u/HKoch2004

Hi everyone! I’ve been looking through a few boxes and remembered I have this antique camera sitting in one. After taking it out, I tried to identify it, but have no clue what it is. The handle on top of the camera is embossed with “PIXIE”, but couldn’t find another example online. The closest thing I’ve seen is a Kodak 3A, but there are some differences. I’ve also seen a Contessa Pixie, but mine doesn’t have the struts on the sides. Does anyone know what I have?

Hi everyone! I just ran into a new issue I haven’t seen yet! I took apart a Bulova 11AOACB yesterday because it was dirty, and started pre-cleaning today. When cleaning the date driving wheel, I found that the spring that is usually held under that top plate has come out somehow. Does anyone know how to put it back in? I’m thinking I have it in the right orientation in the photo, but I’m not completely sure.

Hi everyone! I just got this project done last night. Took me a few months to fix, but ended up getting it to where I’m happy with it. It’s a 19mm lug width, what kind of strap would look good on this? Thanks!

Hi everyone! My replacement mainspring came in today, and I decided to try it with the movement. As you can see, it looks like it is still galloping.

When putting the pallet fork in the watch for the first time, I did accidentally put it in at an angle and began to put pressure on the plate. However, I noticed what I was doing and thought it looked ok after removing it again.

I also had much difficulty getting it out of its case. When removed, I noticed that there was a glue-like substance holding it in. There is also a bar that goes straight up in the case, and I believe that was giving me issues as well.

This video is with my timegrapher’s sensitivity all the way up. On a lower sensitivity, the amplitude js even higher, around 330-340 degrees.

Can anyone tell me what to look at now? Could the balance/pallet fork/escape wheel be damaged and causing this? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I just put this project on my timegrapher, and have no clue what’s going on with it. It seems to be running well, then gains a crazy amount of time, and then goes back to normal. I’ve checked the parts, and everything seemed to be in good condition before cleaning. Could anyone point me in a direction?

Hi everyone! I’m currently working on a Benrus Wrist Alarm with a DS1D movement, and had to get a jeweler to get the movement out of the case (a #3021). I think someone used shellac to stop the movement from coming out or rattling, and caused it to get stuck. 

Now I’m looking for a new crystal, and I’m not sure what type I should be looking at for this. The other single-piece cases I’ve seen had ledges on the side of the crystal. The one that came with this doesn’t seem to have a ledge, and just goes straight down on the sides. Can anyone tell me if this is the correct crystal? Or if there should be a ledge here? 

Hi everyone! I did make an earlier post about this one, and some thought there was a ring around the crystal, stopping me from removing the movement. Today I opened it again and found that the dial was loose, and after removing the hands came out. Everything looks ok with the dial feet, but I think I found out why the movement won’t come out. This has two split stems, and to me it looks like the part still in the movement (male side?) is blocking it from coming out. They’re both pressed into the winding position, and I am still unable to remove this. Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do here?

I believe this is a case where you can only open it through the front.

Hi everyone! I was finally able to get this thing working well again! Thank you to all that helped me with this project!

Hi everyone! I got a new mainspring for a Waltham Grade 165, and it is longer and slightly thicker than the original. With it, my amplitude has increased from around 200 degrees to around 250-260 in horizontal/dial down. I’m pretty happy with this, and I guess now I have to disassemble the whole thing and clean again. Does this look like 260 degrees to you? Can overbanking look like the readings on the timegrapher?

One other issue I noticed was that on basically a half wind, I was getting around 290 degrees. I have no clear idea why it would have decreased. Is this going to be an issue, or is it ok to run like this? Thank you for any help you can give me!

Hi everyone! I’m going through a Bulova 11AC and there’s a few issues with it, most notably with the gear train. It seems like all plating has been lost on the wheels, and now they are turning green. Should I get a new movement and replace them, or can they be reused?

Hi everyone! This is my second build I created. I was aiming for a WW2 A-11 or US Buships look. How do you think I did?

Hi everyone! I was asked to try and find the lift angle for this movement, and I believe it is around 47.3 degrees? I ended up marking a point on the balance with a sharpie, winding the watch until the balance seemed to swing 180 degrees, and adjusted the timegrapher until it also read 180 degrees. Can anyone tell me if this was the correct way to do it?

On a full wind and the regulator in the middle, here is what I found:

DD -278 s/d. 183 degrees
DU -262 s/d. 171 degrees
CD -332 s/d. 158 degrees
CU -283 s/d. 160 degrees
CL -327 s/d. 158-161 degrees
CR —276 s/d. 157 degrees

Older Walthams had an odd mainspring barrel, where the top piece does not securely snap onto the barrel itself. Mine is a little lopsided right now, could this be causing excess friction?

Hi everyone! I looked at the Waltham 165 again today, and noticed that there was very slight damage to the faces of the pallet jewels. Not sure if that’s doing anything, but I was able to reduce the beat error.

I believe this has an older style of pallet fork, where the “horn” on the end comes straight up instead of going underneath the impact jewel (very similar to the photo). When I was looking at it today, it almost looked like the “horn” was touching the roller table. Should this be occurring?

Does anyone have recommendations on what to check next?

Hi everyone! I’m trying to get a Waltham 165 up and running again, but for some reason it’s not going very well. As you can see, the amplitude is atrocious, and it’s losing time. I’ve tried adjusting the beat error, but every time I would get it down to around 3.0ms, it skyrocketed back to 9.9ms when the balance was replaced. I have noticed that the balance does seem to get stuck at times on the pallet fork when trying to get it back in, and it needs some playing with to get going. When pre-cleaning, I thought I found some damage to the pallet fork pivot jewel, but didn’t think it would be affecting the watch much. Could this be causing these issues? (I know the photo sucks. To me, the jewel around the circle looks to have been chipped away so that it slopes downward into the hole, rather than being flat.)

Hi everyone! I decided to take apart a Waltham last night, and found that the bridge for the escape/seconds wheel was shimmed with a piece of brass. Today while pre-cleaning, I also found a chip in the outer portion of the jewel for the escape wheel. Should I find another movement and replace the jewel here, or is it ok to leave alone? Thanks for the help!

Hi everyone! I decided to take apart a Waltham last night, and found that the bridge for the escape/seconds wheel was shimmed with a piece of brass. Today while pre-cleaning, I also found a chip in the outer portion of the jewel for the escape wheel. Should I find another movement and replace the jewel here, or is it ok to leave alone? Thanks for the help!

Hi everyone! Just got this one in today! It’s a Waltham Trench watch which I believe is from 1907. Just wanted to get your thoughts on this one’s lugs. It seems like the top one is off center, slanted to the left. It doesn’t seem bent, just weirdly soldered there. Was there a reason for this? I was gonna put it on a bind strap, does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!