Velona 1100 ETA 2409 (1969)

How it started

 

 And now, after two services (first one wasn't great), some hairspring work, a new crystal and light case polishing.

 

The train cap jewels should ideally be replaced as they seem to be made out of died quartz and the die has started to get damaged. Pallet fork also needs replacement as the jewel faces have been damaged by the escape wheel over the years, which means a new escape wheel too. But considering that the watch is still running pretty well and won't be used on a daily basis they can stay as is for now. Maybe they'll get replaced during the next service, a couple of years from now.

 

 

Polishing watch parts

EB 1333, decided to try polishing brass parts on dial side.

 

 

 Aliexpress polishing tripod, not just for screws but for small parts too.

 

 

Flat polishing plate that came with the tripod. Flatness isn't great but workable especially for the price. Glued some 3000, 5000, 7000 and 10000 grit sandpaper but the results aren't great; a piece of glass with 3M lapping paper will be a much better option but this will do for learningt he basics. Wet works much better than dry as particles are moved away from the work.

Setting lever, brass, came pretty rough out of the factory as this was a relatively cheap movement.

 

Attaching the part to a holder that goes in the tripod. Superglue works wonders here and afterwards just leave in acetone and it will dissolve nicely, cleaning the part too.

Result after; without magnification the scratechs can barely be seen. At this point the only way to remove them is to use diamantine powder, 1 or 0.5 microns so this is just the preparation for black polishing. Still this is a massive improvement.

 

 I'll eventually get a piece of glass, better lapping paper and diamantine powder is on the way, that should improve results but am happy with the results already.

First balance staff replacement

 Top pivot for Ronda RL 5111 17 jewel pin pallet bent, roller table not sitting flush either.

Tried to straighten the pivot using the Seitz pivot breaker; worked as intended. Pivot broke.

 

 Hairspring removed.

And the roller table too.

 

Next, removing the staff. Such little force was needed; only a few taps with the back of tweezers.

 

The balance disassambled. One bent and another broken pivot.

 Measuring the staff; there are three available staffs for this movement, one for incabloc and two for pin pallet. 0.01mm difference in pivot lengths between the two for pin pallet but the endshake doesn't seem adjustable. Is balance endshake adjustable? I thought it wasn't.

Replacement ordered; pack of 3. Cousins only had three in stock, more of the longer staff.

Making Liquid Shellac

 Shellac requires heat to manipulate and can be re-heated many times. However this is a slow, tedious process. Luckily it is dissolved by naptha and alcohol so it is possible to make a liquid form of shellac to use without requiring heat; just wait for the solvent to evaporate and the shellac will harden. A 1:4 ratio of shellac and solvent is needed and the solvent will need to be topped up regularly. This will allow time to manipulate anything that the shellac is on; it is possible to move jewels while mixture hasn't hardened yet.

 

Fixing a watch with a hammer; First time using the Staking Set

The movement

Had this Velona 1100 Compressor with an ETA 2409 that I purchased, it ran but there was way too much play in the barrel. This was a job for a staking set, which I didn't have at the time, so I just serviced the movement and let it sit.

Staking set

 

Enter a few weeks ago, a staking set! Managed to snag an almost complete Boley 173gN staking set, missing one stake and the stake handling cap, for a really price and in great condition.

When the set arrived the stake hole in the base was plugged, my first reaction was quite depressive and I thought I got scammed. Coming back after a break it turned out that it was indeed clogged but the clog could be removed; a couple of centimeters of sort of compressed leather were plugging the hole. A couple of hours patience and, surprisingly, quite some WD40 fixed that. The latter softened everything up and helped me understand what was going on; it was "disappearing"; soaking into the plug and making it softer. Remove some, rinse repeat, the set was back in business.

 

Hole too big

 
Sizing the hole

First, centering the plate. Someone in the past missed the mark but this is just cosmetic damage.

The bridge ready for a smackdown.

 

An unlikely ally appears.

Tap tap tap; and the hole is now too small, right as planned.

 

 

 A set of broaches, which I purchased for this project (and hopefully many more in the future).

And, rightsizing the hole. It takes such little pressure to increase the diameter of the hole again and it got too big again but there was still a slight improvement so I knew I was on the right track.

 

 

A few more rounds of hammer time and testing and the barrel could finally move freely without very little play.

 

 All in all this took about an hour, I'm sure that with practice it would take less time with better results but as a first try I think it went really well. No mishaps, nothing broke and there was a definite improvement in the barrel shake. All that remains is to re-service the movement.

Seitz jewelling tool - 1938

 

Managed to buy this 1938 Seitz tool complete from a retried French watchmaker, who probably purchased it used or inherited it. It wasn't cheap but such a rare and complete tool couldn't be. Doesn't have the micrometric screw from the newer version, and it takes 3mm stumps instead of 4mm like the new ones but I can replace jewels in rubbed in settings with it and such tools haven't been made in a very, very long time. A separate set for that would still be really expensive anyways, and from the US, which makes is much worse.

 

The pivot breaker works well too. One down.