prewarnut
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Posts posted by prewarnut
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I have used Leatherique a few times and can comment that I believe your approach is perfect. On age-old leather it is all about patience and re-application over a prolonged time...not trying to rush the process in a weekend. You may not be trying to re-dye but my thoughts on that is I no longer think a full strip is needed like they mention. So for touch up, their dye can at least initially be used in small sections if needed. The sheen is very slightly more glossy than original, especially on modern cars and I've occasionally wiped the dye broadly over a surface to blend it until reaching a boundary. I have air-brushed it too. Here you won't probably need this but their dye is nice if too much color loss in multiple cracks exist.
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Also no one has mentioned yet, the US Dept. of Agriculture requires the undercarriage cleaned (with documentation) to prevent importation of soil, microbes, etc. It would be wise of the OP to read the US Customs and Border Protection docs online too.
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I think the answer is included within IRS Pub 523 which includes personal property. The wordage is here: "Losses from the sale of personal–use property, such as your home or car, are not deductible. It is not eligible for the capital gains loss of up to $3,000 annually. For more information, see About Publication 523, Selling Your Home."
If you have theft, destruction or natural disaster then yes you can deduct. The above scenario seems to not be a situation one can deduct. Of course I am not offering any legal or financial counsel so don't hold me liable. It is possible if the property is held in a trust or for profit entity then that might be a different story.
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An interesting 540K is up for auction at Amelia. I forget the details but I have seen it before and it is immaculate. First photo credited to Broad Arrow Auctions, other photos mine.
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West, I think I see where you're going with this.😁
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There are some neat stationary steam engines for auction too!
There's two steam powered boats and a number of old gas engines.
Do the guys in ME need this?
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Here's a "not" Springfield PII, but with time spent back and forth between the UK and US and with original owner living in both countries. A prior experimental chassis of 1930, bodied in '33 - and LHD. Also Ex-Frank Cooke. I wonder if anyone here toured with it. Up for auction next month. Pretty neat (or ugly)...probably need to see in person to fully appreciate.
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FWIW the gear selector switch is a known $100. DIY aftermarket repair.
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On 1/5/2024 at 6:59 PM, nsbrassnut said:
Thank you for the very educational description of cleaning and repair the Waltham clock.
After reading this one, I think that I'll leave the one that I have on the shelf alone. This one has the second hand, and another item which I assume may be a day / night indicator.
Perhaps you can provide additional information on the period and model that it may be.
This is a similar version of their standard 8 day movement. Per the serial number, using known databases of their production it looks to have been made about 1917 (give/take a year).
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It also quickly gets the soot off of modern tailpipes.
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Lastly one isn't done unless getting the movement on a timegraphing machine. In the old days watches were run in 3-6 positions, in an oven and in cold temps and then at different positions of the wind to assess the rate. Doing this one day each will take a over a week and then after adjustment it is started all over again. The factories would take over a month to release a batch of movements to jewelers. Nowadays machines can pick up the ticking sounds and ascribe the daily rate and also tell if the watch is beating evenly and how much amplitude the balance wheel revolves at - all within seconds. Still it can take a few hours if one wants to finesse that much perfection out of it. This clock is simple in that it will always be mounted upside down in the dash. Yet making sure the upside down and right side up rates are close is important as when the spring winds down these rates can exchange with one another (no one probably cares about the technical graphs on this...). On my photo each tick is a dot on the screen forming a line on simulated graph paper like the paper machines of the '50s or '60s. In the left hand column the lower line of dots lean to the right with the movement 12:00 down meaning it is running nearly 10 seconds fast upside down. The upper column shows it running 10 seconds slow when mounted correctly in a vertical position. So, they're nearly 20 seconds apart. I can do better, and have adjusted the small screws on the balance to equalize this without touching the regulator on the back. We'll see how the week goes. It isn't a chronometer but I like to see how good one can make it. Now a movement from a SJ Duesenberg or Hispano-Suiza with a second hand is another matter.
