What is the difference between the hand setting "pen"-style tools vs the larger bench-style tools?

[GregG]

Sometimes when installing hands, I don't feel confident with the loose approach to using the pen-style pressers, since you have to trust that your hand is steady, and slipping could be potentially dangerous to the movement.  I'm looking into the more bench-style tools for stability and its ability to press downwards exactly at 90 degrees, but can't find a resource that describes the difference between the two.

[Klassiker]

Haven't you summarised the differences very well there yourself?

[GregG]

Well if I knew that for certain I wouldn't have asked.

[nickelsilver]

When I was in school last century we pressed hands on with tweezers, preferably nickel or brass. Then towards the end of school a specialist came to teach us chronographs and the first thing we did was make our own nylon pushers from rod- that was a revelation and I've used those or commercial "free hand" plastic tipped pushers since. But I do see the advantage of the devices that keep things nice and vertical and even approaching "codger" status I think I'll buy one just to add to the arsenal. At a hobby level I think you could put your money toward more useful tools though.

[Waggy]

Just to add my two cents, I find the vertical tool usually gives a better result especially if the hands are not damaged. In addition to this the tool also forces you to slow down and set up the tool and position of the watch correctly. After a long challenging build and I see the finish line in sight I sometimes rush the final stages and end up taking several steps back (bending a hand, scratching the dial, slipping and dropping the entire movement on the floor)....setting up the hand press tool with the correct nib forces you to take your time. However, if the hands are not perfect sometimes you may need to apply a very small force at something other than perpendicular in order to lift or drop the hand very slightly (fractions of a mm) to avoid it clashing with the hand above or below or the dial chapters etc., and this is best done with the hand pen type tools as you get more of a feel of what is going on. Therefore, I usually force myself to use the desk type tool and then make fine adjustments with the hand tools if required, but as @nickelsilverpoints out you could manage with either tool.

[HectorLooi]

I like to install hands under a microscope. I find that the plastic tipped pens block the view and I can't see anything through the microscope. My spring loaded presser is collecting dust in the drawer.

So, I discovered that there is an Indian made tool from Anchor, that is basically a metal rod with a hole at each end. The watch hand hole is visible through the hole of the presser. But most of the time, I just press it on with a plastic tipped tweezer.

[GuyMontag]

Through trial and error I find that I get the best results by aiming my camera at the dial and viewing on my monitor. One time I was able to see why two hands were hitting one another and it wasn't because the hands were not set properly but because of corrosion on the underside of the minute hand which was scraping along the hour hand.