6263 Project

[omgiv]

Hi Guys,

It seems like I have been trying to get my 6263 together forever. It seems every time I take a step forward, I take at least 3 back. I know that is the name of the game, but this is crazy. I may be searching for a new movement unless I can get a screw to hold the hammer spring in place. It seems someone put an incorrect screw in the hole previously and the correct screw will not hold. It currently has the newer type hammer spring, and I am going to try the older hammer spring or perhaps the longer (older) hammer spring screw. If that doesn't work, I may try and retap the plate and use a plate screw. It is a little wider screw but the threads are too long (can be filed or cut down).

Another problem I have had is with DW hands. I cannot seem to get a hand on the hour register. I measured the posts of the fourth wheel, minute totalizer, hour totalizer, and center second hand. I got .23mm, .24mm, .30mm, and .24mm respectively. The second hand register is definitely longer and fits well. The problem is that I think the other two hands are the same size. I have tried to broach the hour register hand, but the post comes loose from the hand every time I do. I also have a set of JAW hands but I prefer the look of the DW hands. Does anyone know of any tips that you used to get yours to fit? Thanks in advance!!!!!

[freddy333]

Sorry to hear you are having problems. But, like you said, problems like these are the norm.

The tubes of most of the aftermarket Daytona hands I have installed had to be either enlarged or reduced to fit onto the pinions. Here is an example of the difference in tube diameters between the original hand (from a donor watch) & a typical DW replacement (which had to be broached)

Just be sure to note which hand fits which pinion (the tubes are different lengths - if I remember correctly, the running seconds tube (left) is the shortest, the hour totalizer (bottom) is the medium length & the minutes totalizer (right) is the longest, but it has been awhile, so I could be wrong)

(DW hands)

[omgiv]

Thanks for the reply Freddy! It is funny that your DW hands have three different sizes. Mine are clearly two (I don't know if I have enough good ones for a comparison now ). I ordered two sets of hands off of the bay and the small hands were packed like this (2 hands in watch paper and 4 hands in watch paper). The two hands had the longer tube and were for the seconds subdial. The four hands had the same length tube and were the same diameter. It looks like in your picture that the shorter tube hand goes on the hour totalizer (larger size shaft). When you broached the hand, how did you keep it from coming loose from the hand? Thanks again!!!!!!

[freddy333]

When you broached the hand, how did you keep it from coming loose from the hand?

In my experience, most of these aftermarket chrono hands arrive with the hand wand loose on its tube. In these cases, you have 3 choices - exchange the hand & keep your fingers crossed that the replacement is better than the original, tighten the joint with a staking set (assuming you have a staking set) or apply a small dab of epoxy at the joint

(original pic courtesy of Avitt)

[omgiv]

Thanks Freddy! I do have a staking set but have never had much luck re-securing the tube. I have tried the glue method you recommended and it has worked before. Thanks again!!!!