Reply To: Thinking about giving up!

[edwardny]

Bob, I went through your videos and other articles and books, etc.
This must be the dumbest question of all but it’s really bothering me. Why don’t I put the entire watch movement or large part of a movement onto the demagnetizer and press the button. It’ll demagnetize many parts or a whole movement at once or there are side effects? Why do I HAVE TO take the hairspring off and demagnitize it separately?

@Bob Tascione wrote:

Hi All!
Great advise by both Bill and Paul! We all experience that feeling at times.
Magnetism is a watchmakers “enemy” and can drive you nuts! You mentioned that you have one of those inexpensive magnetizing/demagnetising units. These tend to work okay for larger tools like screwdrivers but not well for small parts such as screws. My guess is that they reduce the magnetism to a certain point but not quite enough. If you have a soldering gun you can try inserting the screw held in a tweezers into the coiled part just before the tip and then pull the trigger and slowly pull the screw away from the gun. This works well!
If the parts keep becoming magnetized then there is something on or near your work area causing the problem. One thing I would suspect is your magnetizing unit. Any chance it’s near your work area? You can check to see if there’s a problem by bringing a compass near it. Also can use the compass near and around your work area to see if there is some sneaky little magnetic field nearby like a radio or speaker etc.

Well hang in there Dave and remember that we are all up here rooting for you and we can ALL relate to the problem you’re having and are here to help!

Let us know how things unfold,

Bob