u/Major_Support8233

I recently decided to tackle my first watch project and kind of jumped right in the deep end. I picked up a genuine Rolex Air-King 5500 case with usable crystal, case back, dial, and hands and also bought a gen crown separately. I decided to build a reliable daily wearer around an ST2130 movement while preserving the original case and dial.

The biggest challenge turned out to be the movement spacer. There wasn't an off-the-shelf solution that fit correctly and accomplished what I wanted, so I designed one in OpenSCAD and iterated through numerous printed prototypes before finally arriving at a version that:

• retains the movement,
• clears the automatic rotor,
• allows the caseback to close,
• and keeps everything centered.

At the moment I'm waiting on a replacement hour wheel after damaging the original while removing overly tight dummy hands. Once that arrives, it's on to final assembly.

I wanted to share some photos of my project while I'm in a lull and will update once completed.

https://preview.redd.it/xsipr1ycqfch1.jpg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d002c1fac692af1c2042592a25d7e6615397d7f

https://preview.redd.it/n8ocn5cdqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9cbf9e18295614e7048c7f793cf87f2ed4d4748

https://preview.redd.it/k7dzaz9fqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be9bcb3dc9f48514ac353b56e0f3b42c4af7176f

https://preview.redd.it/7r8gaywfqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e084c44a3ab4711f310c01acd9f45b296db00575

https://preview.redd.it/d42yyiygqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c871b0e8eadbb77ae23c0cc690e71c4e4f172a2

https://preview.redd.it/cb4nznlhqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9342d6b102c8836cad6cb97513616c9546c56938

https://preview.redd.it/updx7gnjqfch1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3f918c55e37227bc4789201268d7b5f60bf00c1

Has the World Cup help or hurt crowds at the Disney Parks? Also, I know it’s only a guess, what do you think 4th of July will be like? 250th celebrations and once in a lifetime fireworks in LA.

I’m struggling to remove the dummy hour hand that came on my movement. Minute hand was no issue but when I try to get the hour hand with the Presto tool I’m lifting the entire hour wheel out. Any suggestions on how to get it dislodged without breaking something.

I went to order an eta adapter from the site and my only shipping option to my address is dhl and it’s $91! Am I missing something? I hear these adapters come recommended as good fitting and better value that Yuki but at that shipping cost that can’t be true.

I purchased a gen 1500 case and dial and looking to complete a build. I reached out to Ken at raffles with some questions on fitment of the gen case. He told me that he had some customers who have used a 2824 movement glued with date wheel overlay on 3135 location and a metal spacer ring set in the gen case. I looked through the sub and haven't seen anyone specifically talk about this build so I was wondering if anyone has first hand experience on whether this can be done or not.