Well that's all for this. Thanks for the interest.
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I probably won't have too much more to add here but can share two more points.
One has to be really careful cleaning dials. Ammonia, as in Windex for example, can take painted numbers off or smear them. It is usually best not to "improve" things. A little trick with Rodico (expensive Swiss silly-putty) is that it can pull a lot of grime off surfaces. A few stains in the dial are noted and much of it is beyond the decorative "mask" of the dash. You can see how much dirt comes off though. I think I have it 90% better and will then leave it.
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It can be an art form in miniature....
A special oil is used for the pallets which has high shock resistance to impact but doesn't migrate like other oils will do. The pallet stone faces are oiled.
Apparently the guard finger which I straightened upright should lean a little. That took me 6 tries to get within spec. I did not photo this agony.
I then mounted the hairspring in my staking set. A special stump with cut-out is used to not squash the roller jewel.
It then was assembled and on just a turn or two of the stem (not shown) it took off running!
There is still more to do. I need to set beat. I need to check locks, I need to check timing in the vertical. I need to check full wind to ensure the springs hold. Amazingly it is running 6 sec slow/day as-is horizontally. Not bad for guess work!
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Then, I had to do this all over again because in my final cleaning the shellac loosened up and the jewel came out (I know what I did wrong). Yes, that's why if this was my day job I'd be eating dog food.
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Ok, once done correctly it is turned over and more shellac is placed on top but without disturbing the jewel hanging in the hole upside down with nothing but the grace from above allowing it to be so. This only took me 10 tries. It is then heated to secure.
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What follows is the torture. Waltham did at least make this easier in one aspect for me. Usually the jewel is inserted into a round hole. In cross section the jewel is "D" shaped and the flat of the "D" faces outwards. In a round hole it is up to me to make sure it is oriented right, inserted just the right amount, and not tilted in any direction (needs absolute perpendicularity). Here Waltham made the hole "D" shaped thus helping with one aspect of the process. However, the hole is generally about 1/100th of a mm bigger. Any bigger than that and the jewel just falls through. Any smaller and it isn't going to go in anytime soon. Now, on a jewel only 0.75 to 1 or 1.5 mm long, a #2 tweezers is 0.6 mm wide so I'd be covering nearly all the jewel in holding it. Also it will slide through due to the high polish. How do we insert? We have to lick the inside of the tweezers and that will get the jewel to stick upright on one of the two prongs. I then approach from top or bottom. I show top here but I quickly inverted and did from below. Now if I am off by said 1/100th of a mm in getting this lined up not only does it not go in the hole but it slips away never to be found again (if unlucky) , cracks, etc. So basically this took me 8 tries. It was only 7 the last time (probably the Guinness I had this afternoon). What did I say about drinking? Arghh...
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So I have a roller jewel feeler gauge but I have found it can be off. I generally "present" the stone to the fork under 7x power and see how it interfaces recognizing I'll need just a slight bit of play as the roller rotates away. I also measure as well with my bench micrometer. Here, it looks like we'll need a 0.50mm wide roller jewel. The length is measured as well but I'm shot-gunning that aspect for now.
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Ok, so I now need to attack the missing roller jewel. Jewels are of three types. There are hole jewels that act as bearings. There are the anchor or pallet jewels which interlock with the escape wheel and there is the roller jewel that the balance wheel plays off of. In all cases they are highly polished and have a low friction surface. They traditionally were real stones but can be synthetic. Mostly they are rubies but can be sapphires or diamonds. The Brits used diamond endstones in their better watches from the mid 1860s to 1910 or so. In the U.S. some of our railroad grade watches had the same. So, which jewel do I need?
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Another comment: watches can have 2-3 different greases and three different oils utilized. My oiler in the photo before screwing down the back plate has a clear drop on it as I use a lighter weight for the escape wheel and balance assembly.
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4 minutes ago, Mike "Hubbie" Stearns said:
I m sure glad we have people like you that knows how to work on things Ike this. You are amazing. Mike
Thank you!
