SkinnyPupp's Adventures in Watchmaking

[68style]

That's pretty interesting that the manual for the movement is written up in the wrong order. Seems kind of ridiculous, surprised nobody has ever revised it. Sure makes the learnng part hard if you don't have a natural intuition about it working on the assumption that the masters have spoken lol

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

I ordered a tripod so I will be able to take video soon (if it doesn't become a hassle I may share some here)

What I'm really looking forward to is a voiceover, if you're willing! That organic, unforced drive and joy over the painstaking discovery you're doing is what I think would set your channel apart.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

What I'm really looking forward to is a voiceover, if you're willing! That organic, unforced drive and joy over the painstaking discovery you're doing is what I think would set your channel apart.

My voice is not a pleasant one to listen to

Maybe I could do the voiceover with AI

[bcrdukes]

Turn it into a girl's voice.

Edit: So many posts to catch up on but here is a "Thanks" in advance. Keep up the great work and sharing your adventures with us!

[68style]

Just narrate in a voice impression of how you think Badhobz sounds in real life based on his posts.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by 68style

Just narrate in a voice impression of how you think Badhobz sounds in real life based on his posts.

Are you trying to get me Cancelled?

[bcrdukes]

Read one of my signature posts out loud and see how that goes.

[SkinnyPupp]

Pretty proud of myself today. Yesterday I rebuilt the 2824-2 using the ETA manual (after failing with the Selitta manual), and today I did a teardown and rebuild without having to use the manual for like 90-95% of the movement.

Having a calendar makes it quite a bit more complicated, especially in the keyless works area (for setting the date without having to move the time 24 hours for each day).



The parts in the bottom left portion of the container are for the calendar works and keyless works (and a couple parts for time setting). Quite a few extra parts to remember! I hope to be able to do it without the manual next time. I'll pay extra attention during disassembly.

Also I can't test the function of the watch yet until the new spring arrives tomorrow. That one tiny nose hair sized spring prevents everything from running!

In the meantime, I did a full service of the 6497-2 and it seemed huge in comparison! I can disassemble and reassemble that thing very quickly now, and have it running with good amplitude and timing.

[SkinnyPupp]

If you thought servicing a quartz watch would be extremely simple, think again



(Someone kindly donated a watch and I'll see if I can get it working in new condition)

A 30 year old watch sounds like a lot until you realize that was the late 90's

[SkinnyPupp]

I've gotten pretty good with the 2824-2 now, and can get it running at 300+ amp, really good timing consistently (I have one ready for regulation tonight). I can oil the shock jewels consistently, installing springs without losing them, etc.

I disassembled my first Miyota and holy shit. This is going to be a challenge! It's hard to explain, but you can tell that it's not really meant to be serviced the way Swiss movements are. It can still be done of course, but it's not really designed to be convenient. We'll see I guess.

I got a new multimeter, and all the coils in the TAG Heuer tested out ok, so for now I assume it just needs a service to get all the hands running and resetting properly. I'll do that this week and see how it goes. I bought a small amount of oil that is specifically called for quartz movements (0.5 ml, no joke, but that's plenty enough)

[SkinnyPupp]

So sure enough, I broke the pivot on a wheel

I'll show you why this thing is such a pain to work with

On most watches, there are 2 or 3 bridges you need to install, which have holes that line up with 2 or 3-4 pivots each. This makes it easy to line everything up. I'll show the 6497-2 clone as an example. This is actually Panerai's refreshed version of it from the 90's:



You can see at the top there is the barrel bridge, which only needs to line up with the barrel in this case. Below that is the train wheel bridge, which lines up with 3 pivots (you can see the jewels). Below that are two cocks (yes Badhobz that's what they're called) one of which is dedicated to the escape wheel (the original ETA version moves some things around and has 2 bridges)

This is especially important on older designs, or low end manufactures, because the tolerances are loose making it hard to get so many tiny pivots to line up. Spreading them across 2 or 3 bridges means only having to line up a few shitty pivots at a time.

There are high end single bridge designs, called 3/4 bridge. But with super tight tolerances, these are pretty easy to get lined up.

Well the Miyota puts everything under one bridge:



Along with the balance cock, there's the one bridge with SIX pivots to line up, plus the barrel. And tolerances are good, but not that good, so it takes a lot of patience to line things up. To make matters worse, there is a spring underneath it, pushing down on the center pinion, so even if it's lined up perfectly it won't just settle into place on its own.

So yeah while these are serviceable, it's clear that they aren't really designed to be worked on often. This has more to do with the fact that they are so cheap to replace, it makes more sense to do that than to service them. But there you go.. It's possible, but a real pain to do.

It's a real challenge! I'll have to order some replacement wheels and try again later. I might take that center spring off first to see if that helps during practice

[SkinnyPupp]

Got a new toy today



Also brought in some other new tools to upgrade my work, including an automatic oiler, something I should have gotten right away. Also an ultrasonic cleaner. I almost died because when I first tested it, it completely freaked my cat out, who was sleeping nearby. He got up, and just sort of started twitching and freaking out. We thought he was having a stroke or a seizure of some sort, but it turned out he was just scared awake by a sound we can't hear. It took a long time, but he calmed down and is back to normal. I tested it in another room, and he seemed to be fine with it. Fucking scared me man, I don't know what I would have done.

Anyway, also got a Rolex superclone movement, and have a vintage 70's Omega coming in. It's a women's movement, so will be ridiculously small and these are not very accurate, but it's a cheap way to work on quality vintage movements. Also I am thinking of restoring or refreshing a watch for my wife as a gift, and this is a common one for that era so I want to start working on it now.

I also started wearing reading glasses at times, because... you know. That age

That's my update for now! The microscope is trinocular, so I can attach a camera to it

[Badhobz]

1) your workspace is so clean. i love it. NOT GUANGDONG HOARDER.

2) when are you gonna start doing custom work so we can buy it!??!?!?!

3) maybe you can go bigger and start working on vintage clocks and stuff... would be kinda cool to see those desktop clocks get revamped / customized. i think you might have a market with that as everyone just throws on a lame LED quartz clock nowadays.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

1) your workspace is so clean. i love it. NOT GUANGDONG HOARDER.

2) when are you gonna start doing custom work so we can buy it!??!?!?!

3) maybe you can go bigger and start working on vintage clocks and stuff... would be kinda cool to see those desktop clocks get revamped / customized. i think you might have a market with that as everyone just throws on a lame LED quartz clock nowadays.

Yeah this is the one room in my home that I keep clean and tidy, with a lot of effort. Makes it easier to find parts that go flying

I think I am going to stick to repair and restoration, rather than fabricating dials and cases etc. If that's what you mean?

Clock repair is definitely something I'd be interested in. Might pick something up to see what it's like. Should be a lot easier if anything, since everything is bigger

[EvoFire]

Bit of a thread hijack, but what's your opinion on Twemco clocks?

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Bit of a thread hijack, but what's your opinion on Twemco clocks?

Very cool classic analog clocks, including perpetual. But very expensive!

[JDMDreams]

So how much should a service cost let's say on a 7750? And would you do relume?

[SkinnyPupp]

I'm nowhere close to servicing watches for people yet, sorry. I am going to put in many months of practice before ever attempting to do work. But I will eventually be able to (as long as it's a real 7750), including relume!