I'm really liking this channel. It's the difference between learning from a textbook and learning from an apprenticeship. We're getting the facts plus the benefit of Alex's experience and insight. Good stuff.
I not only agree - but ?!?!?!? also I want to commend you - for pointing out ( what others may think of as ) obvious ..... Because sometimes it just is not - until it is : pointed out ;) Thanks again for sharing !
I've been watching numerous watch repair videos for a couple of months now and have to say that yours are the most concise and clearest explanations I've found. Plus I love the no BS approach you take. I do have a couple of problematic older watches and, after watching this video, have taken your advice and bought a 3600 movement to practice on. Great content that is well presented and edited.
Your a good teacher 😎👍 I have a SWI chronograph eta 2824 with dubois depraz 2025 module and the second hand came off. Local shop pulled crown and stem out and decided fixing it was above his pay grade. Now the hands won't turn using the crown. I've got books and your videos and others. I fix old sewing machines on on the side to sale so I know I'll enjoy watch making. I'll try taking your course down the road.
Superb explanation!!! So many things to learn in watch repairs. Sir, we would not have known that such problems exist, had you not brought it to our notice. Hats off to you Sir.
Another great one! It’s reassuring to see that many of the things I’ve learned by trial and error, or by careful thought and practice, are what you are teaching. I especially like the careful editing you do. Some channels are interesting but not edited, so you have to watch the repair practically in real time. Yours are concise, efficient and the voiceover combines well with the excellent video. Please keep making these! And please consider some examples of problem solving - for example, a watch with gremlins that lead to markedly different performance in the dial up and dial-down positions.
Thanks Paul, I am working on the video titled “ what you don’t know about Timegraphers” which will be full of useful information. Troubleshooting problems and watch adjustment is kinda my thing that I am most passionate about so you can expect lots of those types of videos.
Every video of yours I watch 3 or 4 times at least and I learn so much. I had an el cheapo set of oilers I almost through out, but then something made me hang onto them, now I know why, for checking end shake under the 'scope'. Thanks Alex!
THANK YOU!!, MR,HAMILTON,AGAIN!!! I HAVE THIS ISSUE ONE OF MY 70,s MOVEMENT WHAT I WORK ON!! THERES HAVE ALOT THIS SHAKE! VERY HELPFUL THIS VIDEO! THANK YOU BIGTIME!!👌👍☺️✌️🌻☀️🇫🇮
Thank you for these! I appreciate the time you've taken to share your knowledge, I'm getting very excited to jump into this. Know that this old calligrapher appreciates the hell out of your efforts.
I appreciate this rapid stream of videos starting with the basics. It's as if you've put together a course just for my convenience. I have my grandfather's Elgin pocket watch that runs but doesn't keep time and hasn't been serviced in decades. I unscrewed the back to identify the movement but put it aside until I have a clue what I'm doing. Bought two new 6497 movements to learn on - one to have assembled should I run into trouble remembering how the first goes back together. Following along with the lessons, remove the keyless works, put back in, hey it still works. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Take the balance wheel out. Put it back in....
That’s awesome. I am so happy you are waiting to work on the Elgin and that this is helping. The next videos will be on how to clean the parts by hand, and then 3 videos on lubrication starting with the train jewels, the the balance jewel’s and finally the pallet jewels. After that probably using a timegrapher. Stay tuned.
@@graymatrrocks That's awesome. Lubrication is one of those things that a lot of people struggle with. It's so easy to over lubricate which causes all kinds of issues because the lubricants get pulled away from where they need to be. This causes increased friction, lower amplitude and contamination of parts that don't need oil on them, like wheel teeth and pinions.
That's it, I've made up my mind and I'm starting to take the leap into this fascinating world. I was a little bit scared to make my first step but your videos inspired me enough to buy my first non running watches on ebay. Thanks a lot for the time and passion you share with us. Hi from Paris, France.
Alex- I'm so used to Euro watchmakers talking down to enthusiasts. You produce pure protein, no BS content that really helps people in the real world. Can you please do a vid just about Alex the Great? Where are you from? What is your background? What music do you listen to?
I don’t know if it’s worth a video, but I dropped out of high school in ninth grade, went to live with some relatives in England I went to the British Horological Institute for a year. Hated it came back to the United States and apprenticed under two great watchmakers for eight years, then started my own company and was able to retire at 59. Musically I’m all over the place. I like everything from Sinatra classic country, classic rock and Delta blues.
As always, great video! I couldn't agree more; you don't know what you don't know. Great advice on learning on a working movement, not a broken vintage one.
I am so happy youtube recommended you. This channel has me very excited to study and learn about each part and gives me some basic understanding of what each part does and, now, how that part should behave. Thank you for your work!
Hi, I've just got into watch repairs and have watched lots of videos, and not really learnt anything, However l came across your site and after the first few of your videos, l've learnt more than allthe other videos l've watched, Thank You I look forward to making more videos and learning more from you,.
@@watchrepairtutorials Alex, l'm on number 13, What l would like to ask you, is l've taken two cheap watches apart, and my problem is seeing clearly, What microscope would you suggest, ? I was starting to get disheartened, mainly because l couldn't see properly with what l was using and seeing your microscope, lifted me so much and gave me renewed confidence to carry on !!!!
@@eddie50 that’s awesome man. Check out Amscope. I use their triocular because I need the added port for a camera but the stereo is all you need. Also boom mounted is the way to go as opposed to a specimen style scope. I also added a .5 Barlow lens. The Barlow slightly reduces the maximum magnification BUT what you get in return is a wider field of view and greater working distance under the lens. It’s the only way to go
@@watchrepairtutorials Thanks Alex, l've sorted out a good scope, Just to not buy the one l shouldn't buy, l want to buy one that l can use the Barlow 0.5 ? And not one with a fixed lense? If l've got that right ?
@@eddie50 right Eddie, you definitely want to be able to zoom way in for inspecting and then way out for your normal working distance. The Barlow will give you a wider view and more working distance so that a big plus in my book
So glad I found your channel and subscribed. I have been watching a number of your lessons. I restore vintage Seiko mechanical watches and have been doing so for a bit over 3 years. Many of your lessons are straight forward and well articulated for the novice watchmaker. Vintage Seiko 6 series movements are particularly susceptible to the barrel arbor port wear your describe in this video and often you have to ream the main plate and install a jewel to correct it with a corresponding jewel replacement in the upper barrel bridge arbor port to replace the metal bushing Seiko used. Thanks for your video and I will continue to check in.
Snap! me too. I have yet to find a seiko 7009 without an oval barrel hole. Bought the jewel upgrades from VTA but the job is hit and miss for me,, fortunately they were scrap anyway.
Great video, keep em coming! I'm learning a lot. been practicing with a ST3600. Had my ups and downs (like down on the floor looking for parts) but am building confidence. this really helps. Thanks!
Wish I could give your videos another thumbs up! Just watched for the umpteenth time! Often I think pallet forks and center wheels look like they have too much end shake, is this an illusion or do these suffer more?
Often times they do, but not so much to negatively affect the movement in any meaningful way. This is actually an area where an improvement could be made in a movement by installing a smaller size jewel and resizing the pivot This is one of the big difference in high-end movements versus medium to low end movements. In higher end movements, the tolerances that the parts are manufactured to are much tighter. Manufacturing tolerances are something watchmakers have dealing with ever since the first clock was made.
Hey John, There are several ways to do it. 1) The easiest is just to measure the pivot from the wheel that goes in the hole. The measure one size up from that on the new jewel hole 2) you can buy precision wire gauges. I have a set from the Meyer Gage Company. 3) When you replace a wheel with a broken pivot, remove the pivot from the wheel, drill a hole into a piece of pegwood. Insert the broken end in the hole with a little glue. Then you can measure the pivot and mark the pegwood with the diameter of the pivot and you have a gauge for that size. You can also buy lots of misc wheels and go through them and make up a bunch of gauges cheaply.
Thank you for the excellent video! When you inspect a movement for end shake under microscope. Do you position movement vertically or somehow take a horizontal view?
