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  • #49084
    bernie weishapl
    Participant

      Well decided to add to my collection of pocket watches. Sorry for the bad pic’s. Had to use my phone as grandma has the other camera. :D I bought 4 Elgin 16s one is a 3 finger bridge at a auction. Two are complete and two are just movements and dials but will need cases. Two of them I know will need balance staffs and one with the bad balance staff has a broken mainspring. I went on the big bay to get 3 mainsprings and 2 16s balance staffs. Haven’t worked on a pocket watch for a while but thought now that my eyes are better would try again to add to my collection. I started with 6 watches. 2 were my mom’s dad, 2 were my dad’s dad and two were my dad’s. Back in the day when they carried them 3 were 18s for everyday carry and 2 were 12s and 1 16s which as my granddad used to say was his Sunday go to meeting watch. 😆 They all had fobs on them because back then all three wore suits with vests and carried them in their vest with the fob. So anyway it may be a while as I have a big order of woodturning to get out in two weeks. I also have to catch up on my clock work. Have about 30 clocks in for repair and about a dozen service calls to do so these might be a winter project but couldn’t pass them up for $17. I got my choice of one or all four of them which I took.

      Anyway hoping all you have a great Father’s day and a great weekend. My son and grandson are taking me golfing which I miss being so busy I don’t get out as much as I would like.




      #58126
      bobpat
      Participant

        Thought I was the only one to have my head examined for starting in with watches. LOL. I have been doing clocks for about 10 years,and thought that I would like to do watches. Although clocks and watches work basically the same, they are like nite and day. I have a lot to learn, For me, getting parts are hard, and have to learn a whole new knowledge base, I could not have done it without this forum. What a resource to have..!!

        #58127
        bernie weishapl
        Participant

          I totally agree. I probably should have my head examined. I have been doing clocks for 26 yrs and watches I have did them if the customer brought them in with their clocks. I finally quit working on them when my eyes starting getting to the point that the small parts I just couldn’t see. At least now they are mine and can work when and if I want. 😆

          #58128
          chris mabbott
          Participant

            Good haul Bernie, those Elgin 3FBs are nice to work on, not so much fiddling around aligning the pivots, kind of a pleasure after the full plate 18s.
            How are the NOS eyes doing? I imagine good if you’ve gone for watches, amazing eh.. just a few months ago you probably never thought that you’d be doing micro repair again..

            I’m happy to hear that I’m not the only one with a huge back log of projects, I seem to be getting more in that out, then the next thing I know, the day has gone 😯

            I’m doing the opposite of you guys as I have two clocks to eventually work on, then I realize that I know richard about them 😆
            So I hope you guys will be patient with the new born baby that is me, complete with baby hair 😆

            #58129
            bernie weishapl
            Participant

              Hey Chris so far the eye’s are amazing. I just need reading glasses for small stuff but it is amazing I can now actually see a balance staff without double loupes just my reading glasses. 😆 As for projects I also do woodturning as a hobby/business. I just completed a order for about $800 this week for the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center. Nice thing is they pay me for the items upfront at which I give them a 30% discount so they can make some money to. Most of the wood I use is free wood so I make out pretty good. I also have my turnings in 3 galleries and only get paid when they sell. Last year all total I made over $6500 just in woodturnings and a little over $15,000 on my clock work. All this along with a pretty good size garden. We didn’t buy a veggie from the store all last winter. So yea my watches may be on the back burner till things settle down. Summer is extremely busy for me especially in the woodturning projects.

              Anyway enough babble. Just some more projects but just wanted to try it again now that I can see good. 😆

              #58130
              chris mabbott
              Participant

                Oh Bernie my brother, don’t even get me started on store bought veggies, that would be another thread in itself 😆

                I buy my food from an organic farm, yes it’s full of worms, slugs and holes, and its ugly as hell, not perfect, but it tastes wonderful, as you know :D

                My grandfather was a green grocer during the times before the control of huge supermarket chains, so we always had fresh produce. His brothers were butchers who also had farms, so again, we knew what everything had been fed.

                I remember when he, my GF, came to Canada to visit, he wouldn’t eat any of the stuff wrapped in plastic from Safeway 😆

                I’m glad to hear you’re back into heavy production mode buddy, amazing what vision will do :ugeek:

                #58131
                bernie weishapl
                Participant

                  Yep sure doesn’t put a different prospective on things for sure which I am eternally thankful.

                  #58132
                  david pierce
                  Participant

                    I never worked on a mechanical clock but I do appreciate them. The tools for clocks and watches are a bit different from each other; especially in size. From the videos I have watched on clock repair, it appears that at least some of the parts can be put in with your hands. This would not work well with watch parts. The parts are tiny, delicate and difficult to see and minipulate without the proper tools. In spite of the fact that a watch looks like a scaled down clock, the reality is working on them requires a different thought process, different tools, and different techniques.
                    david

                    #58133
                    bernie weishapl
                    Participant

                      It does at that David. I know I have to change my mindset when I switch to work on a watch. I know you can’t strong arm things with watches that you can get away with on clocks. These days I don’t care to work on anything smaller than 12s watches and would prefer to work on 18s and 16s. I know I probably will not get into commercial repair of watches anymore but I like them and collecting them. Most of what I have are pretty common watches and I will buy at estate auctions, etc. and do sell a few here and there. I quit working on them for the last few years as it was getting harder and harder for me to see to get them apart or back together. Now I am happy that I can play with them again and will buy more at mostly auctions where I can get them at a decent price. That way I can clean, repair and if I want can sell them it will be mostly to customers that I do clock repairs for.

                      Happy Fathers day to all. Enjoy the day.

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