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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/10/2013 in Posts

  1. Hi folks, My usual preface: I am not a watchmaker...but a hack. There are some things I'm going to do that a watchmaker would shudder at. There is also some dust on the pics presented that would make Pugwash, Zig and others puke. The lighting on the pics is terrible...sharpness is bad...composition terrible...yada yada yada. BUT, I did do this work inspired to make a tutorial to help others out including my bud HackR who is having some keyless works problems right now. I was originally inspired to do this by Ajoesmith who's tutorial on the Replica Collector site gave me all the info I needed for the subdial freezing. The Keyless Works info came from a combination of the ETA 7750 tech guide as well as some other tech docs I have kicking around. Thanks to RWG...the place to be, I was inspired to go the next level in watch fixing (beyond changing straps and sizing bracelets). By the way, you'll see 2 different watches used in this tutorial because pics the best pics were found using a combination of documented efforts. Without further delay...excuse the crappiness...and lack of prose...we're into the business lickity-split. Oh...and yeah...my fingernails need clipping...useful for peeling dial strips though. MOVEMENT: Sea Gull ST1902 (aka Venus 175, Lemani Manual Wind) PROBLEM: 6-o-clock subdial on the ST1902 is mated to the hour wheel instead of being a chrono totalizer function Crown would not insert properly or wind movement Movement would not run SOLUTION: Freeze 6-o-clock subdial Check keyless works Tools Used Open Bracelet Open Caseback To open the caseback, I use a cheap Rolex caseback kit I picked up plus the Bergeon 29.5mm die purchased from H.W. Perrin in Toronto. The Movement...lovely! Remove the Stem With the crown unscrewed and in the winding position, I use my springbar tool and depress the stem release button gently, while turning clockwise and pulling out the crown. Remove movement holder screw #1 Remove movement holder screw #2 Remove both movement holder tabs Remove the movement gently on a decasing pad Mount movement in movement holder...note chrono second hand is not pointing at 12-o-clock NOTE: 6-o-clock subdial hand is already frozen and sort of reset already (not pointing right at 12-o-clock in the pic...it has since been resolved). On the watch "out of the box" it will be parallel to the hour hand so it can look kind of funny as none of the other chrono functions will be running but the 12 hour totalizer is pointing to the hour of the time unless it's frozen. Sea Gull had talked about making a true 3 register chrono function ST19, but have yet to do so. Install Bergeon 6938 dial protector Use Bergeon #1 hand remover tool to remove the chrono second hand (or use a generic cheapy) Chrono second hand off NOTE: Dust on dust on dial protector. This is to ensure similar conditions to Chinese assembly plant to make sure the movement operates properly as per factory conditions and specs. After removal of the chrono second hand, remove the minute and hour hands using the same tool. For the subdial hands, you will need to use a carefully dressed hand tool (i.e. filed) or a Bergeon #6 I believe (I don't have the #6) because the small hands are pretty tight to the dial so you need thin claws on the puller to grab the hands effectively. Hands off Unscrew dial feet (2 sets) Dial feet screw Dial removed reveals cover plate Arrows indicate cover plate screws that need removal. Screws removed Cover plate removed Note the faux chrono 6-o-clock subdial is in fact merely hand attached to a wheel with a pinion connected to an intermediate gear that is connected to the hour wheel. To Freeze the Subdials: These 2 brass wheels are merely removed with tweezers as the cover plate holds them in place. Wheels removed...not grease / wear marks Add dial strips where the pinion wheel sits Stick pinion wheel into dial strips (or use dial dots...whatever) Note buggered keyless works Proper Keyless Works If you note 2 pictures up, the setting lever jumper is not correctly hooked onto the setting lever. This likely was caused from pulling the stem out in the time-setting position and popping things out place. You can also bugger the keyless works by pressing the stem release too hard. To reset the keyless works, merely hook the setting lever jumper back on the setting lever post. I also had the problem that the winding pinion fell out somehow. To put this back in, use a screwdriver or springbar tool to push the spring loaded sliding pinion to the left, and drop the winding pinion back in place so the teeth on the face of the winding pinion mate with the teeth on the face of the sliding pinion. Easy peasy. Once the keyless was reset, everything worked properly. I was able to reinsert the stem properly and proper function allowed the movement to run again instead of being locked in the time setting position. I was lucky!! On other movements (not the ST1902), you might have to re-position the yoke between the winding and sliding pinions to reset things. Put the cover plate back on...and install the screws. Screw back on the dial using the dial feet as guides...or mount using dial strips / dots if the feet break off or you change to another dial without feet. 3 register movements are easy as you have 4 small reference pins to ensure proper centering of the dial. Movements with date functions help as well...but can be a bit finicky to centre still. It is harder to center the dial on movements without dial feet when you don't have additional registers and will have to use dial hour markers lining up with stem insert holes or other movement references to ensure proper centering. Dial back on Mount running second hand I use Rodico to pick up the hands. Use hand pressing tool to mount hands. I used JMB's great hand tools from THIS THREAD. Do the other subdial hands Mount the hour and minute hands The beauty of mounting the hour and minute hands on a movement WITHOUT a date feature is that you don't have to worry about the position of the hour and minute hands as they can be manually set when setting the time with no "rollover" coordination with midnight to worry about...so just plug them in, set the time and go! Check for hand clearance If the hands are pressed too deep, are not parallel to the dial surface or are bent, they will hit each other. you may have to try and level out the hands with your hand pressing tool or try and straighten the hands if they are bent. Mount the chrono seconds and admire your work NOTE: The chrono seconds hand does not mount around anything, but has a post that fits inside the pinion. This is best positioned through a loup using Rodico and then pressed once centered correctly. As well, you'll see the chrono second hand is properly pointing to 12-o-clock. This is a bit finicky to get set properly and WILL take a bit of trial and error so keep that loupe and hand puller handy!! ANOTHER NOTE: When installing the chrono second hand, you should make sure the stopwatch is not running, and that the chrono reset pusher has been pushed otherwise you will find your perfectly centered hands are NOT pointing to the top after you install everything. Re-case movement Put back in movement holder tabs and screws Re-insert stem Blow off dust...Rodico off finger prints, oil and grease. Grease gasket Re-install caseback I find the rubber tool is easier to handle for re-installing the caseback. Re-install bracelet Would you believe I forgot to take final pics of the watch? Whoops!! Hope you found this useful. Good luck...and let me know of comments questions, or things I should have done.
