Gen-spec DW as a DWO

[KJ2020]

I just did this on a TC using a very nice VR 3135 DW, but the process would be identical using a gen DW. On a 2824 you most likely will have to grind off the teeth from the DW, they get in the way of the movement calendar parts and the minute wheel cover plate screw and extension arm. On a 2836 there should be room to leave the teeth intact. Painter's tape works perfectly to protect the DW while grinding the teeth away, it comes off cleanly.

Height tolerances are close, but sanding down the existing DW and/or DWO to start with a bare metal base should work in most cases. Use 30 min slow cure epoxy, you will need a lot of time to get the DWO oriented perfectly. I always use the actual dial when doing this kind of work, there is no better substitute. The dial has to go on, check all dates, dial comes off, adjust DWO, dial goes on, repeat as necessary. It might take 12 - 15 iterations. Check your fingers (or glove/finger cot) after every adjustment to make sure you didn't pick up glue on them that then would get transferred back to the DW.

It's worth the effort.

Some added comments

I highly recommend practicing both teeth grinding and DWO gluing on a junk movement with expendable parts.

Placing the DWO perfectly requires a series of tiny nudges to achieve the right vertical, horizontal, and rotational alignment. After each adjustment, I fit the actual dial and cycle through all dates. Fixing one date nearly always ruins a other one. It requires great patience and care handling the parts this much while glue is present.

Some useful things to make this easier:

Anchor the dial spacer to the movement with edge tape. Few things are more aggravating than it coming off every iteration.

Tape or temp glue (GS Hypo) a couple short thin spacers (thin plastic, metal, cardboard) on top of the dial spacer to keep the dial from seating fully each time. This keeps the dial feet from getting hung up in the holes and makes it much easier to get it off each time due to a gap for a thin plastic pry tool if needed.

Wear a glove or finger cots at least on the hand working the dial. I wear one glove, I like having one hand free and make sure it is clean and dry.

Check the glove and your fingers each time before handling the DW again. A glue smudge from a previous adjustment can totally ruin the whole project.

Keep your glue streams narrow to minimize the amount that escapes from underneath the DW.

IDK what keeps happening to my pics in this thread. I've uploaded them again. There were more pics but this should get the idea across.

 

[Oascom]

I'm using Dremel as well to do this, diamond sanding attachment and it's fairly easy.

​​​​​​Mostly did gen DWs.

Anyone trying to do it be careful and go slow .... It's super easy to mess it up hehe

 

[Gaz1a]

Glad I found this thread.

oascom is this something you can do as a mod?

 

[wisedennis]

I just did this on a TC using a very nice VR 3135 DW, but the process would be identical using a gen DW. On a 2824 you most likely will have to grind off the teeth from the DW, they get in the way of the movement calendar parts and the minute wheel cover plate screw and extension arm. On a 2836 there should be room to leave the teeth intact. Painter's tape works perfectly to protect the DW while grinding the teeth away, it comes off cleanly.

Height tolerances are close, but sanding down the existing DW and/or DWO to start with a bare metal base should work in most cases. Use 30 min slow cure epoxy, you will need a lot of time to get the DWO oriented perfectly. I always use the actual dial when doing this kind of work, there is no better substitute. The dial has to go on, check all dates, dial comes off, adjust DWO, dial goes on, repeat as necessary. It might take 12 - 15 iterations. Check your fingers (or glove/finger cot) after every adjustment to make sure you didn't pick up glue on them that then would get transferred back to the DW.

It's worth the effort.

Some added comments

I highly recommend practicing both teeth grinding and DWO gluing on a junk movement with expendable parts.

Placing the DWO perfectly requires a series of tiny nudges to achieve the right vertical, horizontal, and rotational alignment. After each adjustment, I fit the actual dial and cycle through all dates. Fixing one date nearly always ruins a other one. It requires great patience and care handling the parts this much while glue is present.

Some useful things to make this easier:

Anchor the dial spacer to the movement with edge tape. Few things are more aggravating than it coming off every iteration.

Tape or temp glue (GS Hypo) a couple short thin spacers (thin plastic, metal, cardboard) on top of the dial spacer to keep the dial from seating fully each time. This keeps the dial feet from getting hung up in the holes and makes it much easier to get it off each time due to a gap for a thin plastic pry tool if needed.

Wear a glove or finger cots at least on the hand working the dial. I wear one glove, I like having one hand free and make sure it is clean and dry.

Check the glove and your fingers each time before handling the DW again. A glue smudge from a previous adjustment can totally ruin the whole project.

Keep your glue streams narrow to minimize the amount that escapes from underneath the DW.

Great instruction
I hope I could see the pictures 🥹

 

[wisedennis]

I just did this on a TC using a very nice VR 3135 DW, but the process would be identical using a gen DW. On a 2824 you most likely will have to grind off the teeth from the DW, they get in the way of the movement calendar parts and the minute wheel cover plate screw and extension arm. On a 2836 there should be room to leave the teeth intact. Painter's tape works perfectly to protect the DW while grinding the teeth away, it comes off cleanly.

Height tolerances are close, but sanding down the existing DW and/or DWO to start with a bare metal base should work in most cases. Use 30 min slow cure epoxy, you will need a lot of time to get the DWO oriented perfectly. I always use the actual dial when doing this kind of work, there is no better substitute. The dial has to go on, check all dates, dial comes off, adjust DWO, dial goes on, repeat as necessary. It might take 12 - 15 iterations. Check your fingers (or glove/finger cot) after every adjustment to make sure you didn't pick up glue on them that then would get transferred back to the DW.

It's worth the effort.

Some added comments

I highly recommend practicing both teeth grinding and DWO gluing on a junk movement with expendable parts.

Placing the DWO perfectly requires a series of tiny nudges to achieve the right vertical, horizontal, and rotational alignment. After each adjustment, I fit the actual dial and cycle through all dates. Fixing one date nearly always ruins a other one. It requires great patience and care handling the parts this much while glue is present.

Some useful things to make this easier:

Anchor the dial spacer to the movement with edge tape. Few things are more aggravating than it coming off every iteration.

Tape or temp glue (GS Hypo) a couple short thin spacers (thin plastic, metal, cardboard) on top of the dial spacer to keep the dial from seating fully each time. This keeps the dial feet from getting hung up in the holes and makes it much easier to get it off each time due to a gap for a thin plastic pry tool if needed.

Wear a glove or finger cots at least on the hand working the dial. I wear one glove, I like having one hand free and make sure it is clean and dry.

Check the glove and your fingers each time before handling the DW again. A glue smudge from a previous adjustment can totally ruin the whole project.

Keep your glue streams narrow to minimize the amount that escapes from underneath the DW.

IDK what keeps happening to my pics in this thread. I've uploaded them again. There were more pics but this should get the idea across.

That’s perfect! I am reading this guide again and again but don’t have the confidence to do it myself

 

[KJ2020]

Here's a quicker way to do it manually. Some metal particles can get under the tape but they clean off easily with Rodico.

For a 2824, thickness becomes an issue but DWOs are typically the same thickness regardless of what movement they are for. The 2824 has extremely little room to add a DWO - the vertical clearance below is tight due to the minute train bridge screw and arm, and the vertical clearance above is tight due to the proximity of the backside of the dial.

There is usually some tweaking that needs to be done to make the fit work like lightly sanding the minute train bridge screw to a shorter height, adding some spacers like a couple layers of narrow bracelet tape on top of the dial spacer, adding a spacer under the DWO, etc. But the tweaking can be done with any DWO or even a 3135 DW after sanding away its teeth.

The Raffles 3135 DW has the best fonts I have found on any aftermarket DW - just last night I sanded down the teeth and glued it onto a 2824 DW. The fonts are better than the Raffles ETA DWO, which will also work on either a 2824 or a 2836. The ETA DWO should be good enough, it's just not as great as the 3135 DW.

Raffles 3135 DW - look at those number definitions!

Slide a slightly bulky roundish object behind the sandpaper for back pressure. I used a plastic tweezers which have a tapered thickness, perfect to increase the paper diameter as the teeth recede.

Use a finer grit paper as you get closer to finishing.

Note the double thickness DW blank plate and the tall minute train bridge screw

Note the double layer bracelet tape strips on the dial spacer and the sanded minute train bridge screw