Dan S
·I almost put this in the watchmaking forum, but it seemed too trivial. My question is about using the plastic case-holding jaws that look like this:
These are for watches with various lug widths, and I have figured out my own way of using them, but I'm wondering if other people have tips.
For example, the largest jaws are 20mm on the side with the cut-out and 22mm on the other side. For a watch that is 20mm between lugs, it's very obvious how to use the jaws, the lugs rest into the cutouts and the watch is suspended above the base. The jaws work extremely well this way.
For a watch that is 22mm between the lugs, I generally reverse the jaws so that they fit snugly between the lugs. But since there is no cutout, the watch slides down and the crystal rests on the base. I generally put a thin piece of leather on the base to protect the crystal, push the watch all the way down, and have at it. So that's question #1, is there a better way to use the jaws when the watch matches the larger side of the jaw with no cutout. Just wondering, because it has been working ok way I've been doing it, but it feels like I'm putting a lot of pressure on the crystal when I push down to apply torque.
The in-between size is the trickier one. For me, this is mainly relevant for 18mm lugs widths, because the second largest jaws are 17mm on the cutout side and 19mm on the other. So the lugs don't fit snugly in either orientation, which defeats the purpose. My approach has been to wrap a thin piece of cloth around the 17mm jaws, which basically fills in the gap, but not with any sort of precision. To date, this has worked ok, but it's not perfectly secure. So question #2 is whether there is a better way to use the 17/19mm jaws for 18mm lugs.

These are for watches with various lug widths, and I have figured out my own way of using them, but I'm wondering if other people have tips.
For example, the largest jaws are 20mm on the side with the cut-out and 22mm on the other side. For a watch that is 20mm between lugs, it's very obvious how to use the jaws, the lugs rest into the cutouts and the watch is suspended above the base. The jaws work extremely well this way.
For a watch that is 22mm between the lugs, I generally reverse the jaws so that they fit snugly between the lugs. But since there is no cutout, the watch slides down and the crystal rests on the base. I generally put a thin piece of leather on the base to protect the crystal, push the watch all the way down, and have at it. So that's question #1, is there a better way to use the jaws when the watch matches the larger side of the jaw with no cutout. Just wondering, because it has been working ok way I've been doing it, but it feels like I'm putting a lot of pressure on the crystal when I push down to apply torque.
The in-between size is the trickier one. For me, this is mainly relevant for 18mm lugs widths, because the second largest jaws are 17mm on the cutout side and 19mm on the other. So the lugs don't fit snugly in either orientation, which defeats the purpose. My approach has been to wrap a thin piece of cloth around the 17mm jaws, which basically fills in the gap, but not with any sort of precision. To date, this has worked ok, but it's not perfectly secure. So question #2 is whether there is a better way to use the 17/19mm jaws for 18mm lugs.
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