Home Forums General Discussion Forum The Bob Tascione Question and Answer Post

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  • #48842
    arutha
    Participant

      I have started this post on the back of a suggestion by David Pearce,

      Bob,
      This means that you have been working on watches more than 40 years. Please do a post about how you started and learned, what books you studied from, people you received information from (watchmakers, clockmakers). One thing I have learned is you don’t simply wake up one morning and know how to do this stuff.
      david

      Bob is a busy guy and rather than make the poor guy type out an auto biography I thought it better if we could all ask him questions about his horological background.
      Please save the technical questions for the General Discussion Board.
      So lets start with one of David’s questions – How do you get started in horology?

      #55569
      willofiam
      Moderator

        Paul and David, be nice….how is someone supposed to remember something 100years ago? by the way Bob isnt it your birthday soon?

        #55570
        Bob Tascione
        Moderator

          Hi Guys,

          Thanks for moving this topic from Ewinrow’s shop page to the general forum Paul.

          I’m not too sure this is going to be of much interest to most members since my initiation into watches and clocks is actually quite bland and uneventful when compared to many accounts I’ve read up here from other members. I’ll be happy to try and answer any questions though.

          First let me point out what I had written on Ed’s page that prompted Davids statement

          “This means that you have been working on watches more than 40 years “

          Here it is:

          “When Phyllis and I first got married over 40 years ago I had my set up in our apartment closet!”

          Without thinking I managed to reveal three things about myself.
          1. I’m old. Not as old as David of course but closing in on him as percentages go! Yes William I’ll be 61 in a couple of months if I’m remembering correctly. :)

          2. I was working on watches in a closet and clocks on the kitchen table about 40 years ago!

          but the amazing part is:
          3. A woman has actually put up with me for over 40 years!

          But my true initiation into watch repair came from a very patient and helpful man about 8 years earlier than the closet days.

          At the end of the street and around a corner from where I lived in Whittier, California there was a tiny Jewelry slash Watch Repair shop situated on the quiet side of an already quiet shopping center. I would run by the shop on my way home from school just about every day and plaster my face against the front window to watch this ‘old guy’ (probably 10 years younger than I am now) work on watches. If he was doing jewelry repair that day then I was out of there within a minute or so but if he had a watch in front of him that was it. I wouldn’t budge and proceded to smudge the hell out of his window. These daily visits went on for quite a while and I never once went into his store. He would acknowledge me with a quick raise of his hand and a smile and I suppose I probably did the same but that was it. I was content just watching him work and checking out all the different tools he used. You know the feeling.

          One day after I had been there for a few minutes he stood up, walked around his bench and came outside to talk to me! His first words were; “Hi, want a job 2 or 3 days a week after school?”
          Wow I was gonna learn watch repair! “Yes, sure, what do you want me to do?”
          “You can start with cleaning your finger prints off of my windows and then sweep the floors but don’t throw the dust away until I’ve looked at it.” Probably not his exact words but close.

          Ok I got the window part no problem but why would this guy want to see the dust pan after sweeping. Well we all know the answer to that one but it sure seemed weird to me at the time! Anyway it took an hour to clean the place including the bathroom Mondays, Weds, and Fridays every week and almost every night after I finished he would take a few minutes and teach me a little about watches. I probably did this for a year or so and got to work a little more during summer vacation. I got to the point where I was able to tear down a pocket or larger wrist watch and run it through the cleaning machine, replace a mainspring and reassemble. Anything beyond that he would handle. Looking back I’m sure I was more of a burden than a help but he never let me know it. I think he actually looked forward to the short teaching sessions. Needless to say there came a point where girls became far more interesting than watches, food, you name it and my time at the shop eventually dropped down to nothing. A few months later the store was gone. The dry cleaner next door told me he had moved his business to Oregon.

          I discovered later that the ‘sixties’ were highly competive years for watchmakers and finding someone willing to share their knowledge was rare and, that I was very fortunate to have someone to help and encourage me. I was lucky.

