greetings and questions fom that little snow covered Island

[samspade]

Hi all. First post so…….’Be gentle with me’ 😮

Okay. Bought the whole cart as in Bob’s watch and clock course and to be honest, it’s fantastic and just what I was looking for. Although I have been repairing (restoring really) for some years though just for my own collection and enjoyment I wanted to learn more as in the way a watchmaker works and therefore, learn the tricks of the trade, a trade that I unfortunately was steered away from many years ago by a well meaning father who convinced me that watchmaking was a dead art and computers were the way to go. Well, he would seeing as he worked for IBM. So I became a computer nerd and then some years later a systems consultant….Had I known, I should have been a…….watchmaker. 😳

Bob’s natural way is a great asset to us amateurs as we or rather I don’t feel like I have Mr by the book at my side, instead, I feel like I’m in the shop and just being shown what I want, great having a professional watchmaker in your living room. And that tip about transmission oil was great, though can’t say as I like the smell much.

Okay.. Question one. What’s the most popular dip clean (no Benzene) as in say I just want to clean a small part and the sonic cleaner’s out on a date. Issoproy alcohol any good? I see loads of stuff advertised on the net but what do the guys in the trade use/prefer?

I’ve just dismantled a rather nice Ladies 60/70’s Sandoz (Swiss) pendent watch. Bought at a boot/yard sale for a couple of quid/bucks and just too good to be a donor or practice dummy. I noticed that the Escape wheel and the pallet fork have become magnetised. So question 2 is….What is the correct way to demagnetise the watch/parts. Piece by piece or in one go when assembled?

Happy holidays everyone!

Scott………not of the Antarctic but looking out my window, we’re getting there

[jdp020351]

Happy Holidays to you also Scott.
I’m also new to Bob’s course and learning day by day . I’m currently working on an old waltham pocket watch.
Well, thought I say welcome to the group.

Jerry

[Bob Tascione]

Burrr…I’ve never lived in cold country and since my people come from warmer climes I probably wouldn’t last a day! That snow sure is purty though.
Thanks for the kind words Scott,
I’m very pleased to hear that the Ultra course is what you were looking for.

The most popular dip clean would probably be One Dip. It’s often used to clean various watch parts but is used mostly for hairspring cleaning. I’m not convinced that it’s all that great though. It seems to have the exact same cleaning effect on parts as Naptha which I think is just Ronson lighter fluid. I’ve heard that One Dip is Napha but I’m not at all sure about that. Maybe someone can post more info on it. If that’s the case Naptha is much less expensive and available just about everywhere. One dip and Naptha work well for quick cleaning fresh oil off of parts and hairsprings but doesn’t do much for hard to get off grime. Also doesn’t leave that clean looking sheen that L&R cleaners do. Many times when one dip fails to remove the tough stuff off of a hairspring I just soak it for a little bit in regular L&R watch cleaner and then run it through the clean and rinse process. This almost always takes care of it. Also One Dip is expensive where Naptha is not. Naptha does work very well as a rinse.
As for alcohol I would stay away from this when working with watches as it will dissolve the shellac used for holding the roller jewel and pallet stones in place. Works well on parts that don’t have shellac but eventually you will probably forget about that and drop those parts in the same batch. I have. I highly recommend using L&R Cleaners and rinses if the budget allows. They seem expensive at first but you’ll find that the solutions will turn out being very cost effective in the long run. They last a long time for the beginner since you’ll probably just clean a few watches a week at the most. If you’re going to be using the “Soak Method” rather than a mechanical or ultrasonic then you should prepare the watch as I show in the course ie: peg the hole jewels etc.

There are solvents that can be used but it’s difficult to get stuff that’s pure enough that won’t leave a residue. Again that’s why I recommend L&R. Some people use Coleman Stove Fuel which I have found works VERY well as a solvent, leaves no residue and won’t dissolve shellac. The problem is that it ignites too easily and burns like crazy (hence the words Stove Fuel) so it can be dangerous to work with. For that reason I wouldn’t recommend having it in the shop. That being said I suppose large amounts of Naptha wouldn’t be much better. Whatever way you choose just be safe.

If you can get your hands on an old mechanical cleaner with a heated dryer you’ll find it much faster than the soak method. But hand cleaning will get you up close experience with the cleaning process and is actually a lot of fun.