It makes my day when I see a new video from this channel! Seriously great content, extremely helpful for a novice like myself, especially since I've been looking for a good video about end shake. Really stoked for cleaning and lubrication videos you mentioned are coming up. 😄 If you have a moment, quick question on oil for you: I am thinking of getting the Moebius beginner's kit since it includes 9010, 9415, 9104, 9501, & 9504 -- do I also need to get some 8200? I only see the 8200 used for greasing vintage mainsprings, but is it a requirement or just something done to help prevent corrosion?
Well it depends on which direction you go in. 8200 is used to add a whisper thin film on the mainspring. This reduces the friction between the spring and barrel as it unwinds. The vast majority of mainsprings in vintage watches are sprung and will not provide the needed power for good amplitude. Installing a new mainspring is almost always best as you don't need a winder and they come lubricated. To install a mainspring you need a mainspring winder to be able to properly install it
@@watchrepairtutorials Thanks for the reply! I got a vintage K&D pocket watch mainspring winder, and a Watchcraft wrist watch set as well. The Bergeon set is quite expensive, and the Chinese sets seem to have major drawbacks, so I'm hoping I can make do with these. I'll keep my fingers crossed you do a mainspring sizing video too, since I have no idea how to go about ordering a replacement. 🙏
@@awdturbopowah773 As a matter of interest, I didn’t jump for the complete Bergeon winder kit right from the start - not only is it stupid expensive but you’ll mostly only need half the sizes anyway. So, I buy them individually as I need them. For example, I needed a #3 for my latest project so I got the #3 left winder complete and a #3 right arbour. That cost me around £65 for a complete size, as opposed to forking out £985 for a whole set. I now have all sizes from #3 to #7 which covers me pretty well for wristwatch sized movements
@@TheBeardedWatchmaker Not a bad way to go at all! Great idea, and if these vintage tools don't work out, that's probably how I'll end up doing it. Oh, and one more quick question for you: as someone who's also interested in filming their work, what kind of camera are you using? Your macro shots look nice.
@@awdturbopowah773 Hey bud, thanks!. I have a few that I'm using to be honest, so not sure which shot specifically you referring to? Let me know and I'll go into details of what I used.
don't know how Im going to get a microscope, it is a must have to get to my goal. How is the size in relevance to the number of tooth calculated to get 60 rpm?. Thanks for the lesson .
Good question. It depends on what the beat per hour is. On a 18000 beat watch, there are 60 teeth on the third wheel which turns the 8 leaf pinion on the fourth wheel which rotates once every 60 seconds. is that what you are asking?
Excessive end shake is corrected with a jewel press. The jewel is moved in whichever direction it needs to go 1/100th to 2/100th of a mm until it’s correct. Correct is subjective as it’s a visual determination. The basic rule of power train wheels is that the endshake should be less than the wheel before it and a little more than the wheel after it. The escape wheel, Pallet fork and balance wheel should look the same.
Ok I must admit, i once made a gathering pallet, without knowing anything about it, i just knew what it was supposed to do, it was a tallcase english grandfather clock😂 i wouldnt try this on a wristwatch😅btw it worked out, and are still doing its job perfectly
Hi. With the balance staff that could stand more endshake what is a preferred method of adding endshake? I replace staffs and jewel hole tightness and endshake always raise their head.
You don’t adjust end-shake for balance wheels by moving jewel settings. If you need more end shake then you burnisher the tips of the staff. If the side shake is too tight you burnish the pivot. What type of movements are you working on?
@@watchrepairtutorials It is 16s Bunn Special. I am wanting more endshake. Where are you saying I will burnish? I will use a ballon chuck to get at the pivots. Not sure about burnishing the area other than the pivot you refer to. I agree on moving jewel up and down does not apply on the balance to adjust endshake. The train runs nicely with fork removed, the balance goes well with a puffer face up and down. But the watch loses 1.2 seconds per minute and I observe no endshake, so I am going after that next.
@@jftman53 yes you can just burnish the tips of the staff and that will increase the endshake. Are you sure are your clearances are good between the pallet fork and roller table.
@@watchrepairtutorials I will want to check the clearance with the roller table. I do check my work to be sure all lands of the staff are fully in contact to the roller. Then what could be a further adjustment, would it be the impulse pin not being positioned correct? Or maybe the fork jewels cause the fork to be higher than needed. I do see the top of the fork is nearly level with the banking pin height.
