Dust: The Thing I Find Most Annoying About Working On Watches

[svorkoetter]

The thing I find most annoying and frustrating about working on watches is putting the watch back together without getting any dust on the dial, hands, or underside of the crystal.

A few nights ago, I noticed a smudge on the rehaut of my Black Bay homage. How that escaped my notice when I first built the thing I will never know, but I finally decided to open it up, clean the rehaut, and put the watch back together. Should be a quick 15 minute job, right?

 

Well, I disassembled and reassembled that watch at least half a dozen times before I had it clean. Every time I'd put it back together, I'd notice something that wasn't there the previous time. A speck of dust or two on the dial. A speck of dust or two under the crystal. A very small fibre stuck to the second hand. "Rodico prints", where the areas where I'd removed dust specks from the crystal were now clearer than the rest of the crystal.

 

All of this is made more noticeable by the fact that the dial is almost black, and the crystal is domed on top and flat on the bottom, thus magnifying anything visible on the dial. A light coloured dial under a flat crystal would probably be a lot more forgiving.

 

My workshop is in a relatively clean, dry but not too dry, semi-finished basement room. My workbench is clean. I am clean.

 

Is there a secret to keeping a watch dial and crystal clean during the time one spends reassembling it?

[Geo]

When I'm casing a watch I check the crystal for dust while holding it over a piece of black cloth. I keep the cloth in shadow and only let light shine on the crystal, I find this most effective. Once I determine the crystal is clean, I keep the face case up and place it over the movement. This greatly decreases the chance of dust getting on the inner face. Regarding the dial, I just give it a good blast with my puffer and check it very carefully with a loupe.

[mwilkes]

Feel your pain. Had the same problem last night - disassembled/reassembled three times. PITA.

Wondered if having something nearby that attracted dust with static - maybe a balloon or something - might help...

And Rodico...anyone else tried the 'premium' stuff? I think it's terrible - leaves smudges waaaay more than the blue stuff!

[bobm12]

Mark says the same and he is a pro! The premium Rodico is no improvement over the regular one! Have you guys tried to demagnetize your movements before and after cleaning? Mark recommends it too. Also, tweezers and screwdrivers have to be spotless clean and the location you work free from drafts that may bring in dust (no matter how clean the surroundings may be). I also use surgical gloves, lint free/static free "work" clothes and keep my blow pump handy and use it very oftem along with the Rodico and other stuff as needed.

 

I keep my stuff pretty much like if I was working in a clean room (which I did briefly a long time ago). That's one reason I don't take too many pictures of my work...I don't want to bring anything inside my area that is not essential...of course there is some flexibility, as I said almost like a clean room. Sometimes I'm a little careless and have to work 2 or 3 times as hard...and I hate doing that!

[atimegoneby]

Same here guys !   I'm very fussy about dust & debris inside a watch, I use plenty of puffer air & avoid wearing nylon clothes, carpet slippers, etc, that attract static.

 

And rodico ...  isn't it just blue-tac by another name ?

[svorkoetter]

And Rodico...anyone else tried the 'premium' stuff? I think it's terrible - leaves smudges waaaay more than the blue stuff!

 

Mine is green. Is that the premium stuff?

[bobm12]

The premium stuff is white in this parts but who knows elsewhere since the regular one here is a greenish-blue greyish whatever color but more into the blue than the other ones...and becomes almost white when stretched and very dirty for mostly nothing.

 

And of course there is a stronger coloured "rodico" type of putty from A*F that is trying to compete, cheaper, but I haven't hear many people talking about it. Mark doesn't like it either which is something to mind.

Edited October 24, 2014 by bobm12

[mwilkes]

My "premium" stuff is greyish and granular. The green stuff's the one you want :-)

[WillFly]

I use a special lens cloth for cleaning the crystal (and sometimes the dial) before I put it back on the case front, and apply a puffer vigorously to the movement.

[PadraicB]

Same here guys !   I'm very fussy about dust & debris inside a watch, I use plenty of puffer air & avoid wearing nylon clothes, carpet slippers, etc, that attract static.

 

And rodico ...  isn't it just blue-tac by another name ?

 

It's not blu-tac - rodico feels more like a lightly sticky clay while blu-tac is a very sticky plastic-like material. I also doubt blu-tac has anything like rodico's absorbency.

 

The Bergeon rodico I'm using (which is NOT the premium variation also from Bergeon) is a light green colour.

Edited October 24, 2014 by PadraicB

[noirrac1j]

I wear nitrile gloves during and after cleaning and during assembly, and change them out to a fresh pair just before recasing. I rodico my screwdrivers, blow the crystal and case with air from a pressurized canister,and look at everything with high intensity LED lighting and 3.5X visors also with LED--Yeah, I consider myself a normal amateur. 

JC

[PadraicB]

It's amazing how much dust can accumulate just on the work mat over time here. It's not a dusty old room - it's a modern house and the room was cleared out and cleaned mere months ago -  but the stuff gets around.