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Expensive 1675 Experiment in Laser Welding CG’s

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
A “budget” 1675 project is a sadistic thing - the Cartel case as a basis for modifications leaves so many issues for rework, resolution, replacement, and tweaking. The latest in my never-ending endeavor to make this watch 200% genuine has been adding material to the stumpy, odd shaped crown guards.

I found a local craftsman who would laser weld 316 stainless steel material to the CG’s for me at his hourly rate ($90/hr here in the Pacific Northwest). I gave him detailed drawings indicating where and how much material to add - making sure the material is overbuilt. This was important, I wanted to be able to reshape and cut the material away.

Here’s what I learned through the process:

- The color matching and seams of laser welding 316 stainless to the case worked out great. After filing, grinding, sanding, and polishing, I don’t see areas of addition differentiated against the rest of the material.

- I decided this was a good excuse to install a new tube and 5.3mm crown

- A 5300, 5320, and 5330 tube screws right in to a Cartel case. No retapping required!

- The 5320 was the best fitting tube when paired with the 5.3mm 530 crown I purchased of eBay (eBay said it was Gen, so it must be)

- I used a 1/4” end mill milling bit on a milling machine to re-bore the crown opening in the crown guards. In my estimating, I thought this would come pretty close to hugging the crown with about .5mm space. I was unfortunately wrong or off in my estimate - I think it created a bit too much space. Next time I would use a slightly smaller end mill bit. Oh, an end mill bit is important since it ends with a flat edge, not angled. This allows the hole to have a flat bottom.

- I notice the location of the tube is lower than ten on a Cartel case. This means not matter what CG reshaping done, the crown will never, ever sit as high as a ten does. Unless…I laser weld the tube hole, re-drill, re-tap…no, no, no just buy a damn Vietnam case if you’re about to go through all that.

- I’m very satisfied with the shape and thickness of the CG’s otherwise.

Well, that’s it for now - I’m not shelling out more money to re-laser weld and re-mill the crown opening. I’m going to enjoy it as is - a 199% gen, heavily reworked Cartel 1675.


Here’s some pics, thanks for looking!


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ADINVA

You're Saying I Can Sell?
19/5/18
80
18
8
Wow! This is a whole new level in your pursuit to perfection! Amazing!
 

manodeoro

Section Moderator
Supporter
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Certified
13/10/16
3,830
2,139
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mzinski ... you know what ?.. just WOW !!!
You did an amazing work here:clap_1::clap_1:
 

kilowattore

Sales Moderator / Section Moderator
Staff member
Moderator Sales
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Certified
11/5/13
13,574
5,679
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Italy
Good shaping job, laser welding seems indeed the only way to have good looking CG's on a cartel case.
 

stufuse

Put Some Respect On My Name
22/10/17
3,662
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UK
Great intricate work!


Sent from my iPhone using RWI
 

TYL88

I'm Pretty Popular
26/7/17
1,804
1,080
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So how many hours did the laser welding took?
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
Sigh....so if you look closely at the photos above, you’ll see a slight asymmetry and overly wide opening for the crown. It’s been driving me nuts! So I brought the case back to the welder and had more material added so I could do everything again, this time with a 5.5mm end mill bit and loads more care in set up. Funnily enough, after carefully aligning the case to the milling chuck with a small bit, when I changed bits it was misaligned!

Anyways, I’m pleased with the results and happy to get this back on my wrist - currently my favorite watch.

Thanks for looking!

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