I just took my rep apart, picked out the wheel that drives the 24h subdial and used some dial dots to pin it down and swapped out the hands for a fantasy look.
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The MoonSwitch Project
- Thread starter Slugger
- Start date
They will be the same as all the others.
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Sorry! I really don't want to spam this thread up, I'm veryy interested in OP's progress and eagerly awaiting the next installment.
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Great project mate, I shall be following your efforts.
Do u also plan to swap out the shitty plastic for a metal case, or not going that far?
Do u also plan to swap out the shitty plastic for a metal case, or not going that far?
Thanks. At this point, my only plan is to put a gen movement into the shitty plastic. Call it proof of concept but, if it goes as planned…well let’s just see.
- 16/4/22
- 481
- 544
- 93
I could tell you but I’d spoil the suspense. Hope to wrap this up this afternoon or tomorrow the latest. Please be patient and stay tuned.
Drum Roll Please!
When trying to lift off the subdial hands from the super-ugly Swatch Irony I mentioned in the prior posting, with my cheap Presto hand remover tool, I broke off two of the pinions. Ugh! After considering ways to replace the pinions, I decided the best, and surest, way to get the MoonSwitch on trajectory was to buy another Irony for parts. But before spending more money, it seemed the sane thing to do was to make sure this project was not going to die on the launching pad.
One of the questions that I was asked was if the subdials pinions on the G10.212 are in the same position as those on the PE50. I was reasonably sure but, to be certain, I "sandwiched" the two dials together (you can see a bit of Irony dial peeking out on the right), aligned the center hole and, voila, "let there be light!" All four holes were perfectly aligned!
The second thing, I wanted to confirm was if the G10.212 would fit into the fakeshitty plastic bioceramic MoonSwatch case. At first, it didn't fit because the pusher pins were too long...
But, after a little trimming...
Success!! Then, I checked to see if the battery in the G10.212 aligned with the case back access panel. It wouldn't have been a deal breaker but I did want to know and, as you can see, everything fit perfectly....
And with the cover on...
All systems are go! And the countdown for MoonSwitch Mission to the Moon(?) begins!
So I confidently bought the second donor Swatch Irony. I won't bore you with the details but using a brand new set of hand levers, I was able to remove the hands from the second G10.212 which was to become the donor to my first G10.212. Surgery on the two movements went smoothly and, if anyone is really that interested in how to break open an G10.212, there is a video on YouTube here that covers the process.
At last, I had a fully working G10.212 with all three subdial pinions intact!
Since I'd looked up the hand sizes, I knew placing the rep MoonSwatch hands made for the P50 would require some broaching. The Sunon PE50 hands are 120 for the hour hand/70 for the minute hand/17 for the sweep second hand and 20 for the subdial hands while the ETA G10.212 are 150/90/25 and 20.
A visual comparison of the hour and minute hands (G10.212 on the left of the respective PE50 hand) shows the relative size difference...
As expected, the MoonSwatch subdial hands fit onto the G10.212 subdial pinions without any modification. Also as expected, after a little broaching to widen the holes on the MoonSwatch rep hour and minute hands, they too were placed on the G10.212 without drama...
"Where is the sweep second hand?" You ask.
You may not like the answer if you were pining to see the completed MoonSwitch in it's full glory but the second hand is not there for a reason and you'll have to check in for the the final episode (hopefully tomorrow if I have time) to see what that reason is if you haven't already figure out from the clue somewhere in this writeup.
Soooo, stay tuned for the finale episode of the MoonSwitch franken project.
When trying to lift off the subdial hands from the super-ugly Swatch Irony I mentioned in the prior posting, with my cheap Presto hand remover tool, I broke off two of the pinions. Ugh! After considering ways to replace the pinions, I decided the best, and surest, way to get the MoonSwitch on trajectory was to buy another Irony for parts. But before spending more money, it seemed the sane thing to do was to make sure this project was not going to die on the launching pad.
