Setting wheel issue--once in a million years

[LittleWatchShop]

While you guys are helping me with the rusty Bulova on that other post (I have set it aside for now), consider this new dilemma.

Short story:

Date wheel did not work.  Discovered a plastic cam was busted.  Also noticed that the associated brass wheel was missing a tooth or two.  I bought a movement on ebay and swapped out the cam and wheel. 

I looked and looked for the busted teeth and never found them. (In retrospect, I should have done a complete tear down).  Anyway, I put it back together and have been running it for a month or so.  Then it quits. 

I open it up and the date wheel is STUCK.  Finally was able to pry it out.

What happened was the brass tooth managed to find its way to the setting wheel and slipped in between the wheel and the post and slowly wrapped itself around the post.  This was clearly visible under high magnification with my stereo microscope.  Wow, what a mess!

I have removed the majority of the brass and the wheel now turns freely.  BUT, I want to polish the post.  Looking around at all of my tools (inherited from my dad), I don't see anything designed for this purpose.  I am thinking that I will have to manufacture something.

Any ideas.

I am already kicking myself for letting this happen--please dont kick me again

[watchweasol]

Hi Do you have a picture of the offending post and parts, we may be able to get a better perspective     As far as kicking if we did that we would all have sore butts at some time or another we have all been there the thing is you will not do it again  lesson learned.       Take care 

[LittleWatchShop]

Pointing to the post with the wheel on it.  It turns freely now, but it would be nice to polish the post if I could.

[jdm]

2 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I want to polish the post.  Looking around at all of my tools (inherited from my dad), I don't see anything designed for this purpose.  I am thinking that I will have to manufacture something.

If the wheel turns freely you gain nothing in polishing the post. However that can be done with a thin leather strip, by hand or on a bow. 

[LittleWatchShop]

4 hours ago, jdm said:

If the wheel turns freely you gain nothing in polishing the post. However that can be done with a thin leather strip, by hand or on a bow. 

Agree.  That is what I did!!

[LittleWatchShop]

This project is complete now after a few more interesting twists and turns.

When putting the date wheel and mechanism on the watch one of the springs sproinged.  That's OK, I have a spare movement for parts, so I grabbed the spring from it.  Well, the date would not advance.  I thought maybe I oriented the click wrong.  Tried all combinations of click orientation and spring orientation.  It would not work.  Then I decided to use the other spring from the parts watch, so that the springs in the repair were from the same parts watch.  Well...it worked.  The parts watch is not an exact replica.  It is an INT 7422/3 whereas my repair watch is a 7422/2.  What they did on the /3 was to reduce the gauge of the springs so that they exhibit less force than the /2.  Bottom line.  The springs had to be matched.  I bet I know why they made this change.  There was so much force from the /2 springs that the plastic cam was breaking (as it had in my repair watch).  So, they reduced the springs.  That is my theory anyway.

One other final thing I had to do on this thing.  The second hand tended to fall off. I decided to crimp it.  That was a little scary, but it worked out fine.

The watch is on my desk and running after timing it.