@@jftman53 there could be a lot of things in that area like the guard pin dragging or even rubbing across the roller. The escapement inspection is key.
I had a subscriber say they had good luck with the Chinese version you see on eBay or Ali. They said the build quality is very good. The negative is that it does not come with reamers which is important for replacing jewels. When you are replacing the same size jewel sometimes you can do it with reaming the hole, but many times if there is even a small nick on the edge of the hole in the plate the jewel will break so reaming the hole is always good practice. I use a vintage Seitz that I picked up many years ago that the pushers and reamers are still available new. Personally I would keep my eye out on eBay for one.
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I have a mechanical watch that only runs when upside down, if i wear it upright, after a few minutes it will stop. Can you pls point out the obvious areas?
When you’re holding the watch and it stops, more than likely, it is the balance pivot below the balance will that’s the problem. There’s many other things it could be, but without knowing the history of the watch, that’s the most likely.
LOL I lived at Carolina Beach for many years and their was a guy who lived in a World War II ammo bunker for like 20 years all the at the end who became known as the Fort Fisher Hermit. People would drive down by the thousands to see this guy and listen to him talk a loud his philosophy of life.
Thanks, If starting out on old broken pocket watches was an effective way to learn, watchmaking schools would do it. Ut they don’t. You start on a working ETA 6497 and work up. People use the reasoning that it is cheaper, but it actually more expensive because they usually end up with a bunch of watches that don’t work. Of course there are exceptions but typically that road leads to a bunch of non runners that just get resold again and again.
I'm really liking this channel. It's the difference between learning from a textbook and learning from an apprenticeship. We're getting the facts plus the benefit of Alex's experience and insight. Good stuff.
Your bonus tips are ALWAYS things I’ve not seen before and ALWAYS useful!
Glad you like them!
You are simply the king. Explain in simple language how and what it does. I am really glad that you exist and teach us beautiful things.
Wow, thank you. Let me know if you need anything
I not only agree - but ?!?!?!? also I want to commend you - for pointing out ( what others may think of as )
obvious ..... Because sometimes it just is not - until it is : pointed out ;)
Thanks again for sharing !
Great video! This is the first one that I have seen that really covers end-shake. Much appreciated!
I've been watching numerous watch repair videos for a couple of months now and have to say that yours are the most concise and clearest explanations I've found. Plus I love the no BS approach you take.
I do have a couple of problematic older watches and, after watching this video, have taken your advice and bought a 3600 movement to practice on.
Great content that is well presented and edited.
Well Grumpy, it’s about time, right.
I hope you stick around, lots more coming as we start moving into repair, adjusting and regulation.
Your a good teacher 😎👍
I have a SWI chronograph eta 2824 with dubois depraz 2025 module and the second hand came off. Local shop pulled crown and stem out and decided fixing it was above his pay grade. Now the hands won't turn using the crown. I've got books and your videos and others. I fix old sewing machines on on the side to sale so I know I'll enjoy watch making. I'll try taking your course down the road.
Superb explanation!!! So many things to learn in watch repairs. Sir, we would not have known that such problems exist, had you not brought it to our notice. Hats off to you Sir.
Thank you my friend
Another great one! It’s reassuring to see that many of the things I’ve learned by trial and error, or by careful thought and practice, are what you are teaching. I especially like the careful editing you do. Some channels are interesting but not edited, so you have to watch the repair practically in real time. Yours are concise, efficient and the voiceover combines well with the excellent video. Please keep making these! And please consider some examples of problem solving - for example, a watch with gremlins that lead to markedly different performance in the dial up and dial-down positions.
Thanks Paul, I am working on the video titled “ what you don’t know about Timegraphers” which will be full of useful information.
Troubleshooting problems and watch adjustment is kinda my thing that I am most passionate about so you can expect lots of those types of videos.
Every video of yours I watch 3 or 4 times at least and I learn so much. I had an el cheapo set of oilers I almost through out, but then something made me hang onto them, now I know why, for checking end shake under the 'scope'. Thanks Alex!
