MSR T-57 Offset Cannon Pinion - A cautionary tale - Did I mention I hate offset cannon pinions?

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I'm sure the professional watchmakers might get a chuckle.

So I had a crusty (filthy case) Jules Jurgensen watch in my drawer of junk watches. All stainless. All original. $20 max value on eBay. Appeared to run strong but time was not advancing.

Cannon pinion.

No problem. I have this handy dandy J&R "tightening tool".


Cleaned up the case. Replaced the crystal and some disassembly. MSR T-57 movement. I have NONE of these for parts so cautious not to loose any essential pieces. Started the disassembly process and first thing I noticed was a dial retaining screw was missing. Found it later and concluded that this could have been part of the problem.

Some exploring under the dial and I found the cannon pinion. Crap! Offset. I hate these.



Removed the assembly. Sure enough, it just fell off, instead of the friction fit. Loaded it into my tightening tool. A couple of twists and the cannon pinion simply VANISHED. This was a first for me. I heard some of the pieces whizzing by my ear. Gone. Fine. $20 watch is now parts. I set it aside for a day and decided to check to see how much a T-47 cannon pinion costs. $20 but there are 4 different lengths and I didn't have the original. Some rough measurements and I decided on one. When it came in, it wasn't even close. Barrel diameter was way too big. Gear was the correct size. Fine. $20 watch set aside again.

Another day goes by and I think: "I wonder if I could make one work from a stash of random pinions?". Keep in mind, most of these are the standard type but as long as I get the measurements right...

Anyway, now that I at least have the correct gear, the major mystery was resolved.
- 1.6mm gear diameter
- 1.4mm total length
- 12 teeth
- .54mm inner diameter on the post for a friction fit.

Sifting through hundreds of random parts pinions, I came up with several "candidates". All requiring some serious trimming and boring of the post. The 4th candidate actually worked! Gears meshing was a pain in the ass. Tighten the new cannon pinion. Pressed in place. All assembled and now running strong.



Cleaning up the bench, I found a piece of the original cannon pinion.



In total, I have 10+ hours into this very nice Jules Jurgensen. A sense of accomplishment of something that I have never tried to do.

If you have stuck through this entire post, there needs to be some sort of moral to the story....

Given what I know now, would I do this again??? HELL NO!!!!!!!!