the correct spot After this i used the advice from @Neverenoughwatches and @rehajm to push it very gently and slowly with a piece of pegwood. I mostly pushed close to the base of the hand, but tried to vary it slightly not to create stress at the same spot all the time. I gently heated the hand holding it close to a very warm lamp I have, but I've got no idea how much of a difference that made. Every time i made a significant move of the hand i took a break to let the metal relax. It took me an afternoon of small movement of the hour hand and doing some house work in between. It actually worked out great, and helped me to not rush the process. Every red dot is a spot where i stopped and took a break. And i did not even make a red dot every time i took a break. I let it rest somewhere between 5-20 min, just going by feel. But eventually it got fairly straight, and I'm with happy with the result! You can probably see that it has got a slight bend right at the base. But i would say that it's almost only visible in a microscope. Thank you so much for the tips! And i hope this can help someone in the future.
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