• Tired of adverts on RWI? - Subscribe by clicking HERE and PMing Trailboss for instructions and they will magically go away!

Trimming the seconds hand on a ETA 6497 movement

Duane Stinson

Active Member
1/10/18
321
65
28
I am in the process of a 3646 build and the Swiss ETA 6497 movement I am using needs the seconds hand trimmed. Has anyone ever done this and can you talk me through your process? I would rather not destroy a $400 movement so
should I take it to a watch smith?
 

unreformed66

Known Member
Supporter
7/11/15
165
19
18
United States, Ohio
I'm actually not a fan of that tutorial. When I do these I remove the wheel and chuck it up in the lathe and cut it and then polish the end. And partially disassembling a movement like that makes it MUCH harder to reassemble. The first problem is that the pallet stones tend to hold the escape wheel in positions that you don't want it to be in. The second problem is that with the barrel bridge and balance cock in place it makes it much more difficult to reach in between the plates with tweezers to locate the pinions when you're putting the center bridge back on which greatly increases the chances of breaking a pivot. I do these all the time, it's an easy job for me. Of course I've been doing watch repair for nearly 3 decades now..lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Natas78

Duane Stinson

Active Member
1/10/18
321
65
28
I'm actually not a fan of that tutorial. When I do these I remove the wheel and chuck it up in the lathe and cut it and then polish the end. And partially disassembling a movement like that makes it MUCH harder to reassemble. The first problem is that the pallet stones tend to hold the escape wheel in positions that you don't want it to be in. The second problem is that with the barrel bridge and balance cock in place it makes it much more difficult to reach in between the plates with tweezers to locate the pinions when you're putting the center bridge back on which greatly increases the chances of breaking a pivot. I do these all the time, it's an easy job for me. Of course I've been doing watch repair for nearly 3 decades now..lol.

Thanks for replying. I was thinking it was going to be simple and now I am not sure.
 

Drr80

Renowned Member
12/2/18
515
102
43
El paso, TX
Just spit balling a idea here....
Filling the jewel with rodico for support and dremel it down? Cover the movement in a sandwich bag to catch the dust maybe? Just have the pinion punching through the bag.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

capice

I'm Pretty Popular
12/12/07
2,715
558
113
Seems like the work for a watchmaker or someone familiar with using a lathe
 

JOP

Renowned Member
30/1/17
692
177
43
I think lathe is too much for that cut. A hand drill at low speed with its' hand lever fixed on a jig should be fine.
Removing the bridges like that will eventually need patience to instal them back, a sliced toothpick can help reaching the pinions.

In any case, using your watch smith is always the best solution in every aspect.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Duane Stinson

Pratt

Put Some Respect On My Name
24/4/13
4,110
124
0
trimming second hand ? i just use the dremel . but if its a costly movement , bring it to the watchsmith.. :)
 

Duane Stinson

Active Member
1/10/18
321
65
28
All are very valid points. Due to the cost of the movement ordered directly from Switzerland, maybe I will start looking for a watch smith. Then again how will I ever learn, if I don't try?
:)Anyone know a reliable watch smith that will not euro me to death for this procedure, in Germany?
 

unreformed66

Known Member
Supporter
7/11/15
165
19
18
United States, Ohio
I've cleaned up the messes from literally dozens of the " just dremel it" guys. Burred up pivot ends that won't allow the wheel to be removed from the jewel, cracked jewels, gouges in the pillar plate, pivots broken completely off, and of course the ever present metal dust in the movement. Not to mention that it's exceptionally difficult to get the pivot short enough without taking the wheel out of the watch. Hence the cracked jewels and gouges in the plates. And how in the world can using the lathe to do it be "too much"? I have done dozens of them that way with no problems of any kind. I've also done a few where I clipped the seconds post off with a pair of fine cutters and then finished and polished the new pivot end in the lathe. If you want it to run true then it needs to be both cylindrical and polished properly. Anything short of that is just a botched job.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Duane Stinson