Post by Archer on Mar 15, 2009 9:28:30 GMT -6
I started this one a long time ago, and I finished it this morning.
Are mechanical watches environmentally friendly? Well the 3 R's are Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This project falls under the "Reuse" banner.
Many moons ago I bought a vintage Hamilton pocket watch off eBay. Here is the watch as I received it:
The movement was very dirty, but it ran....
Note that in the photo above the beat error (the difference between the "tick" and the "tock") is 1.9 milli seconds - this should be very close to zero and certainly under 0.5 for the watch to run well - more on that in a minute.
So I set about trying to find a case, dial, and hands that would work with this, and after some time I managed to find what I needed. I had to service the movement and in the process I needed a new mainspring. I ordered one and when it came in it was faulty. The replacement was also bad, and after 6 months of working with the parts house I finally received a proper spring a couple of weeks ago.
This weekend I put the movement back together - here it is:
When I checked it the beat error was still huge. Adjusting beat error on a modern watch is super easy....put it on the timing machine and adjust the moveable stud carrier that attaches the outer end of the hairspring to the balance bridge. You can easily adjust it while on the machine and dial it in within a few minutes.
On vintage watches, the stud carrier does not move, and I have to pull the balance out and manually turn the hairspring collet, then put it all back together and try it again. Then if it's not right, I have to pull it out, adjust it again, and then try it again. I have worked on this task alone for up to 2 hours on some vintage watches....but yesterday was a good day. Here I have the balance in my fingers and am adjusting the collet position...
A closer look - I use a small screwdriver to turn the collet on the balance, and that rotates the hairspring in relation to the rest of the watch....have to be careful not to slip!
So after about 4 attempts some great luck! Note the beat error is now zero!
From there it's easy to adjust the daily rate - this watch runs pretty well for something that is this old - this serial number dates to 1947!
Now the dial and hands are on, and it's all cased up!
On a blue gator....love it!
This one will be getting lots of wrist time!
Thanks for looking.
Cheers, Al
Are mechanical watches environmentally friendly? Well the 3 R's are Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This project falls under the "Reuse" banner.
Many moons ago I bought a vintage Hamilton pocket watch off eBay. Here is the watch as I received it:
The movement was very dirty, but it ran....
Note that in the photo above the beat error (the difference between the "tick" and the "tock") is 1.9 milli seconds - this should be very close to zero and certainly under 0.5 for the watch to run well - more on that in a minute.
So I set about trying to find a case, dial, and hands that would work with this, and after some time I managed to find what I needed. I had to service the movement and in the process I needed a new mainspring. I ordered one and when it came in it was faulty. The replacement was also bad, and after 6 months of working with the parts house I finally received a proper spring a couple of weeks ago.
This weekend I put the movement back together - here it is:
When I checked it the beat error was still huge. Adjusting beat error on a modern watch is super easy....put it on the timing machine and adjust the moveable stud carrier that attaches the outer end of the hairspring to the balance bridge. You can easily adjust it while on the machine and dial it in within a few minutes.
On vintage watches, the stud carrier does not move, and I have to pull the balance out and manually turn the hairspring collet, then put it all back together and try it again. Then if it's not right, I have to pull it out, adjust it again, and then try it again. I have worked on this task alone for up to 2 hours on some vintage watches....but yesterday was a good day. Here I have the balance in my fingers and am adjusting the collet position...
A closer look - I use a small screwdriver to turn the collet on the balance, and that rotates the hairspring in relation to the rest of the watch....have to be careful not to slip!
So after about 4 attempts some great luck! Note the beat error is now zero!
From there it's easy to adjust the daily rate - this watch runs pretty well for something that is this old - this serial number dates to 1947!
Now the dial and hands are on, and it's all cased up!
On a blue gator....love it!
This one will be getting lots of wrist time!
Thanks for looking.
Cheers, Al