Modified Cannon Pinion And Hour Wheel On 2824-2

[stilty]

Well, I was bored and had some spare parts laying around and figured I would try a little experiment.

I used an old cannon pinion and hour wheel from an old 2834-2 movement. I also have a set of genuine rolex hands that I picked up cheap. They are scratched and scuffed and non usuable. They are also yellow gold so will not work with my project.

First off, here is a shot of the hour wheel. Original on the left, and modified on the right. Original diameter is 1.50mm. I modified the hour wheel to a 1.40mm diameter. This is to fit a genuine hour hand which comes with a 1.40mm hole size.

Next is the cannon pinion. This is from a 2834-2, so it is too tall for the 2824-2 anyway. Notice the top of the cannon is smaller in diameter than the rest of the cannon? This measures .90mm. The rest of the cannon measures .97mm

Here is original cannon pinion on the left, and modified on the right. I smoothed the modified at the top until it was .95mm in diameter. This is to fit a genuine Rolex minute hand that comes with .95mm hole.

So far so good!

I installed the modified parts in my modified 2824-2 movement. See post on my modified 2824-2 movement as this is now a two position non-date movement. Also notice the modified 'enlargement ring' from an eta 2834-2 movement. I am using an old dial that I picked up on the bay, I figured I could use it at the time, but it is far too scratched, and missing luminova fill. It is now used for test fitting.

I installed the hour hand. It Fits! Notice how the hand is slightly domed, and not flat or bevelled like rep hands. You can see it thin out on the edges. Very nice hands! Too bad I can't use them for the final project.

Here is a shot from the top. Notice how the tip of the hour wheel nearly touches the tip of the dial marker? I never noticed this before. Funny how you notice different things when working with genuine parts. The rep hour hand I have is too short now that I compare.

Next, I installed the minute hand. It Fits as well! It is hard to tell from this picture, but the minute hand is slightly domed as well.

Here is a shot from the top.

Again, these are not the parts that I am going to use for finished watch. These are only for test fitting and reference. They are too damaged for use, but they work great for testing!

The only hand that I was not able to fit is the second hand. The fourth wheel on my 2824-2 is .25mm, and the hole size for the genuine second hand is .22mm. Not a big deal as that should be easy enough to broach when the time comes.

Now if I can only find a mint set of genuine hands in white gold that are domed! So hard to find those hands. They are the only parts holding me back from finishing my franken EX-1.

One other note, the lume on these genuine hands is awesome. Obviously SL. I charged them up last night and set them on the night stand when I went to bed. They were still glowing (faintly, but still noticeable) in the morning when I got up. It was still dark out and they were still glowing after 8 hours. I had my genuine dial out as well for comparison and they match perfectly. Too bad the hands are in yellow gold.

Anyway, I would have to say my experiment worked! If you are looking at fitting genuine hands to your rep or franken, this is one option for you.

One step away from completing my ultimate franken project!

As always, your feedback or comments are welcome.

Cheers.

[HauteHippie]

Wow. This is a great project. How did you mill the parts with that kind of precision?

[archibald]

Wow. This is a great project. How did you mill the parts with that kind of precision?

ditto...a tutorial would make you a hero to modders everywhere!

[stilty]

Wow. This is a great project. How did you mill the parts with that kind of precision?

it took some time but a lot of hand work. Basically, I picked up some fine sandpaper from my local jewellers supply store. I cut a very small sliver of a strip, wrapped it around the hour wheel, then clamped down on it with a pin vise. every few turns, I tightened the pin vise, and turned. Eventually I smoothed the part to the desired diameter. The hour wheel was very easy to do as it was made of brass, the cannon was a different story, it was a harder metal. I tried and tried, but it did not smooth down very quickly. I then gently touched around the top of the cannon with a diamond tip bit on the dremel. Very carefully though, as I only needed to remove .01mm of material. After a few strokes, I then took the fine sandpaper to the part with the pin vise and smoothed it out.

I will tell you though, I think you only need to modify the hour wheel. It is easy, and I think it is safer than broaching the hour wheel hole to 1.5mm. For the minute hand, I think I will trim off the top of the cannon so it is .97, and then broach the Rolex minute hand to fit the cannon. I am sure that will be the easiest fit. I don't have the broaches or hand holder, but will invest in them now to make the mod for my project.

So my conclusion is, smooth down the eta hour wheel to 1.4mm, order a longer cannon pinion than needed, and trim off the top until you are down to .97, then broach the .95 rolex hand to .97. Then broach the genuine second hand from .22 to .25 to fit the eta movement.

Just make sure you practice your mods with old parts.

[vaccum]

Excellent...thanks for sharing!

[pitimany]

woow, this is good work.

[RWG Technical]

Very impressive work.

RG

[Falco]

Great stuff Stilty

[ubiquitous]

Nice work, as always!