Too bad its all scratched up.
I’m not into watches at all, but I just wanted to say that I LOVE seeing threads/posts like this where guys have a passion for something and dive right in to learn everything they can. The fact that you’re out here rebuilding them, and doing the restoration work yourself is awesome! No different than a guy doing collision work/paintwork etc. I have a question too, what does the blueing of the metal do? Is that just for a cosmetic effect, or does it alter the characteristics of the metal? I’m looking into plating and anodizing of small parts for an MX bike.
Are you using an ultrasonic to clean the small parts?
There are some really nice cleaning machines out there but a small ultrasonic has worked fine for me for now. I do a clean, double rinse, alcohol rinse, and then a warm air dryer.
Its truly satisfying (and gallactically frustrating) to disassemble, diagnose, and clean everything and then watch the balance wheel spin up when its all back in order. There ia NO room for close enough. The tolerances only allow it to work properly…or not. Once tou understand the basic systems, and how they operate, its a lot easier to diagnose issues. Each manufacturer has their own take on how they design a movement, so while similar, they’re also unique.
While assembling new watches (tributes, mods, etc) is satisfying, I prefer the old watch restoration. Most of the examples I buy just need a cleaning since they’ve been around for 60- 70 years. I have found some have issues, sometimes from someone that’s been in there before…just like engines. I took apart a TIMEX last week and just left it dissasmebled in a box. Horribly cheap and chincy…but they were marketed that way and do the job.
Blueing is (to me) just an aesthetic feature. I believe there are some “hardening” properties imposed, but at this scale i dont see any real benefit to that.
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Managed to get her all done in one day. Sanded and polished the case, wet sanded / polished the crystal, assembled and lubricated. Running pretty damn good for its age…
Decided to blue just the second hand and leave the rest original…
Someone from another forum gave me this one, along with a really nice chronograph.
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Minor desk jockey scratches, nice thing is I don’t really have to worry about it.
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