Don't take me wrong. I get the sentimental value thing and have spent some pretty silly amounts on old family pieces that aren't worth the cost of the repair.
And it always nice to run into a professional who gets that as well. I knew one watchmaker who wouldn't have fixed that because he was above such work or some such stuck up thing, needless to say I don't bother with him anymore.
As for wasting your time, if its fun or gives you any sense of accomplishment there's nothing wrong with that either. I've wasted more than a few afternoon's fixing some silly thing just because I wanted to try. Sometimes you just end up on a mission, maybe spending twenty bucks on materials to repair a clapped out device thats only worth thirty new.
and yes, I have tuned an old flathead motor just for the fun of it.
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