          I dabbled at watch repair off and on over the next few years but didn’t take it seriously until I was about 19. By the time I was 20 I was completely hooked. I checked out any and every book I could find from the public libraries on both watches and clocks; Fried, DeCarle, Bulova School of Watchmaking book, etc.

          Antique stores were going crazy during the early 70’s importing containers of furniture and clocks from Europe. When I mentioned to one antique store owner that I was repairing clocks and watches on the side he handed me a couple of ‘Swingers’ to see what I could do. Many pocket watch and clocks followed after that.

          I became a Letter carrier (mail man) for the Woodland Hills post office during this time and repaired clock and watches in the evening and days off. I had a person on my route that sold clock and watch tools and parts from his garage. I can’t remember the name of their (husband and wife) business but they were always busy and shipped a lot of supplies out. I know cuz they went into my postal jeep. I purchased A LOT of old used tools from them over the next few years many of which I still have.

          I should also mention for those who may remember. There was another person/clock and tool supplier in the San Fernando Valley area where our apartment was located that was a big help to me a few years after I started out and that was Fred Krone, the founder of Norkro clock company. Fred later moved to a small town near Moorpark (oh no William, I can’t remember the name!) where he purchased an old church and filled it with his business and a collection of beautifully restored old Cadillacs! Fred started Norkro by going around selling clock mainsprings from the trunk of his car! He eventually turned it into a thriving business which he later sold to David Rossi in Chula Vista which David ran for a few years before selling it to a person who moved Norkro to Oregon where it remains in business to this day.

          and the beat goes on…

          You guys still awake? :)
          Bob

          #55571
          arutha
          Participant

            Thanks for taking the time Bob, no chance of falling asleep, I am hooked already and cant wait for the next installment :)

            #55572
            willofiam
            Moderator

              Hey Bob, funny how the journey of life goes, look at what that young boy staring thru the window has accomplished ;) back then could you have even dreamed of it? Well written, I could picture it all. Thank you, William

              #55573
              gerene
              Participant

                Very nice story Bob. I see we are almost the same age, a big difference is that I only took interest in watches and clocks a few years ago. I will probably never catch up with you on this, but I will have an interesting time while trying ;). Looking forward to the rest of the story….

                Jan

                #55574
                mahlon
                Participant

                  Great story Bob. It turns out that you and I have more in common than the gray hair and beard. I to was a mail carrier for several years. I ran a 87 mile rural route. Oh yah, I also have a closet :D Mahlon

                  #55575
                  tmac1956
                  Participant

                    Bob:

                    That’s a facinating history indeed and explains why you know so much!

                    Thanks!!!
                    Tom

                    #55576
                    chris mabbott
                    Participant

                      The only thing we are missing here are a few beers and a BBQ, I think we should invite ourselves over to Bob’s place and continue this in person :D

                      Chris

                      #55577
                      michael weaver
                      Participant

                        That is a great story Bob. I was actually hoping to read more when I got to the end. I wish I would have started earlier but then again I don’t think I would have had the patience. I’m only 35 but I think we all wish we had a start like that. Thanks for the story. Chris, I definitely think we should all get together and just show up at Bobs house with beer and bbq.

                        #55578
                        tmac1956
                        Participant

                          All:

                          If we are going to show up at Bob’s unannounced we had better bring something stronger than beer. Not for Bob, but for his wife. ;)

                          Tom

                          #55579
                          Bob Tascione
                          Moderator

                            :D Good one Tom!
                            Hey you guys are welcome anytime. Got a spare quest room.
                            Glad you liked the story! Surprised but glad.
                            I was pretty lucky to have that opportunity but I think we all have something far better than that now. The Internet! Youtube, forums etc. We used to have to wait to go to chapter meetings to converse with others about horology but now we have instant access to forums where we can pick each others brains. That’s really powerful stuff. An example would be Williams current Hershede restoration project http://clockrepairtips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=840 . We’re all able to learn almost real time and ask questions as he posts pics and explains how he goes about doing different things. We never had anything like that. Many other examples like Chris Mabbotts excellent demos etc. Or being able to ask David about tooling or machine problems, receiving detailed answers within hours or sometimes minutes! The coolest thing for me though is we now have the opportunity to problem solve together as a group. Ton’s of creativity flows out of group participation. I guess what I’m saying is what used to take many years to learn can now be done in a fraction of the time. I really believe that many up here (not referring to the forum but online exposure) learn more in a year than what used to take many years pre-internet. Then there’s the encouragement thing! Whole ‘nuther subject.

                            Thanks for the nice comments guys!
                            Shrimps on the barbie!
                            Bob

                            #55580
                            arutha
                            Participant

                              Hi Bob,
                              I think when we see your videos and watch people like Steffen Pahlow us mere mortals wonder how you ever got so good at what you do. The great thing about your story is it shows us you are a human being and have a story to tell about the journey taken to get to where you are, it also helps that you are a good story teller. When we start out, unless we have had some form of engineering or mechanical work, every single skill has to be learnt on top of what tools you need for what operations. How many times have any of us watched a video and thought mmm… that looks easy enough only to find when we try it for ourselves we can see almost immediately that it is going to take some practice. I think some people just have more of an aptitude for certain things and thats why some people move on at a faster pace than others.
                              You are quite right about the web being an amazing reference tool, the only limit to how fast you want to learn now is how fast you can learn. You can find info on just about anything. The forum is becoming better all the time too, I have seen a few people come and go but just recently more are sticking it out and that is great, not to mention some of the fantastic posts popping up on a regular basis. Everyone gets along and that alone makes it stand out from any other horology forum.

                              So Bob, you got as far as the 70’s working for an antiques store what then?

                              #55581
                              david pierce
                              Participant

                                I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in a section called Northridge. I went to elementary, jr high, high school and college in the Valley. I started out as an art major and switched over to engineering because I really sucked at art. I remember sitting in a drawing class and the guy in the chair next to me was a professional staff artist for Hana-Barbera. I think everyone else in the art classes was on a professional or semiprofessional level except me.
                                I was fascinated with machines for as long as I can remember. I remember seeing a watchmaker lathe in a pawn shop when I was a kid and thought that it was one of the coolist things I ever saw. I watched people work on watches in pawn and jewelry stores but never thought about doing it myself until a few yerar ago. I’m glad I did because now I have two things I really suck at; watchmaking and art!
                                david

                                #55582
                                chris mabbott
                                Participant

                                  Funny story David, as it mirrors, yet is opposite to mine. I was “persuaded” by my father to pursue his field, engineering, which I liked, in the aesthetic sense, but I also equally sucked at academically 😆 I was more the visual artsy one, but I just got stuck in the former.
                                  I also used to admire those people who could create and invent, seemingly out of thin air, the most incredible, functional, items. I could visualize something, but not actually make it, pissed me off 😆 but to each his own.

                                  Going back to the 70’s in the mining industry, we had four “old timer” machinists, it sounds like the start of a joke but they were an Englishman (limey) an Irishman (paddy) and two Germans (Fritzes), these guys produced an amazing amount of complicated items, detented parts for hydraulic valve banks, motor parts, tools, everything, I was in awe of them. I wish now that I had learned more, but…

                                  I think the thing I’ve found over the years is that we, us here on the forum, and others who collect, delve, repair, those that have interests, well, we are the lucky ones. I’ve come across a large percentage of individuals who have no interests, which I think is kinda sad, not to mention…boring, although when I begin talking watches to the uninitiated, I suppose they think that I am too LOL
                                  So the real skill, or gift, is not necessarily being fantastic at something, 50% of the battle is having an interest in the first place.

                                  Chris

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