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On The Bench; Benrus MIL-W-3818B Vietnam Era Service Watch

  1. WestCoastTime Sep 10, 2022

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    Acquired out of an estate sale for an old vet, Benrus DR 2F2 MIL-W-3818B service watch.

    Crown & male half of the split stem missing, hands not advancing at all in response to jiggling, lifetime of not-too-gentle use.
    PXL_20220614_201748075.jpg


    1964 service date. Don't have any way of knowing if this piece was on tour in Vietnam, but the calendar lines up.
    PXL_20220614_201810333.jpg


    With the crystal off, the watch actually starts running, seconds hand was fouling on the underside of the crystal.

    From the factory, the hands were lumed but the dial was not, but then at some point in its past the watch had lume added to the dial. See this a lot in this vintage of service watch, & looks like a pretty amateur application in this example, 6 gets a double helping & 5 gets nothing...
    PXL_20220614_202323898.jpg


    Now I have to make a decision about what level of restoration to apply on this project. Normally I would prefer to do a sympathetic restoration; try not to add anything, try not to remove anything. But, some other guy beat me to it this time, so now need to figure out what it means to unbastardise this piece...

    PXL_20220614_203524436.jpg


    ETA 2372 base movement with hacking added in the conversion to the DR 2F2. Little bit grimy, but running & looks complete (but for the crown & stem :-p).
    PXL_20220614_204152802.jpg


    Getting it broken down for cleaning.
    PXL_20220614_214205012.jpg


    The DR 2F2 hacking lever. When the stem is pulled out to setting position the hacking lever rotates & presses the hacking pin into the side of the balance wheel (looks pretty crude, compared to the crafting & finishing of the rest of the components...)
    PXL_20220614_215304632.jpg


    Fundamentally it's a pretty basic watch, 3 hands, hacking, & that's it. Doesn't fill up very many cubbies in the parts tray. Off to the cleaner.
    PXL_20220617_223314419.jpg


    Now to deal with the cosmetics for the dial & hands. Not something I have much expertise in, but ready to try something new & learn as we go...

    The Geiger Counter was quiet for the dial & hands, so whatever was applied before was not Radium. Gently scraped off the grotty looking old lume, but that still took off the paint for the hour index underneath. So, let's see how some flat white acrylic model paint looks.
    PXL_20220617_235531245.jpg

    It's not perfect & it never will be, but looks like an improvement to me at least.
    PXL_20220619_183528619.jpg

    More to follow...
     
    Aroxx, UncleBuck, SC1 and 11 others like this.
  2. JimInOz Melbourne Australia Sep 10, 2022

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    Should scrub up nicely :thumbsup:.
     
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  3. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Sep 10, 2022

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    Brave putting tape on a vintage dial...
     
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  4. SkunkPrince Sep 10, 2022

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    Indeed so but this blue 3M painter's tape is some pretty special stuff. Its tack is very low, because it's designed to not pull up whatever it's stuck to, whereas traditional "masking tape" has a much higher tack and gets permanent over time.

    I think the only adhesive with lower tack is a Post-It note.

    I use this blue tape for a lot of things that are intended to be temporary because you don't have to worry about leaving adhesive behind.
     
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  5. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Sep 10, 2022

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    I've seen lots of dials that if you breathed on them the finish would come off, but in this case it seems to have worked out fine. :thumbsup:

    This doesn't appear to be a customer's watch, so if it goes wrong at least you aren't left trying to explain what happened to an angry collector!
     
  6. WestCoastTime Sep 10, 2022

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    Correct, I am a hobbyist with a few years experience tinkering with movement restoration. All the watches on my workbench including this Benrus are my own.
     
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  7. WestCoastTime Sep 10, 2022

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    ... and on to the hands.

