Is there a way to slightly bend watch hands down while they are installed?

[RickFlorida]

I put my first watch together and realized my minute hand is bent upwards away from face a little too much.   I know to bend them up you can slide plastic under them but is there a way to bend them *down* without removing them?  I really don’t want to uninstall my seconds hand.  

 

Thanks for any tips!

Rick

[bobandshawn]

Yes, but its tricky. You need two tools...tweezers or tiny screwdrivers to leverage the hand. One near the the pinion, under the hand - and then push down near the tip of the hand with the other at the same time. Kind of a torqueing press.

[RickFlorida]

2 hours ago, bobandshawn said:

Yes, but its tricky. You need two tools...tweezers or tiny screwdrivers to leverage the hand. One near the the pinion, under the hand - and then push down near the tip of the hand with the other at the same time. Kind of a torqueing press.

Thank you!  I’ll use a dial protector and do this.

[horologist]

I have done it many times with 2 round quality tooth picks where one puts a gentle hold on the center pinions & the other to gently lift or push the hand you are trying to adjust. Sometimes a 3 rd toothpick splintered for size under the  hand that is to be worked on also helps. The key here is to be as gentle as possible and to use a piece of plastic between the dial and hands.  With wooden or plastic tooth picks you have Buckley's chance of marring the dial as opposed to metal objects!  Good luck!!

[automatico]

I have also used a toothpick between the dial and hand with clingwrap or watch paper between the dial and toothpick when lowering/straightening a bent hand.

 

When straightening hands:

First check to see if the hand is mounted level on the CP or hour when.  If not, correct this first while making sure the hands are not pushed down too far on the CP and hour wheel.  Minute hands are easy to mount out of level without noticing it.

I use wide, flat nose tweezers and put a layer of 'Saran Wrap' thin plastic food service cling wrap around the hand to protect it.  Good idea to also use a layer of wrap or a piece of watch paper between the dial and hands if you are working close to the dial. 

Vigor Prideline TW752A tweezers are good for hands if you can find them.

 

You can make flat nose tweezers out of the regular type by cutting the tips off and slightly rounding the sharp edges leaving them about 2mm wide at the end.  The wider ends will not put a scratch or dent in the hand like pointed nose tweezers are prone to do.

Luminous material can be a problem if the hand needs to be bent very much...watch for cracks or the lume rising up out of the hand.  Some modern hands have the lume applied on the back of the hand in one wide stripe and this type seems to be fairly durable depending on age and type of lume.  Older = brittle.