Hello Gentlemen,
I haven't been on the forum for a while as I've been busy pursuing this awesome hobby by taking it to the next level... not to be satisfied to just buy and enjoy watches I have fallen further down the rabbit hole and decided to take it up a notch and get into some serious territory, that is to take apart perfectly good movements in an attempt to re-build them and today I had my first success and basically just want to share my experience so far, not interesting to many i'm sure but if you are thinking about notching it up a cog (pun intended) I though I may share my experience down on paper as it were.
I'd been thinking for quite a while that I'd like to get into watchmaking and modding etc so I took the plunge and went mental on ebay and bought a shed load of stuff to get me going, mostly cheap Chinese stuff with a few good bits thrown in... the cheap stuff is like movement holders, cheap loupes, bench mat, air blower, de-magnetiser, ultrasonic cleaner, hand puller tool, movement cushion pad etc, (if anyone want the full list let me know) I then bought dearer stuff like swiss tweezers (the chinese ones bend at the end...not handy at all!) Good Screwdriver set, I even bought a timegrapher, my favourite toy!! All up I spent about $400AUD
Then I went on the hunt for watches and movements that I could destroy!!! I bought a horrible Yacht Master with a DG2813 in it.
Two identical vintage Swiss 25J (one without the balance) the idea is to service the working one and then transplant the balance into the other to see if I can get it to work.
Another Swiss 25J
A Swiss 17J (T574)
And three Citizen 8200 from India (which apparently were serviced and running within +/- 2 mins a day.... NOT!) They were very cheap!
All up I spent about $150.
First attempt was the DG2813, and the last, I don't believe these movement are designed to be re-built or even serviced! Result:- Dismal failure!
Next Miyota 8200: A very complex movement I feel, got it all stripped but for the love of God how on earth do you get all the gogs and wheels to line up in the jewels when you put the main plate back on?? Result:- Dismal Failure!
Next Miyota 8200A: Can't see the difference between this and the 8200. My thinking of purchasing more than one of these was that if (Ha Ha Ha) i was to break or lose anything i'd have a spare to borrow some bits from, turns out that was a good plan, with lost screws and broken train wheels! I tried several times to get this together and just when you think you've got it you tighten up the plate and the bloody escape wheel falls out!... never did get it working... but I will definitely have another go at this one.
Next up the Swiss Automatic 17J (T574) Googled this one and found nothing on it, I assume it's ancient! Much less complicated than the DG and the Citizen and good quality too, everything felt nice, right down to the polished headed screws.
Pulled it apart (back side only, I've learnt to tackle the keyless works as a seperate challenge!) Once the rotor is removed there are only two winding wheels and the train wheels and escape wheel to be removed, plus the pallet fork and balance.
I haven't bothered to oil or clean any of these movements, so far it's just to see if I've got a steady hand and to see If i have the patience for this fiddly work, seems I do, I love it! time really does fly.
Any how I put it all back together and hey presto it ticks! Now to be fair it stopped, but only after about five minutes and to be doubly fair it did that before I took it apart, so I'm gonna take that as a win and next time I'll clean and oil it and see if it will go for ten minutes!
Another Victim!
8200 What a nightmare!
Dots look horrible, but at least it worked!
The Bench
It lived!!!!!!
The ones that didn't!!!
I haven't been on the forum for a while as I've been busy pursuing this awesome hobby by taking it to the next level... not to be satisfied to just buy and enjoy watches I have fallen further down the rabbit hole and decided to take it up a notch and get into some serious territory, that is to take apart perfectly good movements in an attempt to re-build them and today I had my first success and basically just want to share my experience so far, not interesting to many i'm sure but if you are thinking about notching it up a cog (pun intended) I though I may share my experience down on paper as it were.
I'd been thinking for quite a while that I'd like to get into watchmaking and modding etc so I took the plunge and went mental on ebay and bought a shed load of stuff to get me going, mostly cheap Chinese stuff with a few good bits thrown in... the cheap stuff is like movement holders, cheap loupes, bench mat, air blower, de-magnetiser, ultrasonic cleaner, hand puller tool, movement cushion pad etc, (if anyone want the full list let me know) I then bought dearer stuff like swiss tweezers (the chinese ones bend at the end...not handy at all!) Good Screwdriver set, I even bought a timegrapher, my favourite toy!! All up I spent about $400AUD
Then I went on the hunt for watches and movements that I could destroy!!! I bought a horrible Yacht Master with a DG2813 in it.
Two identical vintage Swiss 25J (one without the balance) the idea is to service the working one and then transplant the balance into the other to see if I can get it to work.
Another Swiss 25J
A Swiss 17J (T574)
And three Citizen 8200 from India (which apparently were serviced and running within +/- 2 mins a day.... NOT!) They were very cheap!
All up I spent about $150.
First attempt was the DG2813, and the last, I don't believe these movement are designed to be re-built or even serviced! Result:- Dismal failure!
Next Miyota 8200: A very complex movement I feel, got it all stripped but for the love of God how on earth do you get all the gogs and wheels to line up in the jewels when you put the main plate back on?? Result:- Dismal Failure!
Next Miyota 8200A: Can't see the difference between this and the 8200. My thinking of purchasing more than one of these was that if (Ha Ha Ha) i was to break or lose anything i'd have a spare to borrow some bits from, turns out that was a good plan, with lost screws and broken train wheels! I tried several times to get this together and just when you think you've got it you tighten up the plate and the bloody escape wheel falls out!... never did get it working... but I will definitely have another go at this one.
Next up the Swiss Automatic 17J (T574) Googled this one and found nothing on it, I assume it's ancient! Much less complicated than the DG and the Citizen and good quality too, everything felt nice, right down to the polished headed screws.
Pulled it apart (back side only, I've learnt to tackle the keyless works as a seperate challenge!) Once the rotor is removed there are only two winding wheels and the train wheels and escape wheel to be removed, plus the pallet fork and balance.
I haven't bothered to oil or clean any of these movements, so far it's just to see if I've got a steady hand and to see If i have the patience for this fiddly work, seems I do, I love it! time really does fly.
Any how I put it all back together and hey presto it ticks! Now to be fair it stopped, but only after about five minutes and to be doubly fair it did that before I took it apart, so I'm gonna take that as a win and next time I'll clean and oil it and see if it will go for ten minutes!
Another Victim!
8200 What a nightmare!
Dots look horrible, but at least it worked!
The Bench
It lived!!!!!!
The ones that didn't!!!
