dbane883 Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 As some of you know, I have recently had the good fortune of acquiring a gen 116610 bezel assembly: The construction of this particular unit has been a mystery for me, until today. I have struggled for the past couple of weeks in finding a way to remove the ceramic insert from the bezel itself. Having heard horror stories that RSC themselves have problems removing the fragile insert (often breaking them), this was quite the challenge. As a result, inserts and bezels come fully assembled now. I have not seen or read any method where this surgery was successful. I have also heard rumors of a "special" tool that RSC uses that is only somewhat successful. However, I am happy to report that I have developed a process that I can repeat, and the bezel has now been fully, and safely disassembled! I understand that very few will ever have a need to attempt this, but for those of you interested, here's how I did it. After carefully examining the assembly, I gathered that I would have to somehow push the insert upwards while pressing down on the bezel to release the insert. Unlike rep inserts, the gen insert is held in with friction. as such, if one does not apply even pressure, the insert will snap. If you look closely, the middle of the insert overhangs the inside of the bezel leaving about 0.3-0.4mm of clearance: Using this diameter, I had a die fabricated out of delrin, such that it would fit inside the bezel and rest under the inside lip of the insert: In the same vein, I reasoned that I would then have to apply downward pressure on the bezel edge only while pressing the insert up. So I fabricated a die so that the entire bezel would fit inside a recessed channel, milled to the same contour of the bezel that would only apply pressure to the outer edge: The key was to have the bezel fit exactly and not allow any wiggle room as I did not want to risk the die slipping off during the pressing process. Now I gently put the two dies together to test for snugness. Perfect fit: The "crystal" press I have been using is actually my wifes grommet/eyelet press. Its beefy and very solid. I had my dies fitted with the appropriate connection hardware. I installed the bottom die and placed the bezel assembly onto the pedestal. Followed by the top die: Now the moment of truth! I will not lie, I was peeing my pants. Would be a shame to destroy a brand new insert! The result? Success! Insert is perfectly preserved. I am somewhat surprised I had to resort to this. Definitely not for the faint of heart. But with my new tools, I think I can confidently repeat this safely in the future. Upon close examination, the insert retaining ring is metal. For some reason I had thought this was plastic. Reassembling will be relatively simple in comparison; All three pieces will go back together and simply pressed together. I think there is a reason I have stuck with vintage builds. Working with these modern ceramic parts can be very scary! I hope you enjoyed the show. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusk Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Awesome work! Perfectly planned and executed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Well done mate. I have had to do similar in making custom dies, its the only way to be 100% certain things will go right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droptopman Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 You are one courageous man. Smart too. Awesome work. Sent from my droptop using telepathy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabioliveri Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 you are a genius man! best compliments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielv2000 Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Great job. I would have broken it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc33 Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Amazing ingenuity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theblueprince Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Bravo, very impressive and imaginative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glight2000 Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Not that anyone but me cares, but here is a close up of the inside of the gen bezel. You can see the bottom area where the "stabilizer ring" sits. Just above that is the recessed area for the ceramic insert. There is a tiny lip that secures the insert in place that holds it in place via friction, just like the "old school" inserts. Also, I've noticed that the insert is not 100% ceramic. From the edge, I can see that a thin layer of carbon fibre (?) or fibre glass is sandwiched in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live1 Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 yes the gen inserts are cherachrom rep insert is ceramic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I think Cerachrom is just a brand name. Like Kleenex is to tissue. Chemically, its the same as other ceramics. According to their patent, the inserts are made of "A sintered substrate 1 made of ZrO2, Al2O3 or a mixture of the two". Nothing special there. But I definitely see something sandwiched in the middle.. Its not uniform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aero_Dave Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Nice job indeed. Now you can just rent-out your dies to others that may need to use it. Dave... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgiv Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Thanks again for persevering. I for one certainly care and appreciate the additional info. There is very little out there in the wild and am happy to know more now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live1 Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 zockker who built my franken monster is making a huge build thread showcasing how my watch was built from scratch,including the bezel assembly.dissasembly etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximo101 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Any idea where I can find a replacement ceramic insert for the 116610lv? My insert shows three cracks which have appeared out of nowhere, no impact or anything like that... as the insert is broken now anyway, I assume getting it out will be easy enough on my one. Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbobdobalina Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Great tutorial, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtguk Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Not sure how I missed this post, must have been having my nanna nap You have balls of steel db Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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