One of the questions that I was asked was if the subdials pinions on the G10.212 are in the same position as those on the PE50. I was reasonably sure but, to be certain, I "sandwiched" the two dials together (you can see a bit of Irony dial peeking out on the right), aligned the center hole and, voila, "let there be light!" All four holes were perfectly aligned!
The second thing, I wanted to confirm was if the G10.212 would fit into the fake
But, after a little trimming...
Success!! Then, I checked to see if the battery in the G10.212 aligned with the case back access panel. It wouldn't have been a deal breaker but I did want to know and, as you can see, everything fit perfectly....
And with the cover on...
All systems are go! And the countdown for MoonSwitch Mission to the Moon(?) begins!
So I confidently bought the second donor Swatch Irony. I won't bore you with the details but using a brand new set of hand levers, I was able to remove the hands from the second G10.212 which was to become the donor to my first G10.212. Surgery on the two movements went smoothly and, if anyone is really that interested in how to break open an G10.212, there is a video on YouTube here that covers the process.
At last, I had a fully working G10.212 with all three subdial pinions intact!
Since I'd looked up the hand sizes, I knew placing the rep MoonSwatch hands made for the P50 would require some broaching. The Sunon PE50 hands are 120 for the hour hand/70 for the minute hand/17 for the sweep second hand and 20 for the subdial hands while the ETA G10.212 are 150/90/25 and 20.
A visual comparison of the hour and minute hands (G10.212 on the left of the respective PE50 hand) shows the relative size difference...
As expected, the MoonSwatch subdial hands fit onto the G10.212 subdial pinions without any modification. Also as expected, after a little broaching to widen the holes on the MoonSwatch rep hour and minute hands, they too were placed on the G10.212 without drama...
"Where is the sweep second hand?" You ask.
You may not like the answer if you were pining to see the completed MoonSwitch in it's full glory but the second hand is not there for a reason and you'll have to check in for the the final episode (hopefully tomorrow if I have time) to see what that reason is if you haven't already figure out from the clue somewhere in this writeup.
Soooo, stay tuned for the finale episode of the MoonSwitch franken project.
One step forward but I won’t be able to post the completed project just yet. Waiting on delivery of the stem before casing.Glad to see this moving forward, great job man.
However, this is a good opportunity to tell those of you who are thinking about MoonSwitching that the Irony crown is fused to the stem and it cannot be used with the MoonSwatch case.
Fortunately stems are available at all the usual places. Count on spending $5 to $10 plus shipping. The ETA part number is 401-1497.
So, while the MoonSwitch project is not over, it is mostly wrapping up and I think it’s a good time to go over what you’ll need if you want to make your MoonSwitch.
Parts:
1 MoonSwatch watch of your choice;
1 ETA G10.212 AP or G10.212 AJ movement; 1 ETA 401-1497 winding stem
Tools I needed:
Magnification (I prefer wearing surgical loupes with LEDs);
A case opening tool or knife;
Quality hand removal tool (I prefer Horotec hand levers over any Presto tool because those tiny subdial pinions deserve to be treated with care);
Screw drivers (I use Horotec);
Tweezers (I prefer #2 and 3 Dumont antistatic);
Files to shorten pushers (I used a Dremel);
Hand broaching and holding tool;
Hand placement tools;
Dial dots or Cement (I prefer GS Hypo for working time, clear set, and easy clean up);
a plastic fork and tape (huh? I’ll explain in my finale)
Other tools I used:
Rodico;
Peg Wood;
Movement holder;
Case cushion
I’d like to add a thought on buying a donor watch for the movement. I chose Swatch Irony Chronos because I knew the ones with subdials at 2, 6, and 10 were using the G10.212 movements needed but make sure the 2:00 subdial is one that counts 1/10 seconds and the 10:00 subdial counts to 60 minutes. None of the others will do.