Perfect use of them. The large yellow oilers can also be used for turning collets when adjust beat error
THANK YOU!!, MR,HAMILTON,AGAIN!!! I HAVE THIS ISSUE ONE OF MY 70,s MOVEMENT WHAT I WORK ON!! THERES HAVE ALOT THIS SHAKE! VERY HELPFUL THIS VIDEO! THANK YOU BIGTIME!!👌👍☺️✌️🌻☀️🇫🇮
GLAD TO HELP!!!
Thank you for these! I appreciate the time you've taken to share your knowledge, I'm getting very excited to jump into this. Know that this old calligrapher appreciates the hell out of your efforts.
Thanks for stopping by my friend, I hope to see you here again
Just found you from Reddit. Love your stuff man, especially as a new watchmaker. Can't wait for the next one!
Awesome. If you follow along, I will make you a watchmaker.
شرح ممتاز وتصوير ممتاز ...شكرا لك استاذنا
Thank you my friend
I appreciate this rapid stream of videos starting with the basics. It's as if you've put together a course just for my convenience. I have my grandfather's Elgin pocket watch that runs but doesn't keep time and hasn't been serviced in decades. I unscrewed the back to identify the movement but put it aside until I have a clue what I'm doing. Bought two new 6497 movements to learn on - one to have assembled should I run into trouble remembering how the first goes back together. Following along with the lessons, remove the keyless works, put back in, hey it still works. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Take the balance wheel out. Put it back in....
That’s awesome. I am so happy you are waiting to work on the Elgin and that this is helping. The next videos will be on how to clean the parts by hand, and then 3 videos on lubrication starting with the train jewels, the the balance jewel’s and finally the pallet jewels. After that probably using a timegrapher. Stay tuned.
@@watchrepairtutorials I'm very curious about lubricant types, storage, preparation for use on the bench, and of course, parts lubrication.
@@graymatrrocks That's awesome. Lubrication is one of those things that a lot of people struggle with. It's so easy to over lubricate which causes all kinds of issues because the lubricants get pulled away from where they need to be. This causes increased friction, lower amplitude and contamination of parts that don't need oil on them, like wheel teeth and pinions.
That's it, I've made up my mind and I'm starting to take the leap into this fascinating world. I was a little bit scared to make my first step but your videos inspired me enough to buy my first non running watches on ebay.
Thanks a lot for the time and passion you share with us.
Hi from Paris, France.
Go for it brother.
The best class I’ve watched so far. Thank you for sharing your experience in such a nice way. Very pleasant to watch.
Wow, thank you Tales
Thankyou verry verry much
This is só helpfull
You are very welcome
Alex- I'm so used to Euro watchmakers talking down to enthusiasts. You produce pure protein, no BS content that really helps people in the real world. Can you please do a vid just about Alex the Great? Where are you from? What is your background? What music do you listen to?
I don’t know if it’s worth a video, but I dropped out of high school in ninth grade, went to live with some relatives in England I went to the British Horological Institute for a year. Hated it came back to the United States and apprenticed under two great watchmakers for eight years, then started my own company and was able to retire at 59. Musically I’m all over the place. I like everything from Sinatra classic country, classic rock and Delta blues.
@@watchrepairtutorials- Well thank you so much for your to the point, detail filled vids. It is world class instruction with zero BS.
It makes my day,Great video,Thanks!
Yep, I straightened a Breguet overcoil hair spring because I thought it was bent. Lesson learned and a valuable one.
I feel the pain
As always, great video! I couldn't agree more; you don't know what you don't know. Great advice on learning on a working movement, not a broken vintage one.
Thanks as always brother. I couldn’t think of a good thumbnail so I had to use my ugly mug. Beards Forever!!
@@watchrepairtutorials haha nah man, you’re the face of the channel. Use it!
Some great info. Thank you. (UK)
I hope it helps you with some small way.
I am so happy youtube recommended you. This channel has me very excited to study and learn about each part and gives me some basic understanding of what each part does and, now, how that part should behave. Thank you for your work!
I am happy as well that you found the channel. Lots more to come, so I hope you stick around.
Thank you for the video. You have a great series.. Just learned how to put in the balance wheel thanks to your video. Much appreciated!
Thank you my friend. Watch them all there’s a lot to learn.
