Ever started a service...........

[JimInOz]

.......and thought "That's funny, looks like they've lost a bridge screw".



There should be three of them!



Closer inspection reveals the truth 😬.




The screw head has been sheared off and I don't have a screw extractor 🤬!



So after trying to tease the thread out, without much success, I decided to chuck it in the ultrasonic for 10 minutes at 80ºC with the plate facing up in the hope that temperature, vibrations and gravity would help.

You can imagine how happy I was to see this little bugger when I got it out of the US!



A few minutes with a magnetised needle and Bingo!



After that success I left everything on the bench and retired for a well earned beer.

 

[Turpinrr]

JimInOz

.......and thought "That's funny, looks like they've lost a bridge screw".



There should be three of them!



Closer inspection reveals the truth 😬.




The screw head has been sheared off and I don't have a screw extractor 🤬!



So after trying to tease the thread out, without much success, I decided to chuck it in the ultrasonic for 10 minutes at 80ºC with the plate facing up in the hope that temperature, vibrations and gravity would help.

You can imagine how happy I was to see this little bugger when I got it out of the US!



A few minutes with a magnetised needle and Bingo!



After that success I left everything on the bench and retired for a well earned beer.

You deserved that beer 🍺 I'll bet it was the same feeling of relief as when you find a tiny "pinged" screw in the carpet ?

 

[JimInOz]

Turpinrr

You deserved that beer 🍺 I'll bet it was the same feeling of relief as when you find a tiny "pinged" screw in the carpet ?

Almost. The procedure is pretty well embedded in my routine, you just have to follow the steps.

1 - Stand up slowly and shake/rattle/roll to make sure you aren't going to take the screw out of the area.
2 - Grab the stick vac, clean out the canister with the shop vac and wipe the interior.
3 - Vacuum the carpet/chair a few times.
4 - Use a magnet to sift through the dust and debris in the canister.
5 - Find a spring you were not aware of.
6 - Find the screw in a ball of fluff.
7 - Relax.

If that doesn't work I just get my mega magnet sweeper out and start all over again.

 

[Archer]

Soft screws...

JimInOz

So after trying to tease the thread out, without much success

I can tell you that 95% of the time when a screw breaks, "teasing it out" simply does not work.

 

[Canuck]

I ran into a Rolex calibre 3135, earlier this year. A previous “technician” broke the heads off both case screws! THEN, the crazy glued the heads of the screws in position. The residue from the crazy glue seeped downward, and glued the shanks of both screws securely into the pillar plate! It cost the owner $1,500.00 to have Rolex solve that problem with a service and new pillar plate!

 

[Archer]

Canuck

I ran into a Rolex calibre 3135, earlier this year. A previous “technician” broke the heads off both case screws! THEN, the crazy glued the heads of the screws in position. The residue from the crazy glue seeped downward, and glued the shanks of both screws securely into the pillar plate! It cost the owner $1,500.00 to have Rolex solve that problem with a service and new pillar plate!

Little bit of acetone and some time would have taken care of the glue...

 

[Canuck]

Archer

Little bit of acetone and some time would have taken care of the glue...

By your very own admission, trying to “tease” the shank of a broken screw out doesn’t work 95% of the time! Especially when the shank had been crazy glued into place! Think about it!

 

[Archer]

Canuck

By your very own admission, trying to “tease” the shank of a broken screw out doesn’t work 95% of the time! Especially when the shank had been crazy glued into place! Think about it!

That doesn't mean I send it to the brand to fix...think about it...🤣🤣

 

[Canuck]

Archer

That doesn't mean I send it to the brand to fix...think about it...🤣🤣

Ah yes! I’d forgotten……..you got all the answers!

 

[Archer]

Canuck

Ah yes! I’d forgotten……..you got all the answers!

Well for you edification, here are some suggestions for removing broken parts of screws (once you have dissolved any glue that might be present)...

Screw extractor - I have the Bergeon model. It's works well but for larger screws - not so good for smaller screws.

Screw head file - works well if a little bit of the screw is above the surface of the plate, but not enough to grab onto - file a slot in the remainder of the screw and turn it out with a screwdriver. This is the method I use the most.

Glue - 5 minute epoxy - glue a piece of peg wood to the remainder of the screw, and then just turn it out.

I've used all of these successfully when the screw couldn't be teased out of the hole.

 

[Canuck]

Canuck

Ah yes! I’d forgotten……..you got all the answers!

 

[BlackTalon]

^^ it's not unlike working on cars. Broken fasteners generally mean using an extractor, filing a slot or welding something to the remainder (so epoxying something in a watch). The one thing you can't really do in a watch is heat the area to cherry red with a torch or induction heater.

 

[sheepdoll]

I have been favoring dissolving the screw out with alum. Only works though if the screw is iron and the plate brass. Sometimes one has to make little wax dams, and wait weeks for the action to happen.

The Epoxy one is something I have not tried. I have a steel screw in a steel lever on the Val-72. My experience with most glues is that the shear when twisted. Especially Cryanacrilate aka 'super glue.'

The remaining 'stuck' screws are the smallest used for holding down the chrono levers. vis Valjoux 58700. The only listing I have seen on this is in Corsica. Has been in my watch list for over a year. Until I get the screw out there is not much point in getting a new one.

I have run into pipe organ stuff where people tried 'epoxy.' One usually has to remake the part. Epoxy also tends to go everywhere, than where it is needed.

The Bergeon tool was a disaster. The ends of the pins just sheared off, It also dinged up the area around the screw. I tried making my own extractor tip. with equally poor results.

Drilling out the plate also failed (click screw.) The replacement plate was for the newer revision, and might as well be from a different watch. Probably will wind up inserting a plug, and re tapping the original plate.

Perhaps in a nice mostly cleaned watch these methods work. With rusty ratwatches, which are mostly beyond repair, the screws are calcified or something in place. Sometimes Kano Sili Kroil works. If there is no way for the penetrant to get into the jammed threads then nothing is going to loosen them.