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jmb

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Posts posted by jmb

  1. Freddy - I see the Spaceview crystal there, you doing a build? :)  I'd love to have a Spaceview but they usually go for a lot more than I feel comfortable paying.

     

    Here's what I built.  Picked up a non-working movement/dial/hand set, a case, and case-back and built a watch head out of it.  The movement just needed a light service and I was able to muddle through it without tearing anything up.  Once I had a working head I ordered a band from Borel that I figure would be fairly period correct.  My case looks the same as yours except for the gold plating.

    Gold 218 N2.jpg

  2. I have a lot of people contact me wondering why they can't just screw a 24-6020 tube into a rep case so they can use a Rolex crown.  It sounds like such an easy process, anybody should be able to do it!  Not quite so simple, though...

     

    Most rep cases have a tube hole that's too small so it will need to be drilled out and re-tapped:

     

    Tube%20install%201.jpg

     

    A lot of folks do this and are bummed when the crown sticks up like a third-eye zit!  Most people don't look at the new tube that closely and fail to notice the chamfer/angle between the tube's crown threads and case threads so they keep cranking on it until the tube snaps off in the case:

     

    Tube%20install%202.jpg

     

    I have quite a few sent to me in this condition... :Jumpy:

     

    It seems all that would be necessary would be to countersink the tube hole to allow the tube to set flush against the case:

     

    Tube%20install%203.jpg

     

    Tube%20install%204.jpg

     

    Well, not quite - crown still sticks out too far:

     

    Tube%20install%205.jpg

     

    The amount of countersink is dependent on the crown being used so from this point I just increase the countersink into a shallow "counterbore" untill the crown sits about the way I want it.  The amount of counterbore will vary so I'm not going to say how deep, that is something you have to experiment with to find:

     

    Tube%20install%206.jpg

     

    Screw the tube in, just right:

     

    Tube%20install%207.jpg

     

    And you're all set!

     

    Tube%20install%208.jpg

     

    • Like 2
  3. 5 hours ago, automatico said:

    "Sure glad Automatico chimed in, I wuz gonna suggest Vise-Grips!"

     

    Saw a kitchen table watch fixer set the date on a slow set watch by running the crown down a yardstick with belt sander paper glued on it. 

     

    That's a bit drastic, I was thinking more in the line of chucking the crown in an electric drill and lettin' 'er rip!

    • Like 1
  4. Prayers going out from Texas to our Cousins across The Pond.  I can't fathom living through something like that and it only reinforces how grateful I feel for living in a country where I have the right to defend myself from soulless thugs and cretins.

    • Like 2
  5. Gee, almost like a family reunion! :)

     

    rm - I'm getting old, I doubt I have time left to even use a small portion of them!  The last Yuki "Rolex" Explorer dial I used still seemed gen-spec but they also have one with ETA feet.  I would suspect it to be the same dial 'cept for different feet location.

  6. Glad to see it turned out so nice!  Congrats on a super job and great first build.

     

    Yes, the additional "dial seat" room is kind of a pain but unfortunately such is the world of rep parts.  When I first started using these cases the dial seat was around 28.5mm, IIRC.  Over the years they've slowly creeped larger and larger - I suppose this is to easily accommodate the wide variance in rep dial diameter.  I voice my complaints when they first got to 29mm but just received a "sorry" this is what is now available.  I was told he could get special runs made but I would have to pay up front for a 500 piece minimum.  I told him I didn't think I'd live long enough to go through that many cases... :p

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