Workflow

[vanhooglesnort]

So far I’m getting better. I think I know what to check and how to check it, and in most cases how to effect the repair. So my question to you who are better at this and more experienced is this:

What is your general workflow / order of operations when servicing/inspecting/repairing a watch? What checks and adjustments are made, in what order, and in which step of the process?

I can adjust endshakes, polish pivots, true wheel, and make adjustments to the escapement. Many of these tasks are slow (for me) and require multiple cycles of assemble, check, disassemble, adjust, repeat. Since I’ve had no formal training aside from multiple books and videos I KNOW I’m not doing this in the most efficient manner. A simple job goes quickly, but the more sinister problems often take me quite a while. This is OK for my own stuff, but I’m getting a bit more outside work from folks and I want to improve my speed.

Thanks!

[randy]

The first thing that I tell a customer is that I will not tell them how long it will take to return the piece until I have fully broken it down and inspected it. And that’s on watches that don’t appear to have issues after a cursory examination.
I’m careful to regulate the amount of work I bring in for that reason.

It sounds as though you have a good grasp of the types of common adjustments that need to be done.
Working from the mainspring , to the train, to the escapement is how I pattern my work after the COA, looking for/correcting items that stand out.

I try to find time to improve my repair methods on old “beaters”as I can, in order to make my tools/methods better and quicker when I’m working on a client’s watch.

I never sacrifice time for a better end result,..and my customers fully understand that.

The rest just comes with time and diligence for all of us.

Best

Randy

[tmac1956]

Hey vanhooglesnortb :

Bob has (or had) a PDF file that might help. It’s called “ClockRepairTroubleShootingNotes.pdf”

As I cannot remember where it’s located, I am attaching it for you. Bob, I hope this isn’t inappropriate. If so, I appologize up front.

[attachment=0:2ifkibla]ClockRepairTroubleShootingNotes.pdf[/attachment:2ifkibla]

Thanks!
Tom

[vanhooglesnort]

Thanks for the replies! I’ve read both sets of notes that Bob produced (watch and clock repair notes) and while they are excellent tips for troubleshooting, they aren’t giving me a good feel for the most efficient way of doing things. I too refuse to compromise quality for speed, but if I can make things quicker I want to do so.

I guess I’m looking for more specifics:
What gets checked/diagnosed during disassembly vs reassembly, or are you using an intermediate, partially assembled “let’s check this” stage? As I do things now, after the cleaning I end up assembling the wheel train by itself to check shakes, depthing, freedom of movement, etc. Then I take that down and do the same for the escapement. I also check the shake on the barrel after cleaning. As you can see, I assemble small sections to work on one at a time. Any issues or adjustments I find during this process often requires several more assemble-disassemble cycles to get right.

Am I going in the right direction or is there a more efficient way?

[tmac1956]

vanhooglesnort:

Oh no… I posted the wrong file. The one I meant to post was a complete services order for watches! When I get home from work today, I find it and post. You can pretty musch set up a good routine from Bob’s document.

I appologize…
Tom

[tmac1956]

vanhooglesnort:

I remember where these are on Bob’s site. If you go to the “Downloads” and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see both documents. Obviously, the one that you want is the watch trouble shooting document.

Here the link: http://www.schooloftime.com/members/ultdnld_page1.html

I think this will show you the order which Bob has developed. At least its a starting point.

I hope this helps…
Tom

[david pierce]

Van,
If you have not done so already go to Youtube and type in THE WATCH REPAIR CHANNEL. A seasoned professional watchmaker named Mark Lovick put a series of videos together on watch repair. They are excellant. Mark will also answer your questions in the comments section.
david

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