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JKF 5517 milsub

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mnkoshka

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I thought I’d share my struggle with trying to find a 5517 project that was doable with a lower budget. Really couldn’t find a nice case to start with.. ruby’s seems to be the nicest I’ve seen with actual 2mm welded bars. But she’s supposedly done and now Ruby’s is shutdown and is now vintagewatchpart run by a guy named Ken, does not have the 5517 case anymore. ( not sure if rubys site was high jacked as it’s identical ) if anyone can confirm that
https://www.vintagewatchpart.net/ is legit please reply here.

Anyway my easiest option was to purchase a JKF 5513 and go to work on modding the case.

Case lugs drilled to 2mm for solid bars

I also had to bring up the crown height to suit the eta 2824 which required welding in a new dowel and re drilling and tapping / counter boring for Gen spec athays crown tube. Crown guards also milled to centre spec.

Case completely reshaped to same spec as a Gen 5513 case I had in possession at the time. I also sandblasted the lug relief areas of the case for a sterile clean finish.
Rehaut machined to correct 30 degree angle
Case slimmed to correct thickness.
O-ring groove in caseback machined out larger to take Gen gasket.


Specs
Case - JKF 5513 slimed, milled, turned and reshaped. Bars welded, new crown position welded. ( Slim crown guards )
Will maybe add chamfers but the milspec version I was working off had no chamfers
Crystal - GS T19
Movement- eta2824 modified to low beat
Bezel set - gen spec viet
Insert - original JKF ☹️
Strap - original genuine phoenix nato with my hand made stainless hardware.
Dial & hands - custom and relumed. ( min hand a little too long )
Caseback - HR

Turned out okay but haven’t done case mods for a while. Hopefully find a Ruby’s or machine my own from scratch for full gen spec.
Result pics ( CAC insert arrived but doesn’t fit over the GS crystal so new crystal options needed.
 
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KJ2020

KJ2020

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Good to see you back in the game bro. Your metal working skills are astounding and it's a real pleasure to follow your creations.

It's surprising that your gen example had no chamfers, those are normal for this model and are usually rather pronounced. Typical for the era. And as you mentioned the minute hand needs a circumcision, haha.

rolex 5517 milsub at DuckDuckGo

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duckduckgo.com duckduckgo.com

I was never really drawn to this model with its unique case, dial and hands but you've taken it to another level. I suppose every serious collection should have one and yours is a noteworthy specimen. Congrats, your work is sublime.
 
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Winni1611

Winni1611

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Great work. Build one myself with a Raffles case. The good thing was it has enough Metal, so you can
remove a lot and give it the Form you like.
 
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mnkoshka

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KJ2020 said:
Good to see you back in the game bro. Your metal working skills are astounding and it's a real pleasure to follow your creations.

It's surprising that your gen example had no chamfers, those are normal for this model and are usually rather pronounced. Typical for the era. And as you mentioned the minute hand needs a circumcision, haha.

rolex 5517 milsub at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.
duckduckgo.com duckduckgo.com

I was never really drawn to this model with its unique case, dial and hands but you've taken it to another level. I suppose every serious collection should have one and yours is a noteworthy specimen. Congrats, your work is sublime.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the kind words as always bro, this was such a fun case to mess around with. I always liked the milsub but just could never commit as I knew I’d probably go insane trying to make it perfect 🤣. Hopefully do another with a little more meat on the guards and chamfers. I’ll have to set the bars back more like the Gen.
The sample I worked off had very very minimal chamfers as I could see that chamfering on this model needs special attention… if you go too far you can cut into the springbar weld and ruin the chamfer. The JKF springbar hole position is incorrect for this model unfortunately but you have now set me on the mission to chamfer this case, it needs it lol
 
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mnkoshka

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Singapore9 said:
Awesome! I need that case so bad! Would you be interested in doing a run of them? I'm not happy with my HR7016 case housing my GEN Tudor parts!

This insert I just posted on the other 5517 thread near the top looks great, from Jensen, Phong's son: https://www.vintagewatchmods.com/product-page/bezel-insert-military-hash-marks-all-around
Click to expand...
I may do another at some stage. I’ll keep you posted if i do and one may come up for sale, I recently purchased a 7016 case from eBay seller in Vietnam. The case was rubbish for the money. I had to fully reshape it, might to a thread on it here soon
 
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mnkoshka

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GenuineFool said:
What? You didn't engrave between the lugs?

;) Just kidding, that is incredible work. I am always envious of you guys with the know how and access to tools to do this.


What did I even just read?! Hand made hardware for the strap?! Wow. Just wow.

*tips hat*
Click to expand...
Haha thanks mate, I wish I knew of someone that could case engrave I may have actually got it done lol
 
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vortexuk

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That looks amazing.

I didnt realise Ruby was shut down though, Her website loads fine but my password takes me back to the password screen everytime.
Is that what you mean or is there an announcement somewhere?
 
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mnkoshka

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I’m also unsure if it’s a scam site.. the email from Ken came from Ruby’s email address which I found suspicious. Was emailing Ruby for a while but seems she does not respond and this guy Ken has taken over the business. He sent me a password and it works just like Ruby’s site🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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mnkoshka

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Singapore9 said:
Awesome! I need that case so bad! Would you be interested in doing a run of them? I'm not happy with my HR7016 case housing my GEN Tudor parts!

This insert I just posted on the other 5517 thread near the top looks great, from Jensen, Phong's son: https://www.vintagewatchmods.com/product-page/bezel-insert-military-hash-marks-all-around
Click to expand...
I also tried one of these.. didn’t fit over the crystal either. it seems the GS t19 crystals are pretty random in size and are not Gen spec. Might have to try a different crystal.
 
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WatchN3RD

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Holy crap. This thread got awesome immediately! So impressed and jealous of your metal working skills! I don't know much about milsubs, but I don't think the JKF insert looks bad. Is it something visual, or is it because your watch is so nice, and it's a cheap, thin insert that needs adhesive? I agree the watch deserves something better, but the build looks great! Thankfully a new minute hand is an easy fix, but your current hands are custom? How so?
 
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dpd3672

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GenuineFool said:
Try @newest dude on the forum. He has an engraver and the same typeface as used by Rolex back then.
Also, @dpd3672 might be willing to help as well.
Click to expand...
I haven’t done it much yet, I’d be afraid to make some horrific mistake on someone else’s watch, but would be glad to contribute something to such a gorgeous build. I have what I believe is the same machine that Rolex factory used, New Hermes drag engraver.

I actually have the engraver set up to do some cases tonight, I’ll post how they turn out, good or bad.

I’m not 100% confident that I have the sizing right. Mostly I’ve gone by screen shots and counted pixels, but if anyone knows the actual, correct size of the font between lugs, I’d love to confirm my “0.8-1mm” from my measurements. It would have to be a fraction of the size of the template, which is 5/8” iirc, and possibly in imperial, rather than metric, measurements.
 
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