WWW Eterna sucked me in.

[luiazazrambo]

Garden keeps me busy, but I could not resist and bought this on eBay, an incomplete set for £10.5 + £2.9 P&P. Box still needs fixing, but I cleaned the pivoter up a little bit. My first jacot tool, and I know that not the last one as I bought another one.

Before:

After:

[luiazazrambo]

I went up to the attic to place items we don't want in the bedrooms and look, I found clocks in cardboard boxes and there is even more there! I am really, really lucky to find them! 

 

[luiazazrambo]

My first ever mantel clock is serviced now.

[AndyHull]

What happened to the bongs?! Its all very well fitting it with a saxophone, but you need to put the bongs back in, we want to here it strike.

[luiazazrambo]

Ten hits and birds for Andy.   Do you want to see my arduino project as well?

[luiazazrambo]

I must be the luckiest chap on earth, I found travel clocks in hidden boxes in the house! The most expensive thing on the picture is not a clock though. Its the carpet, filled with invisible watch parts, and who know what else is there. When I hear the birds singing in the morning, and I am still not in bed, i have the feeling that it want to suck me in with my chair together.

[Redwood]

Know the feeling, clocks and watches just turn up all over the house, I’ll have to find better places to hide them 

[watchweasol]

Hi Luiz   bit of a squirrel collecting stuff    whats Mrs Luiz have to say ?

[luiazazrambo]

39 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

Hi Luiz   bit of a squirrel collecting stuff    whats Mrs Luiz have to say ?

I live in a very hostile environment, my misses told me that if I ever wind up my quarter striking mantel clock once again she will throw it out of the window.  My tactic is to bring these things out slowly just one or two on the shelf at the time. 

[FLwatchguy73]

I thought you might enjoy this @luiazazrambo. I know I did.

 

[watchweasol]

Hi Luiz   you are a braver man than me the only wound up working clock in the room Is a 400 day she cant hear that tick all the others are banished to the dining room at the other end of the house The ticking ones are in my workshop ther are three wall clocks and two cuckoos running.  Whats with women and ticking clocks   Any one know       ?

[luiazazrambo]

Imperial screws I forced to M4, pallet wood and cable boards from the skip. 

[luiazazrambo]

I could not resist. £5.5 + £17.99 delivery from eBay. It is in a better shape than I would hoped for, lubrication is still in place and turns smooth without side and end shake.  I am going to clean it up, i might leave the paint as i like it as it is.

RPV marque deposee Made in Austria

[luiazazrambo]

If you are interested how are these "crystal" cutters are used here is a recent article made by a Hungarian horologist, it is written in Hungarian but i tried it with google translate and while the translation is not 100% perfect it gives you a readable and understandable text:

 

crystal cutter in use 

[watchweasol]

Hi Luiz  a very interesting article   thanks.    

[luiazazrambo]

5 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Hi Luiz  a very interesting article   thanks.    

If you are interested in history and watches I do recommend to read his all other articles. Horology is his hobby and he spends the time to tell you a story rather than just show you how to service something or how to bring something back to life again. You can have a glimpse of the closed eastern block and the people living in it. There is a story form the WWII, there are more recent stories. He shares his knowledge with everybody without earning a penny for it. Truly unique and amazing.

[luiazazrambo]

I figured out earlier that my CAL 400 ( CAL400 ) did not run not because of the balance jewels or the balance assembly, but because the escape wheel pivot holes are worn both in the main plate and the train wheels plate. The escape wheel pivots were really busy and dug a trench for themselves.  Now I have a digital camera attached to my trinocular microscope so I could take a picture of it (i am still experimenting with it, not correctly set up yet and I probably will need an extra barlow lens.) I am very happy that I managed to solve the mystery even though it took me several weeks to figure it out. I am sure an experienced watchmaker could point this out in minutes as the pallets did not behave normal, i just did not know that what I can see was not normal that time.

Train wheels plate:

 

 

Main plate:

Edited July 9, 2020 by luiazazrambo
added smaller pics

[KarlvonKoln]

1 hour ago, luiazazrambo said:

( CAL400 )  the escape wheel pivot holes are worn both in the main plate and the train wheels plate. The escape wheel pivots were really busy and dug a trench for themselves.  

Train wheels plate:

 

 

Main plate:

Sad about the CAL400. Newbie question: what do watch repair technicians usually do for worn pivot holes like this? I imagine trying to put in a bushing that small would be a challenge.  Could one (dare one) drill a socket for a jewel bearing?  Can anything he done here?

[jdm]

10 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

I imagine trying to put in a bushing that small would be a challenge.  Could one (dare one) drill a socket for a jewel bearing? 

Either things can be done. Questions for a beginner are, do you have all the tools needed? And (maybe more than one) cheap / disposable movements to practice? Then, consider if the money and time related to solving the above can be better spent for something else still in the field of learning repairing / servicing?

Edited July 9, 2020 by jdm

[luiazazrambo]

These CAL400 movements can make Andy's 404 club. So you can replace both the main plate and the train wheel plate from a donor  movement or you just put the movement into your junk pile, and reuse its parts if there is a need. I like the idea to rebush or jewel these pivot holes, i have many of these movements and I bought them because I like them and because its a cheap way to practice without worrying too much that you destroy a movement. Even though they are cheap I have a bad dream when i do something irreversible and irreversibly bad to any movement. Once OldHippy told us that they used to bring Timexes out and destroyed them with a hammer. I must try that out at some point as a brain therapy.

So what is easier, re-bushing or jeweling? And what tools are required?

Be aware that if you go down on the jeweling path you also need to work on the dial as it currently says 5 jewels.  

Edited July 9, 2020 by luiazazrambo
adding one more sentence

[luiazazrambo]

Now I am ready for the crystal cutting.

Edited July 10, 2020 by luiazazrambo
adding a missing pic

[luiazazrambo]

Give Yourself Time!

Found original paperwork in a mantel clock case, unfortunately they were not filled so I don't have a name or a date.

Edited July 10, 2020 by luiazazrambo
correcting english

[luiazazrambo]

I have discovered something amazing today, a movement I discarded and did not love because it needed a battery. A clock movement called Kienzle 606h. How silly it was from me! And I think i have two more somewhere in the attic also discarded and not loved so far for the same reason, must find them now!

It did not run as a leaking battery ruined the contacts and one pivot hole was buried under green battery juice. 

So we have a movement:

What we can wind up manually:

 

And we have a solenoid:

What we can operate using an AA battery, or a bench power supply (polarity does not matter as it only consist a resistor and a coil):

So why don't we use the solenoid to kick/wind up the movement?

 

And we can use a plastic case to bring the battery, solenoid and movement together:

Woah!

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by luiazazrambo
adding info

[luiazazrambo]

New toy: a National Watch Cleaning Machine sold by Beech and Son ltd which was incorporated on the 28/05/1952 and dissolved at some point later, date unknown. It is a MK VR with a missing basket, has kienzle timer and jars marked as "BRITISH MADE". I could find fragments of cork as seal for the jar lids, but i don't know if that was original. I wonder if it would be safe to switch it on.

 

[AndyHull]

16 hours ago, luiazazrambo said:

I wonder if it would be safe to switch it on.

What could possibly go wrong?

At the very least it will need the wiring gutted and replaced. The motor brushes may need replacing. If you have any issues finding suitable brushes, then bear in mind larger ones can be sanded down to fit as they are only made of graphite.