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  3. TTP $37.50 ain't looking so good now is it, not to worry post some good pics someone will know the fix.
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  4. radium was deadly!! it's a radioactive isotope. back around the late fifties, when the Radium "Scare ' was at it's height, Rolex actually tried to get back all the 6542's that had the bakelite bezel inserts because it was determiined that there was too much radium on the dial, hands and insert to be safe. I have seen copies of the letter that Rolex sent to watch owners urging them to return the watches for a bezel exchange. They were replaced with aluminum inserts like the later 1675's. No need to worry, all of the lume used today is non-radioactive and has been for many years. Someone asked for a photo of BGW9 here is a MKII Kingston with BGW9 lume.
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  5. Many women died years ago from years of using tritium lume. "Before they used tritium they used radium and it was painted directly onto the dials. This still wasn't a problem for the wearer of the watch but for the people who applied it in the factories ( mostly young women) there were many deaths. They used to lick the brushes to make a fine point and this lead to cancer and death."
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  6. Sunday... the JLC NSD is strap whoring again, this time with a Marathon leather NATO. What a strap [censored]... Not normally a NATO strap kind of guy, but this one is money and fits perfectly. Think I will order the tan one as well. .
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  7. Build yourself a super franken body ;-)
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  8. Thanks! It's a MBW 5513 case with CGs shaped by Highoey and modified by JMB with fixed Springbars. Both did an outstanding job, it really looks very, very accurate and even has correct MOD engravings on the caseback. Partswise it has a serviced slow-beat ETA 2846 ticking inside, gen modified Omega Seamaster 300 hands relumed to match the lume color of the Ingod Milsub dial. Gen crown, tube and crystal are also installed as is a bleached CWP 60 minute insert with Yuki pearl. The strap is a Phoenix watch strap, the original supplier for the British MOD in admiralty grey. This build was meant to be a test run for a super franken 5513 milsub. I wanted to see how much I'd really enjoy it before spending more. I love it and currently I'm gathering parts for a Cal. 1520 powered franken with gen dial etc. Until then this one's getting A LOT of wrist time!
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  9. Gong Xi Fa Cai to all my Chinese Friends. To a great healthy and prosperous year to come for all of in this year of the Snake. For the new year I have been wearing this
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  10. Cold day in the mountains.... -27c this morning
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  12. Hi! There's an Introductions area if you want to say HI .. welcome to the Forum community. Ask anything you want.
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  13. A pearl of wisdom from Legend "Carry yourself well when wearing it and it'll be like a gen on your wrist." there is nothing more to say.
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  14. This is the big leagues TTP some ADs (authorized dealers) can not pick out a piece here after they are modded. Not to worry no one at your school will know any better. Now go chase some girls or play a video game, as you did not notice any flaws then you are happy. You are beating a dead horse, enjoy and move on with life.
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  15. Funny I have the same piece so no further bad pics by me are needed. Now eerily this arrived at my door unbidden courtesy of my friend sgtguk!
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  16. This kind of thing really makes me mad. I messaged the seller (in case he truly didn't know) and then reported it to eBay. You guys know you can click the "report item" in the lower right corner right? I think the more reports, the better chance that eBay will remove the listing. I mean, I agree that if someone is stupid enough to pay $1700 for a watch they don't know is real then they doesn't deserve the money to begin with. However, this could be a situation where a guy tells his wife he wants a SMP and she finds this on eBay not really knowing what to look for and just goes off the feedback rating. I could easily see my wife doing something like that. Anyway, it just sucks, and I hate thieves!
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  17. I am only asking cuz I have a marlin22 Moded 111N but with modern hands and not preV hands and since noob upgraded their V3 with PreV hands, I wonder if all M series have modern hands or PreV hands? Also I was browsing eBay and found DaVinci watches who is selling a N series PAM 111 with modern hands so do hands of the 111 really matter? I'm going crazy here. Should I upgrade my 111 with preV hands or just leave the modern hands (which really looks cool, and I prefer this over PreV) Help help
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  18. I like the "Rasta" look so I do my pubes In dreadlocks. The girls love It mon
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