What to do about worn Timex crowns

[RichJensen]

Having gotten my Timex model 27 up and running, I've got another hitch both with this watch and two others that were straightforward clean/oil jobs:

The crowns have been worn almost smooth and unfortunately Timex crowns do not appear to be screwed onto the stems. I'm not sure how they were fitted to the stems and Google is not particularly helpful when it comes to removing and replacing them.

I've kicked around the idea of using either a needle file or a blade to cut new grooves, as this would keep me from having to make sure that the stem still seats properly with a replacement crown, but I'm not overly fond of this approach either.

 

[oldhippy]

The buttons are factory pressed on. 

[watchweasol]

As Stated by OH  they are pressed on and as such are replaced complete.  One way to make them serviceable  is to fit in a lathe and knurl them. Not exactly PC but will most likely breath a bit more life into them.

[HectorLooi]

NOS stems and donor watches are getting increasingly harder to find. 

I've been toying with the idea of removing the old crown and cutting threads on the stem to fit an OEM crown.

One day I'll get down to doing it.

Right now I have an Accutron crown that sticks out by a little more that a millimeter. Obviously it doesn't belong to this case. And it's also a pressed on crown. Hmmm... 

[GregG]

Unfortunately, Timex crowns are press fit onto the stems, so there's really no way of cleanly removing and replacing them. I've toyed with the idea of pulling it off, milling out a regular crown and pressing a new one on, but i choose to just buy used Timexes with good crowns to service.

You can find NOS boxes of stems and crowns on eBay, but you have to find the exact one you need, and you need the service manual to find which one you need. I'm sure someone here has the manual in order to help you out.

[watchweasol]

Hi Rich I have enclosed a copy of the M27 manual day date and thre 24 which gives the full mech without the complications.  Hope this is of some use to you  in sourcing the part. 

27 (1).pdf 24 (2).pdf

[JerseyMo]

what are the codes at the bottom of dial?  should be under the 6 hour marker