    None of them look great. Kinked, corroded, & an odd assortment of previous coatings.
    PXL_20220619_183900326.jpg

    PXL_20220620_030748087.jpg


    Some fiber pen to scrub out the old lume & gentle sanding with some 2000 grit to get most of the way down to bare metal.
    PXL_20220620_031109589.jpg

    PXL_20220619_184409737.jpg


    Straightened out & ready for a thin coat of paint & fresh lume. Don't exactly know how the hands were finished when new, but most of the pictures I have seen of other MIL-W-3818B watches have the hands painted white.
    PXL_20220620_034512785.jpg

    PXL_20220707_174501710.jpg


    On to the reassembly.

    The female (movement side) of the split stem appears bent out of shape. Likely contributed to the male half & crown being lost. PXL_20220618_175149881.jpg


    This part can be replaced with NOS ETA 2372, & these are fairly easy to find. PXL_20220618_175335055.jpg


    Keyless works
    PXL_20220618_182258972.jpg

    PXL_20220618_182918027.jpg


    Going train
    PXL_20220618_190224556.jpg

    PXL_20220618_191250249.jpg


    Crown & ratchet wheels
    PXL_20220618_192603856.jpg

    PXL_20220618_194124524.jpg

    Moment of truth...
    PXL_20220619_015248358.jpg


    And off she goes...


    This is always a good feeling.

    Before we can do the final assembly, need to acquire a replacement for the missing half of the split stem. Since these are the pieces that commonly go missing they are also the pieces that have long since run out of replacement supply. Time to improvise...
    PXL_20220708_214150542.jpg

    PXL_20220708_214934154.jpg

    PXL_20220708_215955340.jpg


    And many iterative cycles of this kind of fiddling...

    PXL_20220909_021742334.jpg


    Stem trimmed up & ready to turn this thing back into a watch.
    PXL_20220910_023813083.jpg

    PXL_20220910_025939489.jpg

    PXL_20220910_031528174.jpg

    PXL_20220910_032109400.jpg


    Thanks to all the vets, young & old, & to the folks who love them & miss them when they are far away from home.
     
    mcemeren, Pip, Geme81 and 14 others like this.
  8. MDubs Sep 10, 2022

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    Thank you for posting this; super cool! And nice watch!!
     
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  9. RLF13430 Sep 11, 2022

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    Fascinating to see your process and your message. Thank you
     
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  10. KarlB Oct 24, 2022

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    Nice job!
     
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  11. UncleBuck understands the decision making hierarchy Oct 24, 2022

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    As a Viet Nam era vet, I was totally mind-schwazzed by your work!
    Maybe not exactly per horologic traditions but a very typical "let's go with what works" approach.
    I collect service watches and would be honored to "dibs" if you ever....
     
  12. UncleBuck understands the decision making hierarchy Oct 24, 2022

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    Not to bitch, but that bright blue lume seems weird for the time. (Unless seen under a blacklight)
     
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  13. SkunkPrince Oct 24, 2022

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    I so do hate a US service watch on some Commonwealth trash strap. :D
     
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  14. Duracuir1 Never Used A Kodak Oct 24, 2022

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    Had the Canadian invasion of the US been successful in the mid 90s you would be part of the Commonwealth…::bleh::

    755F5D91-A944-4374-852E-DFB05B8F8CD4.jpeg 7CEC092A-77EA-4A19-9ADB-179E7A7615B1.jpeg 132FA0D1-D85A-450B-BD7F-5175FF0A2AAF.jpeg Damn that guy looks like @UncleBuck
     
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  15. WestCoastTime Oct 25, 2022

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    The dim lighting & the digital camera image processing combine to show the blue tint in the original photo. In real life the fresh lume glows distinctly green (just hard to get a photo that's true to colour...)

    PXL_20221024_235139408.NIGHT.jpg
     
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  16. Fallout Boy Oct 25, 2022

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    same same: BULOVA (relumed) UV-light

    IMG_0911.JPG

    edit: case back:

    Bulova RSm.JPG
     
    Edited Oct 25, 2022
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  17. WestCoastTime Oct 25, 2022

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  18. t268 Oct 25, 2022

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    Blue painter's tape just keeps surprising me with it usefulness. It seems I just keep finding more every couple of days.
     
  19. Fallout Boy Oct 26, 2022

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    voilà ;)
    bulova werk.JPG
     
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