There may be other ways to get your hands on the movement but I couldn’t find any other way, or lower price, than buying used Irony watches on eBay. Also, if you have no plans for using the donor watch case, find the ugliest one you can, preferably one nobody has bid on, and you’ll save yourself some money.
I will post photos and a final wrap up when the stem arrives. In the meantime, if I failed to cover anything (except the plastic fork and tape which I will get to later) or if you have any questions, please feel free to ask here as opposed to PMs so everyone can benefit.
Slugger
It's getting there now! A lot of work went into this, brilliant effort. Really delighted for you.
Thanks. It wasn’t so hard but all the time I kept asking myself if it was a fools errand.
When I was a surgical intern, they told us we would “see one, do one, and teach one.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the see one this time and “nonrepairable” quartz movements and plastic cases aren’t the kind of things I knew anything about until I got started.
Now that I know it can be done, I may do another just because it will be so much easier the second time. Or maybe I will turn my attention to a VS3135 that I’m frankening with gen parts I bought while shopping for Swatch Irony donors on ebay.
BTW! Still no stem. Esslinger is usually super fast but, when I’m in a hurry to wrap this up, they’re letting me down.
I love projects! Especially this one. So many people saying it couldn't be done, you have proved it can.Thanks. It wasn’t so hard but all the time I kept asking myself if it was a fools errand.
When I was a surgical intern, they told us we would “see one, do one, and teach one.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the see one this time and “nonrepairable” quartz movements and plastic cases aren’t the kind of things I knew anything about until I got started.
Now that I know it can be done, I may do another just because it will be so much easier the second time. Or maybe I will turn my attention to a VS3135 that I’m frankening with gen parts I bought while shopping for Swatch Irony donors on ebay.
BTW! Still no stem. Esslinger is usually super fast but, when I’m in a hurry to wrap this up, they’re letting me down.
I'm a little too shy to post mine yet. I'm trying to learn more so I do less damage as I go. Mine aren't anything like gen but I like to think of it as experimental!
I'm looking forward to seeing your vs3135 project!
There's nothing that cannot be done, if you throw enough money and/or manpower on the problem.
The “impossible” is just a consensus on “is it worth this much to make it possible?” And answering “No.”
The “impossible” is just a consensus on “is it worth this much to make it possible?” And answering “No.”
Hello Fellow Moon Travelers!
The stem arrived on Monday and I finally got around to finishing up the MoonSwitch project! So here is my wrap up.
The plastic fork tool.
Previously, I'd listed a plastic fork and tape as tools needed for the project. As promised, I'll now explain.
As earlier photos showed, I was able to get the movement in the case after trimming the pushers but casing the movement, dial, and hands turned out to be impossible without removing the pushers. Unfortunately, releasing the very small horseshoe clips that held the pushers in place proved to be a bit of a challenge.
I needed to push down on the two open ends of the clips simultaneously and I wasn't able to do that with any of my tools. So I had to figure out a way to get those clips to release and do so without damaging or losing them.
Ideas come at the strangest times. While eating antipasto salad at a local deli, it occurred to me that two tines on a plastic fork might be modified to create the tool I needed. I sharpened the tines to get them to slide up against the clip and taped them together to approximate the width of the clip.
The fork tool worked like a charm! Both pusher clips released on my first try!
Why didn't I show the sweep second hand in the prior photos?
Nobody guessed why I didn't show the sweep second hand in earlier photos. I dropped a hint of what I was up to when I wrote, "All systems are go! And the countdown for MoonSwitch Mission to the Moon(?) begins!" I really thought someone would figure it out but nobody did. Can you see it now?
(Note: I left the plastic on the plexi crystal thinking I'd probably sell the watch and someone would like to remove the plastic themselves.)
Sometimes that goal line gets moved and such was the case here. The original challenge was to replace the semifunctional PE50 movement with the Genuine G10.212 movement in the "shitty plastic" case (credit to @Procurator for calling it what is is) but Omega+Swatch changed the game when they did their Mission to the Moonshine Gold publicity stunt. No challenge is ignored so, of course, the white sweep second hand on the original Mission to the Moon rep needed a makeover so it was stripped and polished.
