Regarding the title of the post, I don't understand the aspect of "risk". What risk? Just get a couple of cheap movements and play around with them for fun. If you enjoy it, then maybe you will be willing to invest the time and money that would be required to get serious about it.
Hello my friend. Probably you didn’t read my first post where I describe that I have already played around with cheap movements.
Yes, I read it. So what is the risk are you talking about? Are you concerned about spending a lot of money on books and tools and then tiring of the hobby? Unfortunately, that type of thing happens to me as well, and I have quite a lot of gear sitting around that I rarely use. It's hard to know until you try.
My end goal is to service all my watches. Did I use the word repair?
Hey man. I would not repair other watches than mine. What book would you recommend as a start for communicating with the watchmaker? Please recommend only one. Also one to tinker as a hobby
Yes, you did...
Service includes repairing.
This is why I asked what you intended, and your answers have been all over the place. We went from being able to talk to your watchmaker using proper termns, to "tinker as a hobby" to now fully servicing a Speedmaster (and who knows what else) pretty quickly.
On top of that you balked at paying what 109 CHF for a book? You clearly don't have any idea whatsoever what it's going to cost to fully tool up to properly service and repair a watch like a Speedmaster.
Even though now you appear to be giving attitude to those who are trying to help you, I'll give you one last piece of advice. Stick to reading up on terminology, and playing around with some cheap Chinese watches.
Cheers, Al
There are few of us who, after a lifetime at this craft, know it all. To dismantle and re-assemble a simple time only mechanical watch successfully may cause some to call themselves a “watchmaker”. But that is only the first step of thousands. Knowing the basic structure of a timepiece is a long way from being able to troubleshoot problems, let alone to know how to solve the problems, and to have the tools to use to solve the problems. In order to become proficient, you’ll need to do more than skim over the surface. Even an intensive two year course in learning to repair watches won’t give you all the information and skills you’ll need to be able to call yourself a “watchmaker”.
That's a bold claim, "know it all".
There are few of us who, after a lifetime at this craft, know it all. To dismantle and re-assemble a simple time only mechanical watch successfully may cause some to call themselves a “watchmaker”. But that is only the first step of thousands. Knowing the basic structure of a timepiece is a long way from being able to troubleshoot problems, let alone to know how to solve the problems, and to have the tools to use to solve the problems. In order to become proficient, you’ll need to do more than skim over the surface. Even an intensive two year course in learning to repair watches won’t give you all the information and skills you’ll need to be able to call yourself a “watchmaker”.
I think it’s cool. I learned how to take apart conveyors and robots with almost no mechanical abilities. I’m not saying that will translate to watch repair but if you put your mind to it you are capable of learning many things. And I only broke two fingers learning the machinery
I thought the same thing...people sling mud on the OP when he says he was just looking for recommendations on how to understand and possibly service his OWN watches (with all the intrinsic risks that entails) and the keyboard experts shut him up and down for it. Then you realize why....some guys already know it all so how can they come down to our level?
