?

redpcar

The answer I'm waiting for is how did Mad Dog do compared to Hannah? ☕

What was the issue with lubricating the jewels? (to go for a joke on this would be too easy so I will take the high road) Was the problem using the proper amount? Did you lubricate the balance? Pallet?

Archer

Thanks for the answers. So the most challenging part for you was the actual watchmaking part - that's not surprising for someone who hasn't done any before.

As much as this is not rocket science by any means, not everyone is cut out to do this kind of work. Requires a lot of patience, and at first a lot of persistence. You have to be willing to do things over and over again until you get it done correctly. While at co-axial training a few years back there were 5 watchmakers in my class - one spent the entire 5 days just trying to get the escapement oiled correctly once. He didn't finish the assembly of that watch, or complete the co-axial chronograph that was the second watch we were all supposed to finish that week. The instructor would not let him move on until he got it right. These weren't noobs but trained watchmakers.

1 - Not rushing is something that in a class setting is hard to do if you are falling behind. I have been there myself, and you have to force yourself not to rush. Self discipline is key!

2 - Your eyes don't come trained, so it takes a lot of time at the bench for them to see things that are out of place. Small thing here or a shiny spot there - only time will train your eyes to see those things without even really looking for them.

3 - Adjusting the regulator pins on the watches equipped with ETACHRON is actually pretty easy. Doing so with the straight pins found on older watches is much more difficult for people to grasp. Was there a particular part of this that was problematic? Having good optics is a must.

4 - You are not alone in having difficulty with lubrication. Next to problems with cleanliness it is the most common fault I see when I am sent watches that another watchmaker has been involved in. Often enough oil for several watches is applied to just one.

5 - Mounting hands can be tricky, but it helps if you have good equipment. I'm not sure if you used a hand press or not, and although you can do it using the small hand held tools, the press helps with ensuring everything is parallel to the dial. But now you can talk about things like hand division and know what to look for on watches.

I recall that you said Tom would not be teaching this one, but if in fact he did you are fortunate. He is very knowledgeable and patient, and overall one of the best instructors of any kind I've ever had (and I've had quite a few in my life).

So you mentioned you started day 1 with Seagull movements, and then switched to the ETA versions for day 2. Curious what you ended up doing on each version of the movement. Were the Seagulls the sacrificial lambs that you did a lot of the work to, and the ETA's only received final adjustment and casing?

Cheers, Al

Mad Dog

Thanks, Al...overall, it was extremely challenging for me.

The parts I liked the most:

1. Doing the course with our oldest child, Hannah...that was amazing.

2. Listening to CMW21 Tom Schomaker talk...I could listen to that man for a whole year.

3. The PowerPoint presentations and lectures prior to doing the work...super-dooper.

4. The high level of equipment available to us for use during the course...wowser.


The parts that were the most challenging for me:

1. Not rushing...I was the slowest student in the class and I often fell behind...then I would rush to attempt to catch up to the other students...and when I would rush, I would make mistakes.

2. Seeing...learning “how to see” by using different light angles.

3. Adjusting regulator pins.

4. Lubricating jewels.

5. Installing hands.

frederico

So basically you didn’t like the parts of a watch repair course that involved repairing watches, but enjoyed everything else?

Archer

As I said good optics are a must. I had no idea that the Omega Loupe was only 2X, but I guess if you are using it to inspect an Omega watch, they would not want to give you too much magnification, eh? 😉

j/k

Honestly for setting the regulator pins, I use 10X so 2X is certainly not going to cut it. Likely one reason you were turning the pins too much is because you had to in order to even see the gap change. As you likely have discovered, a very small adjustment to the pin spacing using that tool makes a very large difference in the rates, and the Delta. Just fully opening to fully closing the regulator pins makes a pretty huge difference in rate, without even moving the regulator at all.

Glad you enjoyed it all, and got a small look into what is done on a watch during service.

Cheers, Al

gostang9

What’s the next step @Mad Dog ? More watchmaking classes in the future or did this satisfy the curiosity for now? How about your daughter, does she have any plans to do something more or were the few days of showing up her father enough for her?

Tet

I was just thinking it looks on the correct side to me 😉

How the hell is that coffee suspended in mid air in the second pic though! ?!