Sporting a shiny gold sweep second hand and a fully functional chrono in the original rep case, the MoonSwitch Mission to the Moonshine Gold franken project was thus complete.
The stem arrived on Monday and I finally got around to finishing up the MoonSwitch project! So here is my wrap up.
The plastic fork tool.
Previously, I'd listed a plastic fork and tape as tools needed for the project. As promised, I'll now explain.
As earlier photos showed, I was able to get the movement in the case after trimming the pushers but casing the movement, dial, and hands turned out to be impossible without removing the pushers. Unfortunately, releasing the very small horseshoe clips that held the pushers in place proved to be a bit of a challenge.
I needed to push down on the two open ends of the clips simultaneously and I wasn't able to do that with any of my tools. So I had to figure out a way to get those clips to release and do so without damaging or losing them.
Ideas come at the strangest times. While eating antipasto salad at a local deli, it occurred to me that two tines on a plastic fork might be modified to create the tool I needed. I sharpened the tines to get them to slide up against the clip and taped them together to approximate the width of the clip.
The fork tool worked like a charm! Both pusher clips released on my first try!
Why didn't I show the sweep second hand in the prior photos?
Nobody guessed why I didn't show the sweep second hand in earlier photos. I dropped a hint of what I was up to when I wrote, "All systems are go! And the countdown for MoonSwitch Mission to the Moon(?) begins!" I really thought someone would figure it out but nobody did. Can you see it now?
(Note: I left the plastic on the plexi crystal thinking I'd probably sell the watch and someone would like to remove the plastic themselves.)
Sometimes that goal line gets moved and such was the case here. The original challenge was to replace the semifunctional PE50 movement with the Genuine G10.212 movement in the "shitty plastic" case (credit to @Procurator for calling it what is is) but Omega+Swatch changed the game when they did their Mission to the Moonshine Gold publicity stunt. No challenge is ignored so, of course, the white sweep second hand on the original Mission to the Moon rep needed a makeover so it was stripped and polished.
Sporting a shiny gold sweep second hand and a fully functional chrono in the original rep case, the MoonSwitch Mission to the Moonshine Gold franken project was thus complete.
Yeah, they can call it BioCeramic ultra super duper composite, but its just shitty plastic, they aint foolin nobody.
Congratz on finishing this, awesome idea with the fork!
Is the second hand at 59,5 and not 12, or is it somehow angle?
Tbh, I thought abou what you meant with the seconds hand, but it wasnt this, so kudos on the riddle, Im too dumb for that one.
Congratz on finishing this, awesome idea with the fork!
Is the second hand at 59,5 and not 12, or is it somehow angle?
Tbh, I thought abou what you meant with the seconds hand, but it wasnt this, so kudos on the riddle, Im too dumb for that one.
I think you’re right. I’ll have to check but it does look like 59.5! It’ll drive me wacko until I fix it.Yeah, they can call it BioCeramic ultra super duper composite, but its just shitty plastic, they aint foolin nobody.
Congratz on finishing this, awesome idea with the fork!
Is the second hand at 59,5 and not 12, or is it somehow angle?
Tbh, I thought abou what you meant with the seconds hand, but it wasnt this, so kudos on the riddle, Im too dumb for that one.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I am real happy with how the gold second hand turned out, even if it’s pointing to the wrong star.
Yup, it’s not perfect but not as bad as it looked. My camera angle, which is listing to starboard, also makes the dial look off center and it’s not. I’ll still need to tweak that hand a bit.
Does the G10.212 calibre have the classic quartz micro adjustments through the chrono pushers? Theres a mode, where u can move the seconds hand with the chrono pushers in I think half click intervals, which means you prolly wouldnt have to take it off and put back on again, but idk if this calibre has it.
