What glue to use for the chrono hands?

[smokiedabong]

So I'm planning to swap a dial on one of my watches and I'm gonna be using the chrono on this one quite frequent. What glue should I use to prevent the hands from slipping?
I did managed to glue the seconds hand on another watch by mistake, I painted the hand and didn't let the lacquer sit enough to dry, worked out pretty well. So lacquer thinned down to flow only inside the hand hole without getting any on the outside edges is one option. I was also thinking Loctite 242, it's thin enough to be applied in that hole but I don't think it'll hold that good for such a small surface. Hypo cement is another option.
What do you guys recommend ? How often is this method applied and what's the success rate?

 

[RWI27]

The right way to do it is to take apart the watch and glue the hand tube to the hand. If your not up for that I'd recommend using some UV curing glue. That way you can clean up everything and make sure there is only glue on the hand/hand tube and not on any other parts, then cure it with a UV light.

A fix I did on my PAMs minute hand that was lose was to actually reshape/crimp the minute hand hole smaller. Worked like a charm.

 

[smokiedabong]

The hand tube is attached pretty good to the hand, I was talking about gluing the hand tube to the cannon pin. The crimp might work for minute and hour hands but not sure about the chrono hands that slam violently left and right. From what I've read crimping these low grade rep metal hands leads to weaken or cracking the tube.

 

[trailboss99]

Noooooooo! Hands are not designed to be glued to pinions!
If it's lose it needs staking, not gluing.

 

[smokiedabong]

Noooooooo! Hands are not designed to be glued to pinions!
If it's lose it needs staking, not gluing.

I know, wouldn't do this on a nice watch, but seems like a reasonable good solution to prevent hand slips on a cheap beater on which the hands will be reset left and right like there's no tomorrow .

 

[Bonesey]

The only thing you will end up ruining is the movement or the crystal or both. Whether its residue getting into the gearing, or evaporating, or any number of issues.

 

[smokiedabong]

The only thing you will end up ruining is the movement or the crystal or both. Whether its residue getting into the gearing, or evaporating, or any number of issues.

The watch I've glued by mistake is still running after almost a year now without problems and there are no traces of fumes on the dial or crystal, so it can be done. I think that if I am careful enough and use just a minute amount of glue to wet the inside walls of the hand tube without getting any on the outside shouldn't be a problem. I saw other watchsmiths recommending Hypo Cement.


Here's another one I've played around with few months ago, I filled it with glue and all kind of paints and also never had a problem. That's 65 micron lume, about 6 times bigger than Superluminova, a pain to work with but glows like the sun.

 

[14060 or 16610?]

On many watches sent in to me the chrono hand separates from the tube because someone decided it was a good idea to glue or epoxy the tube to the post. The result is a big headache, especially if the tube or hole in the hand distorts during removal. Makes it nearly impossible to rebuild the hand. And I hate breaking the news to the owner that we now have to source a replacement hand...

The proper way to tighten the hand-to-tube fitment is with a staking set. Takes 10 seconds and will be a permanent, tight fit.

The proper way to tighten the tube-to-post fitment is by crimping, sometimes with a broach inserted to prevent total collapse. Again it takes 10 seconds, and there won't be any issues down the road. Weakened or cracked tubes are usually the byproduct of improper crimping.

Do yourself (or the next owner) a favor and don't take any shortcuts, it can only result in headache later.

 

[smokiedabong]

I see what you're saying, I guess I'll just crimp the tubes then, I do have a stacking set and all the necessary tools.
But if the damn thing slips after all that, I'll glue the sucker into place.

 

[Steven]

That's 65 micron lume, about 6 times bigger than Superluminova, a pain to work with but glows like the sun.

Do you have any close-ups of that? I looked long and hard at it but didn't think I could pull it off. Glad it's working though...sure looks bright.

 

[frankt8242]

I find it hard to believe that you would...

even CONSIDER gluing ANY watch hand to ANYTHING!!!!:wyliehelp::wyliehelp: