Help, I need somebody ,Help, (Beatles)

[kybill2011]

Ok boys and girls, bill needs some HELP.

I just finished disassembling my first watch. It is a Illinois 15 jewel. To start off with there is green (what I want to call mold) krud on the outside of the case. The mechanism case screws were almost rusted in the screw holes. There is a touch of surface rust on a few parts, no functioning areas. Now to top it off, when I was taking the main spring out of the barrell, I lost my grip and the main spring went flying ( stop your laughing, I know this has to have happened to someone else). I spent about 20 minutes looking for the main spring arbor and low and behold it was on the table right in front of me. Now this watch is filthy and is going to get a good cleaning. Where I need the help is there anything other than cleaning in the ultrasonic that I need to do for the watch parts, especially with the surface rust. Secondly, the windind stem was not not worrking properly.The culprit is a broken (what seems to be a wire attached to the setting lever) it is in the shape, some what of a U. Does anyone know what this (wire/spring) is called so I can replace it? Taking the watch apart was not to bad, putting it back together should be a real hoot for a first timer. Any help would be great. Thanks, Bill

[arutha]

“I’ll Get By With a Little Help From My Friends”
Hi Bill,
Obviously make sure all of the rust is removed, if you have got yourself some pegwood now great, if not you need some and peg out all the pinion, jewel holes etc. Check all of your jewels very closely making sure none are chipped or cracked. Check the mainspring isnt “set” and if it is get a new one ordered. Once the mech comes out of the ultrasonic just have a good look at every part, and extra stubborn dirt and grime must be removed. Thats about my limit with watches but someone else will jump in with the extra info. Pieces flying off across the room? If that doesnt happen then something is wrong Even repairing clocks this happens, I love hunting around the floor for small pieces, its one of my favourite pastimes I have a laminate floor and I can usualy hear in which direction the piece bounced away in. There are two schools of thought of flooring, dont laugh this is gods honest truth, some like a hard floor so they can hear the parts bounce and others prefer a short pile carpet so the parts dont go far.
Any way good luck with the watch Bill and I look forward to see how you get on with it.
Paul.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Bill,
Most important requirement if going into watch repair is strong knees and the ability to crawl around on floors for at least half of the work day!
If the rust doesn’t come off after cleaning then you may want to try either Evap-O-Rust, TechCorro, Tea etc.
Here are some links to posts on the forum where rust is discussed that may be of help;
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=272&p=1196&hilit=rust#p1196
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=291&p=1296&hilit=rust#p1296
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=242&p=1277&hilit=rust#p1277

Hope this helps Bill,
Have fun,
Bob

[kybill2011]

Thanks Paul and Bob. I have some stuff called PB Blaster, it is used to free rusted bolts. This just came to mind. I think with help of some peg wood
(I bought a bundle when I ordered my tools) I should be able to clean up the rust. Bob, do you happen to know the name of the the (wire/spring ) I described in this post? I can’t seem to find it in any parts list or illustrations. Knowing the name of it could really be a plus. Thanks, Bill.

[Bob Tascione]

Sorry Bill,
I forgot about that spring. It’s most likely the “setting lever spring” or “clutch lever spring”.
Any chance you can take a pic of it?
Bob

[randy]

One of my best tools is a two-row magnet…it helps to find all of the parts on my floor.
There’s nothing wrong with “assuming the swiss position”…we’ve all been there, and I can share your history of digging for parts in the carpet, only to find the part next to my elbow,..or hiding behind something else on my bench.
One reason to keep them free of clutter, although some may say that improves the possibility of it being “captured” by another tool ?? 😮

I’ve used PB blaster on car parts, never tried it on a watch movement piece.
It’s pretty aggressive though, so I would caution you to get all of it removed from the part,..maybe even using some denatured alcohol in a jar other than the one you normally use, before you put it into the solution you usually use. You won’t want to transfer any of the contaminated cleaner that may have some PB residue into your normal cleaning solution.

I’m with Bob, that the spring is for your setting lever..but as he said, a picture will help.
Jules Borel sells an assortment of them on their webpage…

Randy

[kybill2011]

OK, been studying the spring real close and figured out it is spring wire. I’ll guage the size then order some. let you know how it turns out.

[willofiam]

You guys make me laugh 😆 thanks I needed that, I thought I was the only one with dropsy. just the other day I came really close to buying one of those large funnels you put around a dogs head…….. in hopes of capturing those flying parts. I keep telling myself to belly up to the bench but old dogs have a hard time doing new tricks. William

[arutha]

I have covered my desk and floor in magnets and then stuck white double sided tape on top, I dont drop anything anymore but I do have a spot of bother picking it up now.

[kybill2011]

Here’s a couple of pictures of the broken spring wire. I’ve ordered the wire for the fix. One side of the wire had to be bent to be gauged.


Here’s a picture of yours truly. I only took a head shot (not a full body like Paul). Bob said any Obscenties and you would be kicked off the forum.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Bill,
Good job on the pics. Always nice to be able to place a face when writing each other. Thanks for posting!
Yes that is the clutch lever spring.
Please let us know how the job turns out.
Adios for now,
Bob

[arutha]

Hi Bill, nice to put a face to the name I think a lot of people here would have preferred it if I had missed my head off and just photographed my body Looking forward to seeing how the watch goes and good luck with it. By the way, those glass scratch pens are good for cleaning off any rust or green stuff from the movement, just watch you dont get bits of it stuck in your fingers.

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