My first year as a hobbyist

[SamLiddle]

 

Hello all,

 

I thought I would start to make an effort to be somewhat more active in this forum. After my intro post and subsequent ask for help with some tricky lugs here https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/29445-help-for-a-novice-fused-spring-bar/#comment-249241

I’ve been somewhat quiet.

So, I’m going to give a summary of my first year as a beginner in watchmaking. I am very much a hobbyist; self-taught from YouTube tutorials, internet resources (this forum extensively) and a few simple books. In a year I have attempted:

ST36 movement from Amazon to practise on. Stripped and rebuilt (no oiling yet) a couple of times. On 3rd rebuild an escapement pivot snapped. I begin to get the sense that I will love this hobby.

Two pocket watches, a Smiths and an Ingersoll. Non runners. Full strip and clean on both, very simple oiling. The Ingersoll needed a new mainspring which I sourced and fitted. I accidentally (?!) put one of the dials through the wash adding some… patina. Amazingly, they both run, lovely loud ticking. I gift one of each to my daughters. They put them in drawers never to be seen again.

A Sekonda DeLuxe with a Luch 2209. A few ticks only, stuck at full wind. Stripped, cleaned (in my early cack-handed way). It works but with weirdly varying amplitude. I think the hairspring is sticky/gunky and I don’t yet know how to clean them very well. I also lost the click spring (UK Space Program) and bent the seconds pinion. Abandoned.

Hafis ‘Incabloc’, AS 984 movement. (Linked above). An early very proud moment. Was a near non-runner; would give a few ticks then stop. Stripped, cleaned (again, in an early fairly clunky manner), and oiled. And it runs! Losing up to around 15s per day, 310 amplitude, 0.1 BE… this was some serious beginner’s luck. A couple of problems; the crown is very worn down and difficult to grip to actually wind the watch. I tried to replace it with some basic parts, but no good. And I lost a screw for the keyless works portion, but this seemed not to affect any function, and the plate had 3 screw points, and seemed to function fine with just the 2.

An old Tissot ladies watch, 709-1 movement. Runs fine, but I want to service it anyway. I discover I hate ladies watches with a passion. I break the incabloc spring. I get a donor movement, and… break an incabloc spring again. Sigh. It’s ok still got one spare… and then it flings off and away. I find it, try to seat it back in but it’s near impossible. ‘Set aside’ until I have the patience to look at this again.

Seiko automatic, probably from the 70s or so, 7025 movement. Non runner. The automatic winder was loose, watch started up after screwing this in properly. Stripped and service. I donate a cap-jewel to the Space Program, and  try to source another from a ‘lot’ of jewels from ebay. One seems to actually fit. Reasonable outcome keeping ok time, but amplitude a little low at 218.

Mount Royal De-luxe, Felsa 4002 movement. Running but poor amplitude 180. Stripped and serviced. Wouldn’t run, escapement seized. Turns out I’d mixed the screws up and used a too-long screw on the dial side that was now poking through and touching the escapement. I managed to file it down in size and reseat it and everything working ok, amplitude 259, gaining 30s a day, but snow-storming in certain positions. Couldn’t figure out why and left it as is.

Badman Swiss, FHF 72 movement. Non-runner. Full strip and service, not clear at all why wasn’t running. Despite doing everything ‘right’ it barely runs now and spontaneously stops. It is beyond my skillset to diagnose and I abandon it.

Another Seiko automatic 6309-8060. Running, +74s per day amp 172. Very scratched mineral glass. I try to source a replacement glass, but it’s an odd profile, and of course not in production. Replacements exist, but expensive. I decide to try replacing with equivalent sized acrylic and… it works perfectly. Chuffed. Strip and service goes well (no lost parts! Nothing went flying!), now gaining 14s per day amplitude 232 (not brilliant but I’m chuffed), BE 0.1. And it looks stunning. New strap and I wear it regularly now.

Favre-Leuba Seaking, FL 259 (almost certainly a Mumbai franken-watch, but the movement is genuine). Ticks for a few seconds then stops. Interesting double-barrelled movement. Some tinkerer has replaced one of the main springs with a tiny spring, so the two barrels outputting different power. I replace both and strip/service. Sadly, running very poorly with amplitude 149 after all that. Just can’t figure out why so little power getting to the balance. I suspect it’s to do with a weird intermediate wheel which is riveted in, between the barrels, and is oddly stiff. I can’t fix it despite lots of tinkering. Abandoned.

