haveblue

congrats m5......you were bidding against me!! i had to make a decision.....date with a hott chick or bid on the superdome....i quit bidding to go on the date enjoy it! @nanuq.....how are the clark superdomes?

wow!!!! i'm speechless. i decided to do some last minute reading on lug hole drilling before tackling my wm 1680 and cam across this thread. bill, chief, and rob.....you guys are an amazing wealth of information. i think i will put my lug drilling on hold for now. i'm especially glad i didn't attempt to try the lughole re-bias project first. the craft has come along way from just punching through the lug holes with a dremel or a hand-held drill. my hats off to you guys.

Awesome work Watchmeisters!!!!! Count me in for 2 for sure.

i have a question for the superdome experts..... what is a fair price that we should target when purchasing a tropic 39 superdome. i saw one being sold for $135, is that about right?

uhhhhhhh.....yeah, send your girl.

good point chief on the sel drilling. i bought the 2mm cobalt bit to drill the end links too but will allow some 'frustration' time to get the bracelet to fit correctly. i spent some 'frustration' time last night performing the simple task of fitting the nice noobmariner bracelet to my mbw......the 3 piece sel and the springbars were a little tempermental on one side of the case. i finally encouraged it to fit....... on the subject of springbars, i have been surfing the 'bay to find some gen springbars.....i just don't like crusing into my local AD for parts. they like to sell AND install the parts.....they seem to hold us DIY types in distain.

l's&t's, nice franken-gmt II ! when i saw randy's granite background, i assumed it was still his. i plan to set up the press tonite and dis-assemble the watches in the next several nites so i can start drilling this weekend. the weather is forecasted as nasty so this inside project wll give me something to do. now, here's a question for all of you lug-freaks. i have 3 watch cases on which i plan to enlarge the lug holes.....a tw classic, sub, a tw classic gmt II, and a wm 1680. i know that all the holes are to be punched through at 1.3mm, however, since all these cases are 20mm lug/bracelet width, what springbars should be used? are they all the same springbars or is there a difference? also, can someone pm me a source where to acquire genuines? i have the 925-5 springbars for the sub i bought from a member here, i just need springbars for the other ones.

i've got the drill press and the cobalt bits, i just have to have the time to drill......i've got my gmt II and my tw classic to re-bias and my 1680 to just drill out. hey ubi, is that rehaut on your gmt II as deep as the tw classic sub's rehaut? my gmt II's rehaut is not quite that deep.....it is about as deep as my wm 1680's.....is that about right?

i've dealt with that ebay dealer before and he ONLY deals in genuine parts....

nice work sash!!! my humble input is to just correct the "We preferred" wording to "We prefer" for the payment types.

@SB, the other day, i read a post where another forum member used the gasket from the back of the case for the crystal gasket because it fit perfectly. But when they tried ordering fom OF or Cousins, the new part didn't fit the caseback. i can't find the thread that was in but if you have a old sub laying around, you might want to canabalize the gasket to use on the crystal of your 1680.

i have some oyster/sub bracelets lying around. do you need just the clasp or the entire bracelet?

ubi, instead of a full-meal-deal, that looks more like a 'happy meal' that has been super-(dome)-sized!!!! i can't wait to see the finished product !!!

@freddy- no, these are older cases that came out of Taiwan 3-4 years ago. they were sold by river, eddie, and a few other dealers. @chief - thanks for the end mill links. here's my logic regarding my original methodology. the current hole is off-bias and is smaller than the required 1.3mm. if i mill with a diamond tip, the new lower edge that the bit should take, the carbide tip should fit into this new starter hole and then mill/bite to follow the rest of the way through creating the new path/hole. i'm conceptually thinking of viewing the current hole and the new hole as concentric circles from a top-down view....the new hole will be larger than the current hole just the center moves. if i widen the existing hole in the direction the new hole needs to go, then the fixed nature of case lug in the drill press vise and the fixed head lowering slowly (with the cobalt bit shortened to minimize flex) should allow it to follow the new hole and not drift back to follow the path of the current hole. how would a end mill bit work better? is it designed to minimized tip flex?

well, i can report progress on the drilling project......i bought a drill press and press vice this weekend!!! now i am waiting for the 1.3mm cobalt bits to arrive. i also bought some diamond tipped bits that have varying tip geometries. my plan is to use one of the long conical ones to grind/make a starter edge on the existing hole to act as a guide for when i use the cobalt bit. this should allow me to bias the hole away from the edge and more towards the inner portion of the lug.

i love these threads.....makes me sort of miss the old days!!!! i wonder, does the german sub have the correct TRL?!?!?!

EXACTLY.....that is exactly the line of thinking that i was taking too!!! i'll be out of country for most of Nov and plan to do the testing when i am back and around the house for the holidays. sorry lions if that timing is not quick enough.....i have too much travel and work in the next several weeks.

@chief - lions and i have been continuing the discussion that you and i were having regarding the use of a drill press. my talks with machinists has indicated that if the drill bit length is dramatically shortened by keeping the bulk of the bit up inside the chuck, this will minimize the amount of flex that the end of the bit will see.....the bit can then be lowered slowly and thus 'mill' the new hole on the edge of the existing hole. lions and i were considering practicing on an old case to perfect the process. the lug holes are going to be the last thing i do on my frankensub, that is using the tw classic case, so it will give us time to test things.

that looks outstanding!!! i would say, don't drill out the lug holes yet. i'm working on the plan to drill them biased towrds the center of the lug like we talked about in our PM's. our TW Classics are so hard to find, i wouldn't risk ruining a nice piece. (on a side note, any one that has a gen insert like lions&tigers that they want to sell me, just PM me )

@ lions&tigers, i'm glad that you found a TW best classic. are the lug holes centered or will you have to bias the center when you drill out to the larger size? i have a TW classic and the lug holes are a little too close to the edge of the lug to just enlarge. i'm looking for a solution. i agree the dial is not great.....the date font is wrong and the dial letters are not brilliant. the bracelet is totally wrong with the wrong end-links and number stamped on the bracelet itself. however, as you say, the rehaut is deeeeeeeeep and the crystal sticks up nicely above the bezel/insert. i am sourcing a TWG sub as a donor watch to make my franken sub look as close to tribal's franken as i can. @tribal, as i've said before, your watch is stunning and i learned something about the sub dial's minute markings from your pics. thanks for what you have done to inspire us to improving our frankens!!

i'll bring my parts and sleep in a tent in the yard as long as you all let me in to use the facilities....

tribal, your combination of the 1A and the 1B is phenomenal!!! i love it !! wear it well my friend....wear it well!!!

What is the difference between the TW Best Classic case with the lug holes and the MBW 1A case? I let my MBW 1A go a couple of years ago but kept my TW Classic. If I recall correctly the crystal height was higher on the MBW and the case back was thicker.

do it ubi!!!! i think it would be an excellent next project! i have a black insert version tw best that daytonaT did work on like a longer gmt hand and new dial, etc. but it needs additional things fixed to be a perfect franken. ahhh.....but that is another project for another day. that is why i recommend you do your so we can see the perfect rep!!!

yep.