@@watchrepairtutorials I’ve watched 6 and plan to watch them all. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge.
Hi,
I've just got into watch repairs and have watched lots of videos, and not really learnt anything,
However l came across your site and after the first few of your videos, l've learnt more than allthe other videos l've watched,
Thank You
I look forward to making more videos and learning more from you,.
It’s awesome to hear. Hope to see you again Eddie.
@@watchrepairtutorials Alex, l'm on number 13,
What l would like to ask you, is l've taken two cheap watches apart, and my problem is seeing clearly,
What microscope would you suggest, ?
I was starting to get disheartened, mainly because l couldn't see properly with what l was using and seeing your microscope, lifted me so much and gave me renewed confidence to carry on !!!!
@@eddie50 that’s awesome man.
Check out Amscope. I use their triocular because I need the added port for a camera but the stereo is all you need.
Also boom mounted is the way to go as opposed to a specimen style scope.
I also added a .5 Barlow lens. The Barlow slightly reduces the maximum magnification BUT what you get in return is a wider field of view and greater working distance under the lens. It’s the only way to go
@@watchrepairtutorials Thanks Alex, l've sorted out a good scope,
Just to not buy the one l shouldn't buy, l want to buy one that l can use the Barlow 0.5 ? And not one with a fixed lense?
If l've got that right ?
@@eddie50 right Eddie, you definitely want to be able to zoom way in for inspecting and then way out for your normal working distance.
The Barlow will give you a wider view and more working distance so that a big plus in my book
So glad I found your channel and subscribed. I have been watching a number of your lessons. I restore vintage Seiko mechanical watches and have been doing so for a bit over 3 years. Many of your lessons are straight forward and well articulated for the novice watchmaker. Vintage Seiko 6 series movements are particularly susceptible to the barrel arbor port wear your describe in this video and often you have to ream the main plate and install a jewel to correct it with a corresponding jewel replacement in the upper barrel bridge arbor port to replace the metal bushing Seiko used. Thanks for your video and I will continue to check in.
That’s awesome man. Thanks for watching and I hope to see you around again.
Snap! me too. I have yet to find a seiko 7009 without an oval barrel hole. Bought the jewel upgrades from VTA but the job is hit and miss for me,, fortunately they were scrap anyway.
Love your work, thank you.
Much appreciated my friend!
Another good one.
Thanks again!
Thanks Alex for another video with great information
I hope this made sense John.
@@watchrepairtutorials yes it did very clearly. Will there be a video about sideshake and the repair of it? Thanks again.
@@johnvaluk1401 yes but it will be awhile. These will be covered when i get to jeweling but there is a lot to cover before then.
THANKS
Great video, keep em coming! I'm learning a lot. been practicing with a ST3600. Had my ups and downs (like down on the floor looking for parts) but am building confidence. this really helps. Thanks!
You got it. Uploading the lubrication video now.
Thanks Alex, I’m loving these videos! Some really good tips in here. Cheers!
Thanks brother, great to have you here following along
thank you
You're welcome Frank, Are you going through the series ?
Thanks!
No problem. Thank you for the support my friend.
Let me know if you need anything or have questions.
Wish I could give your videos another thumbs up! Just watched for the umpteenth time! Often I think pallet forks and center wheels look like they have too much end shake, is this an illusion or do these suffer more?
Often times they do, but not so much to negatively affect the movement in any meaningful way. This is actually an area where an improvement could be made in a movement by installing a smaller size jewel and resizing the pivot
This is one of the big difference in high-end movements versus medium to low end movements. In higher end movements, the tolerances that the parts are manufactured to are much tighter.
Manufacturing tolerances are something watchmakers have dealing with ever since the first clock was made.
@@watchrepairtutorials Thanks Alex!!
Thank you again.
How could I measure the inside hole of the jule?
Thank you
Hey John,
There are several ways to do it.
1) The easiest is just to measure the pivot from the wheel that goes in the hole. The measure one size up from that on the new jewel hole
2) you can buy precision wire gauges. I have a set from the Meyer Gage Company.
