Ball RR grade PW complete

[arron]

Hi Guys,

Today I have a huge sense of accomplishment and relief after finally finishing restoration of this Ball 999B 16s 21 j railroad grade pocket watch.  I started it in April, so it only took me five months to complete; as life got in the way.  It also had a lot wrong with it.  Broken jewels, broken staff, bent wheel, broken hands, well, you get the picture.  It's running great in my estimation.  The fact that it's running at all is proof, not of my workmanship because heaven knows it's lacking, but of the high quality of workmanship that went into the watch's manufacture.  I feel very lucky to have gotten it back into shape.  My only regret is that you can see some of the glue used to adhere the crystal.  I thought it was supposed to dry clear.  I might retry with some UV glue to see if that's better.  Thanks to all the people who gave me input along the way.  I couldn't have finished without all their help.  Arron.

[oldhippy]

Congratulations to you. 

 

[mbwatch]

We only get ONE photo?

[VWatchie]

1 hour ago, arron said:

My only regret is that you can see some of the glue used to adhere the crystal.  I thought it was supposed to dry clear.  I might retry with some UV glue to see if that's better.

Congrats on a job well done!  It's a very nice watch!

I UV-glued (Sternkreuz) my first crystal a couple of weeks ago and was very satisfied with the result.

 

25 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

We only get ONE photo?

I agree we need more photos. We always need more photos! 

Edited September 10, 2024 by VWatchie

[RichardHarris123]

Well done indeed, more photos. 

[rehajm]

5 hours ago, arron said:

  My only regret is that you can see some of the glue used to adhere the crystal.  I thought it was supposed to dry clear.

Well it is difficult to see from the picture. Maybe by the nine? I see lots of glue exposed put there by professionals so consider yourself advanced

[mbwatch]

I always need more pocket watch stands temporarily than I have on hand or can get to the university lab to print more, and Lego never occurred to me. I have that in great abundance.

[arron]

Here's a pic of the movement.  It had significant rust and corrosion on the winding and ratchet wheels and balance cock and screws.  I used a buff with green compound on a dremel to remove the corrosion (i can see in the picture i missed at least one screw).  It's not perfect but still looks vintage and a lot better than it did.  I told my son today that unless he makes me really mad, it'll be his in the future.

My sons have made me lots of accessories for my fountain pen collection out of legos.  I've repurposed some for watches and for holders for my iphone.  They work great.

I'm going to check out the resource listed by @VWatchie listed above so I can get better at crystal replacement.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement.  You need that sometimes in this hobby, because at times it can be very humbling.   

[RichardHarris123]

Even the professionals on here are humbled at times.  Very few never require help. 

[VWatchie]

17 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Even the professionals on here are humbled at times.  Very few never require help. 

17 hours ago, arron said:

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement.  You need that sometimes in this hobby, because at times it can be very humbling. 

Yes, we need each other's support because there are days when you can feel very down and start thinking about giving up. It's easy to feel inadequate when you see the pros on YouTube, but then you have to remember that there is a lot of editing. A step that might take an hour, two, or even three in real life is often done in a few seconds in a video.