Casio Oceanic OC-504, OS80 movement (quartz). Running, but very scratched mineral glass. I have a go at replacing with sapphire and it goes perfectly; very pleased with myself. I leave the movement well alone.

Mondia Ladies watch FHF 57-21 movement. Trying to run, few ticks. God I hate ladies watches. Everything is so small and tightly packed. The work is frustrating. I finally get it together and oiled and… it runs only in certain positions, but snow-storm on the timegrapher. Some pivot is bent I suspect, but I am angry and I give up. No more ladies watches!

Enicar Sport, AR (enicar) 190 movement. Likely from the 40s. This one hurt… really pretty little thing. Non runner, but everything looks intact and in good condition. Wheels are stuck with gunk so should clean up great. Mainspring is original and relatively set. Acrylic is original and yellow stained. This is the first watch I take cleaning very seriously; pre-cleaning, gentle brushing, pegging all jewels, slowly slowly. I get a brand new mainspring and glass, get to re-building it when disaster strikes. The balance slips out of my tweezers and the hairspring inexplicably twists on itself. I spend literal hours studying untangling techniques, and hunching over with a small oiler, unwinding, twisting, carefully now… and finally success, but now the spring is essentially bent to buggery in several places, out of round, and out of flat. I have not the skills or tools to fix, and there are no donor movements out there. Proper gutted!

My pending project is Velona Automatic 1800, with an ETA 2783 movement. I’m looking forward to working on what seems to be a well regarded work-horse movement (for which donor parts should be readily available!).

And that’s it! Happy to answer any questions or queries, and apologies if this was the wrong sub-forum.

I’ll try to post my individual projects more regularly and start contributing more generally.

Sam

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 minutes ago, SamLiddle said:

 

Hello all,

 

I thought I would start to make an effort to be somewhat more active in this forum. After my intro post and subsequent ask for help with some tricky lugs here https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/29445-help-for-a-novice-fused-spring-bar/#comment-249241

I’ve been somewhat quiet.

So, I’m going to give a summary of my first year as a beginner in watchmaking. I am very much a hobbyist; self-taught from YouTube tutorials, internet resources (this forum extensively) and a few simple books. In a year I have attempted:

ST36 movement from Amazon to practise on. Stripped and rebuilt (no oiling yet) a couple of times. On 3rd rebuild an escapement pivot snapped. I begin to get the sense that I will love this hobby.

Two pocket watches, a Smiths and an Ingersoll. Non runners. Full strip and clean on both, very simple oiling. The Ingersoll needed a new mainspring which I sourced and fitted. I accidentally (?!) put one of the dials through the wash adding some… patina. Amazingly, they both run, lovely loud ticking. I gift one of each to my daughters. They put them in drawers never to be seen again.

A Sekonda DeLuxe with a Luch 2209. A few ticks only, stuck at full wind. Stripped, cleaned (in my early cack-handed way). It works but with weirdly varying amplitude. I think the hairspring is sticky/gunky and I don’t yet know how to clean them very well. I also lost the click spring (UK Space Program) and bent the seconds pinion. Abandoned.

Hafis ‘Incabloc’, AS 984 movement. (Linked above). An early very proud moment. Was a near non-runner; would give a few ticks then stop. Stripped, cleaned (again, in an early fairly clunky manner), and oiled. And it runs! Losing up to around 15s per day, 310 amplitude, 0.1 BE… this was some serious beginner’s luck. A couple of problems; the crown is very worn down and difficult to grip to actually wind the watch. I tried to replace it with some basic parts, but no good. And I lost a screw for the keyless works portion, but this seemed not to affect any function, and the plate had 3 screw points, and seemed to function fine with just the 2.

An old Tissot ladies watch, 709-1 movement. Runs fine, but I want to service it anyway. I discover I hate ladies watches with a passion. I break the incabloc spring. I get a donor movement, and… break an incabloc spring again. Sigh. It’s ok still got one spare… and then it flings off and away. I find it, try to seat it back in but it’s near impossible. ‘Set aside’ until I have the patience to look at this again.

Seiko automatic, probably from the 70s or so, 7025 movement. Non runner. The automatic winder was loose, watch started up after screwing this in properly. Stripped and service. I donate a cap-jewel to the Space Program, and  try to source another from a ‘lot’ of jewels from ebay. One seems to actually fit. Reasonable outcome keeping ok time, but amplitude a little low at 218.

Mount Royal De-luxe, Felsa 4002 movement. Running but poor amplitude 180. Stripped and serviced. Wouldn’t run, escapement seized. Turns out I’d mixed the screws up and used a too-long screw on the dial side that was now poking through and touching the escapement. I managed to file it down in size and reseat it and everything working ok, amplitude 259, gaining 30s a day, but snow-storming in certain positions. Couldn’t figure out why and left it as is.

Badman Swiss, FHF 72 movement. Non-runner. Full strip and service, not clear at all why wasn’t running. Despite doing everything ‘right’ it barely runs now and spontaneously stops. It is beyond my skillset to diagnose and I abandon it.

Another Seiko automatic 6309-8060. Running, +74s per day amp 172. Very scratched mineral glass. I try to source a replacement glass, but it’s an odd profile, and of course not in production. Replacements exist, but expensive. I decide to try replacing with equivalent sized acrylic and… it works perfectly. Chuffed. Strip and service goes well (no lost parts! Nothing went flying!), now gaining 14s per day amplitude 232 (not brilliant but I’m chuffed), BE 0.1. And it looks stunning. New strap and I wear it regularly now.

Favre-Leuba Seaking, FL 259 (almost certainly a Mumbai franken-watch, but the movement is genuine). Ticks for a few seconds then stops. Interesting double-barrelled movement. Some tinkerer has replaced one of the main springs with a tiny spring, so the two barrels outputting different power. I replace both and strip/service. Sadly, running very poorly with amplitude 149 after all that. Just can’t figure out why so little power getting to the balance. I suspect it’s to do with a weird intermediate wheel which is riveted in, between the barrels, and is oddly stiff. I can’t fix it despite lots of tinkering. Abandoned.

Casio Oceanic OC-504, OS80 movement (quartz). Running, but very scratched mineral glass. I have a go at replacing with sapphire and it goes perfectly; very pleased with myself. I leave the movement well alone.

Mondia Ladies watch FHF 57-21 movement. Trying to run, few ticks. God I hate ladies watches. Everything is so small and tightly packed. The work is frustrating. I finally get it together and oiled and… it runs only in certain positions, but snow-storm on the timegrapher. Some pivot is bent I suspect, but I am angry and I give up. No more ladies watches!

Enicar Sport, AR (enicar) 190 movement. Likely from the 40s. This one hurt… really pretty little thing. Non runner, but everything looks intact and in good condition. Wheels are stuck with gunk so should clean up great. Mainspring is original and relatively set. Acrylic is original and yellow stained. This is the first watch I take cleaning very seriously; pre-cleaning, gentle brushing, pegging all jewels, slowly slowly. I get a brand new mainspring and glass, get to re-building it when disaster strikes. The balance slips out of my tweezers and the hairspring inexplicably twists on itself. I spend literal hours studying untangling techniques, and hunching over with a small oiler, unwinding, twisting, carefully now… and finally success, but now the spring is essentially bent to buggery in several places, out of round, and out of flat. I have not the skills or tools to fix, and there are no donor movements out there. Proper gutted!

My pending project is Velona Automatic 1800, with an ETA 2783 movement. I’m looking forward to working on what seems to be a well regarded work-horse movement (for which donor parts should be readily available!).

And that’s it! Happy to answer any questions or queries, and apologies if this was the wrong sub-forum.

I’ll try to post my individual projects more regularly and start contributing more generally.

Sam

Nice to see you back Sam, I remember your post, hows the old AS 984 doing ? Good movements used in a couple of the military ATP watches. 

[mbwatch]

This is like one of those Spotify Wrapped year in review posts for all the movements that went right and wrong. I would read these from everybody if there was a subforum section for them.

[SamLiddle]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Nice to see you back Sam, I remember your post, hows the old AS 984 doing ? Good movements used in a couple of the military ATP watches. 

It's going great! It ticks fairly loudly, which is fun, and I wear it to boost my mood when something goes wrong with another watch.

[watchweasol]

Hello again Sam, lookalike you have been busy and doing ok. Keep it up . A couple of files to add to your collection.

dictionary_ebauches_sa.pdf TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf

[SamLiddle]

1 hour ago, watchweasol said:

Hello again Sam, lookalike you have been busy and doing ok. Keep it up . A couple of files to add to your collection.

dictionary_ebauches_sa.pdf 25.05 MB · 1 download TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf 4.2 MB · 1 download

Many thanks.