3) When you replace a wheel with a broken pivot, remove the pivot from the wheel, drill a hole into a piece of pegwood. Insert the broken end in the hole with a little glue. Then you can measure the pivot and mark the pegwood with the diameter of the pivot and you have a gauge for that size. You can also buy lots of misc wheels and go through them and make up a bunch of gauges cheaply.
Thank you for the excellent video! When you inspect a movement for end shake under microscope. Do you position movement vertically or somehow take a horizontal view?
Sure I pick the movement up while it’s in the holder and turn it around to get the best angle. Absolutely.
Useful.
Glad you think so!
@@watchrepairtutorials I watch all of your stuff Alex. It’s very well done.
@@Epaminondas371 I appreciate that. Hope the quality is getting better.
Are jewels generally the same diameter or do you have to find replacements for cracked jewels for that exact movement and location on the movement?
Yes, jewels come in multiple widths as well as pivot hole diameters.
It makes my day when I see a new video from this channel! Seriously great content, extremely helpful for a novice like myself, especially since I've been looking for a good video about end shake. Really stoked for cleaning and lubrication videos you mentioned are coming up. 😄
If you have a moment, quick question on oil for you: I am thinking of getting the Moebius beginner's kit since it includes 9010, 9415, 9104, 9501, & 9504 -- do I also need to get some 8200? I only see the 8200 used for greasing vintage mainsprings, but is it a requirement or just something done to help prevent corrosion?
Well it depends on which direction you go in.
8200 is used to add a whisper thin film on the mainspring. This reduces the friction between the spring and barrel as it unwinds.
The vast majority of mainsprings in vintage watches are sprung and will not provide the needed power for good amplitude. Installing a new mainspring is almost always best as you don't need a winder and they come lubricated.
To install a mainspring you need a mainspring winder to be able to properly install it
@@watchrepairtutorials Thanks for the reply! I got a vintage K&D pocket watch mainspring winder, and a Watchcraft wrist watch set as well. The Bergeon set is quite expensive, and the Chinese sets seem to have major drawbacks, so I'm hoping I can make do with these. I'll keep my fingers crossed you do a mainspring sizing video too, since I have no idea how to go about ordering a replacement. 🙏
@@awdturbopowah773 As a matter of interest, I didn’t jump for the complete Bergeon winder kit right from the start - not only is it stupid expensive but you’ll mostly only need half the sizes anyway. So, I buy them individually as I need them. For example, I needed a #3 for my latest project so I got the #3 left winder complete and a #3 right arbour. That cost me around £65 for a complete size, as opposed to forking out £985 for a whole set. I now have all sizes from #3 to #7 which covers me pretty well for wristwatch sized movements
@@TheBeardedWatchmaker Not a bad way to go at all! Great idea, and if these vintage tools don't work out, that's probably how I'll end up doing it. Oh, and one more quick question for you: as someone who's also interested in filming their work, what kind of camera are you using? Your macro shots look nice.
@@awdturbopowah773 Hey bud, thanks!. I have a few that I'm using to be honest, so not sure which shot specifically you referring to? Let me know and I'll go into details of what I used.
don't know how Im going to get a microscope, it is a must have to get to my goal. How is the size in relevance to the number of tooth calculated to get 60 rpm?. Thanks for the lesson .
Good question. It depends on what the beat per hour is. On a 18000 beat watch, there are 60 teeth on the third wheel which turns the 8 leaf pinion on the fourth wheel which rotates once every 60 seconds.
is that what you are asking?
Thank you, I was more curious about how they came to that conclusion. But don't worry, I am more than happy with what you are sharing.
How to fix errors when encountering tolerance cases? please
Excessive end shake is corrected with a jewel press. The jewel is moved in whichever direction it needs to go 1/100th to 2/100th of a mm until it’s correct.
Correct is subjective as it’s a visual determination.
The basic rule of power train wheels is that the endshake should be less than the wheel before it and a little more than the wheel after it. The escape wheel, Pallet fork and balance wheel should look the same.
Ok I must admit, i once made a gathering pallet, without knowing anything about it, i just knew what it was supposed to do, it was a tallcase english grandfather clock😂 i wouldnt try this on a wristwatch😅btw it worked out, and are still doing its job perfectly
Nice work Grassy Knoll
Until watching this I would have thought all those end shakes were too much. Especially the mainspring barrel.
