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Chronotachymetre Servicing

mwilkes
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mwilkes WRT Addict

mwilkes

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I found a rather elegant chronograph pocket watch on the bay recently. It was listed as non-running so I took a punt on it. Not cheap, but I liked the dial. The watch wouldn't run if the chrono was engaged, and would barely run without it. It's a French watch made by LIP.

 

post-148-0-92655100-1426534130_thumb.jpg

 

Popped the moment out of the case to have a look. It's very pretty in there...

post-148-0-60399300-1426534132_thumb.jpg

 

Time to strip it down. Took many photos so I could put it back together in the right sequence. Here's a bird's eye view of the chronograph works

post-148-0-52930000-1426534138_thumb.jpg

 

Removed the operating lever, pillar wheel, transmission wheel and various springs

post-148-0-51622200-1426534140_thumb.jpg

 

Removed the chronograph bridge:

post-148-0-70843100-1426534142_thumb.jpg

 

And the movement's now just a plain ol' pocketwatch movement:

post-148-0-76073000-1426534144_thumb.jpg

 

Time to see what's wrong with the movement itself:

post-148-0-82552600-1426534145_thumb.jpg

 

...and found the culprit, or at least a suspect! Cracked 3rd wheel jewel:

post-148-0-59295600-1426534147_thumb.jpg

 

Spent a quiet Sunday morning sifting through my box of random jewels until I found one with the right diameter for the pivot:

post-148-0-52879700-1426534148_thumb.jpg

 

Reamed a wider hole and fitted the new jewel. I was pleased the colour matched the old one:

post-148-0-31370900-1426534168_thumb.jpg

 

Now I can put the movement back together. With the new jewel and a lot of cleaning the watch works extremely well - one or two seconds fast and only a little beat error which I'm going to ignore. Putting the chrono works back together was relatively straightforward - just a matter of lubrication and adjusting the eccentrics so that the depthing was correct:

post-148-0-36288600-1426534170_thumb.jpg

 

Time to fit the hands. The second hand for the chrono wasn't tight enough on the arbor, so every time you re-set to 0 the hand would spin! Tightened it with a cannon pinion tightener - there must be a better way!

post-148-0-04035400-1426534172_thumb.jpg

 

Movement goes back in the case:

post-148-0-71794700-1426534173_thumb.jpg

 

And another fine watch for my collection of slightly-battered-but-working-well watches. This was the first chronograph I've done, so I'm extremely pleased that it's working nicely. Learned a lot in the process. One of the things I learned was not to use Naptha on dials. The astute observer will notice that the word LIP has vanished from the dial. While I feel extremely guilty for having done this to a 100-year old watch, I'm secretly delighted - the first thing my wife said when the watch arrived in the post was "lovely dial, pity it says LIP on it...", and I agreed.

post-148-0-75895900-1426534175_thumb.jpg

 

 

Thanks for watching. 

 

  • Like 6
Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

Great job and excellent illustrations Mark!

My "Doctors" pocket chronograph has a similar dial layout, but the movement is completely different.

cdjswiss WRT Addict

cdjswiss

Posted
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Time to fit the hands. The second hand for the chrono wasn't tight enough on the arbor, so every time you re-set to 0 the hand would spin! Tightened it with a cannon pinion tightener - there must be a better way!

I do it this way - it often works.

post-374-0-39851600-1426577755_thumb.jpg

  • Like 1
clockboy Distinguished Member

clockboy

Posted
Posted

Great job Mark excellent pics.

For hand tightening I use my lathe collet but the pin vice is also a way. However and excellent job.

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

That's the same method I use, but your idea of the pin vice is great for those that don't have lathes. :)

Don Super WRT Addict

Don

Posted
Posted

Beautiful watch and great work! Far, far beyond my current ability, but very interesting to see and read about. Thanks.

  • 4 weeks later...
noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted

Masteful. I don't have that skill level yet. I am building up the courage (and funds) to get a staking set. A wonderful looking watch and walk-through. Thanks.

 

JC

frenchie Distinguished Member

frenchie

Posted
Posted

Just saw this. Nice work. Gorgeous piece.

But being a frenchman, I have to take offense at the disappearance of the LIP brand ;)

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

I have to take offense at the disappearance of the LIP brand ;)

That's because we have had enough of your LIP Frenchie! ;)

mwilkes WRT Addict

mwilkes

Posted
  • Author
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I do feel guilty about it... Slowly I'm learning that dials need to be treated with the same respect, fear and trepidation as hairsprings.

Mark Distinguished Member

Mark

Posted
Posted

Brilliant job - well done. And I really love that watch - it's a cracker.

 

Regarding the hands, I can never be bothered with doing it with a lathe collet - the pin vice is always to hand and a lot less messing around.

But you might argue that a lathe collet would compress more evenly across the length of the tube than a pin vice.

cdjswiss WRT Addict

cdjswiss

Posted
Posted

Brilliant job - well done. And I really love that watch - it's a cracker.

 

Regarding the hands, I can never be bothered with doing it with a lathe collet - the pin vice is always to hand and a lot less messing around.

But you might argue that a lathe collet would compress more evenly across the length of the tube than a pin vice.

 

Here is yet another way of tightening a second hand that is only a little loose - with digital output!

Somewhat like canon pinion tightening.

 

post-374-0-53516800-1429441825_thumb.jpg

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

I like your thinking Colin!

Another great use for digital calipers is removing splinters from your skin. They grip a lot better than tweezers and even let you know what size the skelf is! :)

  • Like 1
noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted

Geo that last suggestion is hilarious. I just had an image of me trying to pull out splinter from my foot with a digital caliper--

 

JC

bobm12 Distinguished Member

bobm12

Posted
Posted

Both new uses of caliper noted for further use! I can combine them when a splinter gets in a watch's hand... aaaah! Just me and one of those moments!  :)

 

Great thinking guys!

 

@Colin: Good to see you around, Colin and as always with great input! Cheers!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

Geo that last suggestion is hilarious. I just had an image of me trying to pull out splinter from my foot with a digital caliper--

JC

I wasn't joking Joe, they are brilliant for that. Working in engineering I was forever getting tiny slithers of metal in my fingers, and the callipers always worked when tweezers failed!
vaguras Member

vaguras

Posted
Posted

Excellent wakthrough and job!!!

Congratulations!!!

Another way to evenly tighten a hand tube, is by using the appropriate size of a punch stake in your staking set. Just find the one that nearly fits the tube diameter and push the punch lightly onto the hand (no hammer needed just a finger push from the top).

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