In search of hands

[Mark_zijn]

I’m in the process of building a franken 15000 date. But as it turns out, I’ve blown all of my budget on gen parts, everything except movement and hands is gen. I have a movement laying around from a old rep that I wanna use, and just buy nice silver Date hands for it (hands are cheaper than a movement), but I can’t find the ones with the correct hole size... I’m looking for Hr=1.34mm, Min=0.835mm, sec =0,22mm. Any one who can point me in the right direction? Any help is greatly appreciated! 

[automatico]

"I’m looking for Hr = 1.34mm, Min = 0.835mm, sec = 0,22mm."

 

Here are some hand sizes for common rolex movements:

 

1210/1215 manual wind    1.30 x 0.85 x 0.20mm

1530/1570 auto    1.20 x 0.80 x 0.20mm

3035/3135 auto    1.40 x 0.95 x 0.22mm

 

Looks like the 1210/1215 is close and reference 6694 models with 1210/1215 were 34mm same as a rolex 15000 oys perp date model.  The 1530/1570 minute hand is close too. 

It is easier to slightly enlarge a hand hole than shrink it down.  You can broach the hole out a little bit if needed but closing a hand hole can be tricky.  If there is a slight hub on the bottom side of the hand, I close the hole by putting the hub in the proper 'WW' lathe collet and squeeze it down a bit with the draw bar wheel.  Without a lathe and proper collets you can use a pin vise being careful not to squeeze it down too much.  Try to use a pin vise that is nearly closed when clamped over the hand hub because it can make 'flutes' (ripples) on the hub if the jaws are too far apart. 

If you go with a pin vise, practice on a few cheapo quartz hands first.

 

You can make a few 'broaches' by filing 3 or 4 flats on a tapered needle etc.  You can rough cut the broach with a miniature file and finish it up with fine sandpaper on a flat surface.  

Sweep second hands can be a pain if the tube needs to be enlarged because the tiny broaches for the job break very easily. 

Something else...be careful that the sweep second hand is not too tight on the sweep second pinion because it can cause damage to the ss pinion  or break a jewel if there is one at the bottom.  Another problem if the second hand is too tight is the hand can pull off over the center tube rivet when removing it.  It is very hard to get the hand back on the tube and still have it look good.  I have pressed sweep second hands down over a pin to enlarge the hole but I remove the hand with brass tweezers by pushing the hand off the pin from the bottom side.

 

It's all easier than it sounds with a bit of practice, believe it or not.  

 

One of these makes it even easier:

 

[Mark_zijn]

4 hours ago, automatico said:

"I’m looking for Hr = 1.34mm, Min = 0.835mm, sec = 0,22mm."

 

Here are some hand sizes for common rolex movements:

 

1210/1215 manual wind    1.30 x 0.85 x 0.20mm

1530/1570 auto    1.20 x 0.80 x 0.20mm

3035/3135 auto    1.40 x 0.95 x 0.22mm

 

Looks like the 1210/1215 is close and reference 6694 models with 1210/1215 were 34mm same as a rolex 15000 oys perp date model.  The 1530/1570 minute hand is close too. 

It is easier to slightly enlarge a hand hole than shrink it down.  You can broach the hole out a little bit if needed but closing a hand hole can be tricky.  If there is a slight hub on the bottom side of the hand, I close the hole by putting the hub in the proper 'WW' lathe collet and squeeze it down a bit with the draw bar wheel.  Without a lathe and proper collets you can use a pin vise being careful not to squeeze it down too much.  Try to use a pin vise that is nearly closed when clamped over the hand hub because it can make 'flutes' (ripples) on the hub if the jaws are too far apart. 

If you go with a pin vise, practice on a few cheapo quartz hands first.

 

You can make a few 'broaches' by filing 3 or 4 flats on a tapered needle etc.  You can rough cut the broach with a miniature file and finish it up with fine sandpaper on a flat surface.  

Sweep second hands can be a pain if the tube needs to be enlarged because the tiny broaches for the job break very easily. 

Something else...be careful that the sweep second hand is not too tight on the sweep second pinion because it can cause damage to the ss pinion  or break a jewel if there is one at the bottom.  Another problem if the second hand is too tight is the hand can pull off over the center tube rivet when removing it.  It is very hard to get the hand back on the tube and still have it look good.  I have pressed sweep second hands down over a pin to enlarge the hole but I remove the hand with brass tweezers by pushing the hand off the pin from the bottom side.

 

It's all easier than it sounds with a bit of practice, believe it or not.  

 

One of these makes it even easier:

 

Man, thanks for the reply! Great stuff 

[mymanmatt]

What movement are you using?

[Mark_zijn]

2 hours ago, mymanmatt said:

What movement are you using?

After some research I think its a seagull st-6... 

[mymanmatt]

If you look on eBay, you can buy a set of hand reaming tool, or broach set and a hand removal tool.