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Tightening Hands


gasdoc

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Can anyone tell me the process, in detail preferably, on how to "tighten" the hands up so they fit to the tube.

It seems that after being removed and reinstalled a couple of times, the minute hand on my 2824 is slipping, and I think there must be a way to squeeze it or something so it grips the tube more tightly?

Thanks for any advice!

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Guest avitt
Can anyone tell me the process, in detail preferably, on how to "tighten" the hands up so they fit to the tube.

It seems that after being removed and reinstalled a couple of times, the minute hand on my 2824 is slipping, and I think there must be a way to squeeze it or something so it grips the tube more tightly?

Thanks for any advice!

This requires a special tool, which applies even pressure to the tube to tighten it. Contact Rex450 over at RepGeek...I know that he just recently purchased this set, the Bergeon 3010 Tube Tightener, specifically to perform this job. It's the same set that is used by Rolex Service Centers:

b3010_2.jpg

b3010_3.jpg

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I agree the glue can be risky - the clogging up of the cannion did happen for me the first time! and required a lot of picking out. Using a pin vice will work if you have a tube on the hand but what (as was in my case) if there is no tube - ie it was a second hand with just a hole. What alternatives are there for that to tighten up.

Thanks

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Correct on the flat hands, but I was assuming that the 28xx series movement had pipes on them.

I have to totally disagree on the lathe versus Bergeon tool being the same for efficiency.

With the lathe you are working in the horizontal plane and can scratch or drop the hand while trying to tighten it in place. With the Bergeon tool you are working in the vertical and can just lay the hand in place and go from there. You are also not obligated to use the tightest fit either. Also you may have chips, oil and so on on the collet, so they need to be cleaned prior to use or a separate set used only for tightening.

It is much faster and it is the tool of choice from Rolex for doing such work.

They both do the job just fine, but after I purchased it it has worked 100% thus far and I am quite satisfied with it.

The staking set is great for flat style hands but you can also use a graver to push some of the metal over if necessary for a good bite. I have seen that technique used as far back as the late 1800's on a pocket watches. My mentor also suggested and showed me that as a way to do it. But you have to be light handed and do a bit of wiggle type of engraving to make it work without damaging the other side of the hand depending on the finish and color (if any).

I have also seen other less desirable using the staking sets canon pinion tightening stump and punch to do size it down. Additionally, by using the Seitz/Horia Jeweling set I have seen custom stumps made to do close down the pipes.

So I would guess that there are many more ways out there.

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I want a lathe

Sending Rex a watch where the modder didn't correctly set the hands after luming and reassembly and the chronograph hand flew off the first time I pushed the reset pusher :cry::cry:

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What exactly are you saying?

I'm saying a modder who shall remain nameless sent me a watch that he worked on and the chronograph needle fell off when I reset the pusher. I like the modder, he is a gentleman and does fine work but I don't know that movements are his strong suit compared with cosmetics. I think that's clear enough. I have decided to give the Modder a chance to fix it himself but i intend to send it to Rex to be properly attended to at some point

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I've just read the whole topic (when I was about to post my own), and I'm interested in correctly resizing hands to fit a Cortebert. I've considered a staking set, but can't afford to shell out a great deal on a decent set for this task - if I'm only resizing from Unitas to Cortebert hand sizes, can I get away with (for example) simply owning the correct stakes and improvising, or am I better to get a staking set and do it properly?!

My budget for a stake would be about

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Guest avitt
someone mentioned a pin vise... would that be a horrible choice?

Believe it or not, I've actually tightened chronograph hands with a pin vice...So no, not a horrible choice (unless something goes horribly wrong :black_eye: )

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