Happy Holidays Scott and thanks for being here!
Bob

[samspade]

@jdp020351 wrote:

Happy Holidays to you also Scott.
I’m also new to Bob’s course and learning day by day . I’m currently working on an old waltham pocket watch.
Well, thought I say welcome to the group.

Jerry

Hi Jerry. Thanks for the welcome. I have a Waltham gents wrist watch that has seen better days, well, the case and bracelet anyway. The movement looks ok though I think the engraver must have sneezed while engraving the Waltham name on the movement as the right hand vertical on the ‘H’ has been extended and looks like a rough ‘L’? Keeps good time though.

I have been restoring watches (just for my collection) for years and yes, I still learn something new every day.

Happy new year!

Scott.

[samspade]

[quote=”Bob Tascione”

The most popular dip clean would probably be One Dip. It’s often used to clean various watch parts but is used mostly for hairspring cleaning. I’m not convinced that it’s all that great though. It seems to have the exact same cleaning effect on parts as Naptha which I think is just Ronson lighter fluid. I’ve heard that One Dip is Napha but I’m not at all sure about that. Maybe someone can post more info on it. If that’s the case Naptha is much less expensive and available just about everywhere.

Hi Bob. The snows gone (just) though they say we might get the tail end of what hit NY! Hope so. Can’t get into work when that happens and so have to bide my time sitting at my bench working on watches all day long….it’s such a hard life sometimes

Naptha/Naphtha is advertised over here? Not cheap though? Well: @ £10.00 (15.5256 USD) for 950ml. Mind you, we’re now paying £1.27. (1.97187 USD) a litre for petrol/gas. So what’s new!

What’s you opinion on the demagnetising bit of my previous post?

Happy new year to you and yours.
Scott.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Scott,
That’s pretty expensive. I thought it would be much less. It is much cheaper than the equiv. amount of One Dip though.

Sorry, I forgot about commenting on the demagnetizing part of your post.

I’ve never had a problem with hairspring destortion demagnetizing watches when assembled. In fact the only times I ever had trouble was when the balance was out of the watch and the hairspring stud was unattached from the balance cock. I also use a coil type demagnetizer rather than the impulse type shown in my videos when demagnetizing assembled watches. The impulse type works very well but it does seem to cause things to jump more than the coil type.

Happy New Year Scott and take care!

Bob

[samspade]

Hi Bob. Yep, expensive, though no real alternative over here that I can find as yet? I’ve used lighter fuel many times to clean camera parts but I always feel that it leaves a minute residue? Isopropyl is ok on certain parts (cameras) though obviously any residue on a watch/clock part is unacceptable.
After reeling from the price shock of Napha I did a quick tour of the material houses over here just to gauge their prices as I’m sure you guys don’t pay through the nose as we do. Anyway: 1 bundle (4) of pith wood approx 25mm x 100mm from my favourite supplier R&N Horological works out at £2.95 or $4.59. 1 bundle (24) of 3mm Peg wood £1.75 or $2.73. Now: certain other houses have the nerve to charge £9.95 or $15.5 for 10 sticks of pith wood and Rodico goes from $3-10.00! Rip off! I can’t find a price for boxwood sawdust as I can’t find any boxwood sawdust as yet and I’ve just run out!

Anyway. Enough of high finance I’ve just finished my eight review of watch 1-5 and no doubt I’ll refer back to them many many times. Staffing was Ace! Not done that yet though I’m much more confident now after watching the video. The tool tips are terrific and you will save us amateurs a fortune and you obviously have an affinity with tools as in the way you don’t hold back or sit on the fence when you say ‘I prefer to use/do it this way’ and then proceed to show us an alternative tool and or direction.

Any other videos in the pipleline?

Take care Bob.

Scott. Enjoying the vids the website and the company.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Scott,
Been away from the forum for a few days. Good to be back. Always great to hear that the courses are of help. Thanks!
Yes…I’ve been working on several projects covering differing topics. Things are beginning to come together but still tons to do. There should be quite a bit of new material being added to the online courses within the next few months. Without letting too much out of the bag I can say it’s not video. Video will be added later as it’s relatively quick and easy to do and can compliment the material that’s to be added.

Well, got some catching up to do so keep having fun Scott and thanks again,

Bob

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