Remember though you are looking at this through high magnification. In reality it’s 100’s of a mm
Hi. With the balance staff that could stand more endshake what is a preferred method of adding endshake? I replace staffs and jewel hole tightness and endshake always raise their head.
You don’t adjust end-shake for balance wheels by moving jewel settings. If you need more end shake then you burnisher the tips of the staff. If the side shake is too tight you burnish the pivot.
What type of movements are you working on?
@@watchrepairtutorials It is 16s Bunn Special. I am wanting more endshake. Where are you saying I will burnish? I will use a ballon chuck to get at the pivots. Not sure about burnishing the area other than the pivot you refer to. I agree on moving jewel up and down does not apply on the balance to adjust endshake.
The train runs nicely with fork removed, the balance goes well with a puffer face up and down. But the watch loses 1.2 seconds per minute and I observe no endshake, so I am going after that next.
@@jftman53 yes you can just burnish the tips of the staff and that will increase the endshake. Are you sure are your clearances are good between the pallet fork and roller table.
@@watchrepairtutorials I will want to check the clearance with the roller table. I do check my work to be sure all lands of the staff are fully in contact to the roller.
Then what could be a further adjustment, would it be the impulse pin not being positioned correct?
Or maybe the fork jewels cause the fork to be higher than needed.
I do see the top of the fork is nearly level with the banking pin height.
@@jftman53 there could be a lot of things in that area like the guard pin dragging or even rubbing across the roller. The escapement inspection is key.
Hi Alex, do you have some alternative for Horia tool? Thanks
I had a subscriber say they had good luck with the Chinese version you see on eBay or Ali. They said the build quality is very good.
The negative is that it does not come with reamers which is important for replacing jewels. When you are replacing the same size jewel sometimes you can do it with reaming the hole, but many times if there is even a small nick on the edge of the hole in the plate the jewel will break so reaming the hole is always good practice.
I use a vintage Seitz that I picked up many years ago that the pushers and reamers are still available new.
Personally I would keep my eye out on eBay for one.
@@watchrepairtutorials thanks for the answer, what is the difference between 3mm and 4mm which one I should pick?
@@BokiPetrovic88 4 mm without a doubt.
@@watchrepairtutorials i hope the video about replacing jewels is coming soon. Love all your videos 😊
Thank you for another great video!
Pay close attention to this one Dan. Developing the visual sense of what normal end shake looks like is critical.
@@watchrepairtutorials I'm working on a little bulove automatic w/date function. I will check as I go. thank you
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I have a mechanical watch that only runs when upside down, if i wear it upright, after a few minutes it will stop. Can you pls point out the obvious areas?
When you’re holding the watch and it stops, more than likely, it is the balance pivot below the balance will that’s the problem. There’s many other things it could be, but without knowing the history of the watch, that’s the most likely.
Its a chinese flying tourbillion. History is seems like it sat for 2 years in the warehouse and i just recently bought it last month.
@@tswjxyooj1603 that sucks. I’m sure there are probably no parts available. Maybe but I doubt it.
Would you fix it? I can ship it to you to investigate. 😆
@@tswjxyooj1603 LOL. I’ll pass but thanks.
Endshake,,,, how much?
No more than a side shake. In most cases you’re looking at 0.02 mm
Googled The Hermit Society.
The search results confused me. lol
LOL
I lived at Carolina Beach for many years and their was a guy who lived in a World War II ammo bunker for like 20 years all the at the end who became known as the Fort Fisher Hermit.
People would drive down by the thousands to see this guy and listen to him talk a loud his philosophy of life.
Comment for the robots who watch
Good stuff!
Thanks buddy
started on old pocket watches and took a long time to know what was wonky or right YOU got that one right🤪
Thanks,
If starting out on old broken pocket watches was an effective way to learn, watchmaking schools would do it. Ut they don’t. You start on a working ETA 6497 and work up.
People use the reasoning that it is cheaper, but it actually more expensive because they usually end up with a bunch of watches that don’t work. Of course there are exceptions but typically that road leads to a bunch of non runners that just get resold again and again.