Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

hi everybody  so i have just got my first watch that i have decided to strip and clean. its an old smiths empire. the watch winds up fine and runs  when placed face down. when turned over it stops. the problem i am having with it is i can't get the crown out. i have loosened the screw (too much) but the crown sten will not budge. any ideas. thankyou for your help.

025.jpg

027.jpg

028.jpg

Posted

Hi   Just in board from the crown there is a small screw,  The other larger screw with a blue head, is a plate screw.  Undo the small screw about two turns and release the stem. Do not unscrew it all the way or the set piece drops off  and to put it back the dial and hands have to come off. But looking at the state of the dial etc it will have to come off any way.

Posted

Hi     Looking again at the condition there is a possibility the stem is rusted in , does it turn both way  ok if so might need some penetrating substance on the stem to release it, a bit of wite spirit and oil or petrol /oil to soften the corrosion. If the screw has undone all the way might have released the set piece which has jammed the stem. If every thing fails you can always dismantle the plates. First Let down mainspring,  remove the balance , then the backplate  that will then expose the crown and castle wheels and the stem hopefuly then you will be able to get it out.  goog luck

  • Thanks 1
Posted
Quote

 

    crown and stem:  if you now have the proper  screw and its turned l -1/2 turns.  press down on the screw,  giggle - the stem should come out.  IF NOT;  apply "penitrating oil" and come back tomorow.   vin

  • Thanks 1
Posted
14 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Hi     Looking again at the condition there is a possibility the stem is rusted in , does it turn both way  ok if so might need some penetrating substance on the stem to release it, a bit of wite spirit and oil or petrol /oil to soften the corrosion. If the screw has undone all the way might have released the set piece which has jammed the stem. If every thing fails you can always dismantle the plates. First Let down mainspring,  remove the balance , then the backplate  that will then expose the crown and castle wheels and the stem hopefuly then you will be able to get it out.  goog luck

 

14 hours ago, watchweasol said:

hi thanks for the reply. i have over screwed the small screw so i will have to take apart. the crown winds both ways very smoothly but like you said it could be rust . i will try some oil and see how i go.

 

Posted
7 hours ago, vinn3 said:

    crown and stem:  if you now have the proper  screw and its turned l -1/2 turns.  press down on the screw,  giggle - the stem should come out.  IF NOT;  apply "penitrating oil" and come back tomorow.   vin

cheers vin will give the oil ago.

  • Like 1
  • 3 years later...
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Hi Mike I did a ships clock a long while ago, not a Hermle though and without getting the beast in my hands to refresh my memory I can’t recall the timing.  This doesn’t help I know but will start the grey matter turning.
    • Of course it will continue Richard.
    • I have stripped and cleaned a Hermle ships clock. It was just oily, no major faults, and I reassembled it, following my photos in reverse order. The time train is fine but the strike train will not play the ships bell strike for half-past. Ships bells play a four hour sequence for the 'watches' and play double 'ding' for the hour and the double dings plus one for the half past (eg half past the second hour is 'ding-ding' 'ding-ding' 'ding'). Sounds complicated but it isn't really. The strike wheel consists of pairs of bumps (for the ding-ding) and no single bumps. There must me some mechanism on the half-past that lifts the strike lever over one of the bumps so only one ding is played. When I get to a half past, it still plays double ding. I have a feeling it is to do with the lever in front of the rack (there is a sprung attachment  on it) and the position of the wheel (to the right) with the two pins that lets that lever fall, but no matter where I place that wheel I cannot get a single ding at half past! Please can someone help with advice on positioning so I can fix this? BTW Happy Easter 🐣 
    • No it's not 52. I had looked at the Pocket Watch lift angles thread, which lists Elgin 6s as something really high like 62° but visually that is not at all what this watch is doing. I think 42° is more correct and that's where my machine is setup. The watch has a million problems but I have made solid progress. Impulse jewel replaced. Hairspring didn't match the balance (which also doesn't match the serial) but I got it down into range this weekend with 8 or 10 huge timing washers. Replaced the mainspring, balance and train are nice and free. At this point it is running consistently and in beat at about 160°, the third wheel has a bend that sends the timegrapher on a little roller coaster every 8 minutes or so. Remaining amplitude problems may be down to the escapement. The banking pins were way out and it didn't run at all before I started. It has one of the old brass escape wheels rather than steel, and I assume the faces its teeth are probably worn or scored in a way I can't yet fix (or see without a microscope). I know this watch is not going to run above 250° but I am going to keep trying to get above 200. But the best part about this watch? Some unscrupulous person stamped "21 JEWELS" on the train bridge sometime in the past, right on top of the Damascening. It's a 15 jewel movement.
    • I think it would rather be the blast of high current drain that would do the damage. But if used occasionally to maybe fix a mainspring or do dial feet it might be worth trying especially if the mainspring or a replacement couldn’t be found.    Tom
×
×
  • Create New...