Mush Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Ordered all 3 parts from Otto Frei and my watchsmith who has worked on all my reps cannot fiqure this one out. He has used 3 different types of epoxy and the gen tube seems too small. Also the date change wheel is not lining up. He managed to salvage the rep tube and re-install the watch. Any recommendations? Or can anyone recommend someone in the US that is familiar with this mod and doesn't have a crazy backlog? We went through all the pictorials on all the major sites to no avail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Sorry to hear that Mush, try using something like JB weld, the gen tube should be left alone for about 24 hours to cure, ...Is he doing that or is he testing within an hour or two?...cos it may not be enough time?... I'm not sure why it's not holding in this case... which rep tube was it? ...the one with internal treads or one of the rarer ones with external threads? ....reason I ask is because the external threaded rep tube one leaves an even larger gap to fill than the internal threaded one. Either way it should be just a case of putting extra epoxy on to fill hole then do the tube as normal. I'm sure someone in the US should be able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) Hello again Coug. How are you? I am using p/n 090st1232 like all the tutorials show. I seen in your earlier post that you used Araldite, but I only found the 90 minute type. Is this what you used? Maybe I have the genlemen use JB Weld or Araldite and be more liberal when applying ?!?!?! Edited March 4, 2013 by Mush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Mush, That 90min araldite should do the job, but if you can get the slow set araldite then even better. The reason I said JB weld is because it's probably the strongest of all the epoxies but the others will do fine also. Try ask him to be a bit more liberal and put the glue on both sides and see how it goes. The more you can get the glue into a kind of thick paste the better, runny glue consistency isn't good for these jobs. Use as much as necessary to fill that gap. Any excess can be removed after, just try not to get it inside the tube. You can clamp if you want to, even a clothes peg will do. I just usually leave the watch on its side with the tube facing upwards, it's perfectly stable like this if the glue is pasty enough. The main thing is to make sure the tube is straight. Hope he can get it right, once its in place it should be rock solid after a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtools Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Someone on RWG had posted a different way of installing the tube that didn't reqire epoxy. They had pressed a sleeve in the watch case and then tapped the hole to fit the gen tube. Maybe your watchsmith has access to a jewelers lathe and can machine you a sleeve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
correctime Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Pressing the "sleeve" into the case will work but keep in mind that's also another point at which the case can leak and allow water/moisture to get in.. I've done a few of the 42mm PO gen tube installs and JB Weld is the one that worked the best. The one that seems to have had the most success was the one I filled in the case tube bore with JB and just prior to curing shaped it to the inside groove of the case....basically :"feathering" it smooth to avoid interfering with the mvt ring. After setting under the pressure of a clamp for 24 hrs. I drilled through the JB to allow the stem to go through. May not be everyone's choice of tactics but it worked very well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Good idea correctime. I've done similar, installed a place holder and then broke that out after and then reworked a hole for the tube in the weld with a file, then glued the tube in again after. Very secure. Also on a bigger case hole with one externally threaded rep tube I used a sleeve and bonded the tube to that and then to the case. The ideal method would be a sleeve tapped on both sides and also threaded into the case or one which has a flat edge which allows it to be held rigid on the inside of the case and the tube screw into that. All in all, jb weld is great and it has managed to bridge even bigger gaps than I thought. The time left to cure seems to be the important part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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