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The spring barrels are able to be reinstalled with just a modicum of grease on the ridge point (blue) and synthetic oil to the arbors (red). There is not much friction with these highly polished nickel plates and steel barrels so a little goes a long way.
Next the gear train is installed. I like to oil from the inside since uncapped bearings have a shoulder, which if oiled externally as everyone seems to do, won't get adequately oiled. Also less oil is present externally. This doesn't have a dust ring but older pocket watches do which makes dust intrusion less possible.
Note the highly polished screwheads. Steel is usually black polished (it looks invisible unless light is reflecting from it) or heated and blued, both to mitigate rust development.
Lastly the click, clicksping and coverplate is added. This looks much better tan initially (I need to see if I can find the "before" pic. Truly though showing grime and tarnish is difficult on camera.
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Ok, so time for the Cadillac treatment. One of those "while-you're in there" moments... I decided to break out my Steiner (Jacot) tool. This is a handheld lathe operated traditionally with a small bow or recoiled spring wound monofilament. The goal is to polish the pivots (axles). Now, since true polishing will reduce the diameter and we don't want that what the operation is is to burnish or work-harden and polish the pivots. The steel is already hardened a bit (not completely glass-hard) and so this can be risky if something goes awry. The pivot size on this balance is 0.11 mm in diameter. To polish it one end is supported on a runner that is 0.10 mm deep leaving a small-exposed portion. The balance is spun and in the opposite direction in my left hand I apply pressure with a burnisher and keep it level on the hardened runner. The burnishers can be steel or sapphire. This is done for 15-20 seconds or what is needed. Sometimes and amazingly one can sometimes feel when it is improved. Technically this is where a microscope could be used but in normal cases (and this movement was not abused and in overall good condition/low miles so to speak) it is not necessary. The over-the-top part of this is I decided to do the same to the escape, 4th and 3rd wheels since they don't run in jeweled bearings on this. Trust me, no one is going to do that normally.
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Since I have to work on replacing the roller jewel the balance will be further evaluated and cleaned. Often this is left alone and on modern Swiss wristwatches the whole balance assembly is left in place it the ultrasonic (for risk of bending something). But here, like sending the cavalry in, we're going for it all-in. I have the hairspring demounted. It's position needs to be assessed so this can be put in beat later. I usually draw that on paper for reference. I have the balance spinning free in my hand-held calipers to roughly check poise, concentricity and wobble. It actually looks pristine thankfully. No adjustments needed. I will carefully hand polish. I do wonder if it may be missing a screw as many have much more weighted screws on the rims and I won't know until final time rating. The reason to polish is to reduce rust. Rust will alter the weight of the material and also the position of mass and affect timekeeping. While a steel and brass bi-metallic balance was the norm from the 1860s to 1940 the screws would be solid gold on better watches as gold does not tarnish (except perhaps only slightly in alloyed form).
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Good morning, I am probably at hour 4 here. I am spreading the project out over the holiday weekend. I also find there are certain times to do certain operations. For me fine work is only from 7-10 PM, no coffee or alcohol. Obviously last night was not ideal *laugh*. Some of my steps are a little out of my usual order but there doesn't have to be a particular order to all things. Just like auto or boat restoration it is a lot of little sub-assembly or procedures.
Here I have the balance wheel jewels already cleaned and reset and now being screwed down to the front plate. The balance cock was treated the same and reassembled. Note the upper cap jewel is set in a solid gold jewel setting. Fine watches had this and for Waltham to self-impose this on a utilitarian auto clock shows their minimal standards; they were a great company. Their watches from the 1880s are felt to be some of the highest quality and best decorated of any American company. Note I have the regulator dead center. There should be no excuse why this can't be delivered to the customer this way with the timepiece running dead-on accurately. I have two tricks up my sleeve, one Waltham has provided for me.
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American Rolls Royce (Ghost, PI & PII)
in CCCA - General
Posted
Oooooooohhhh that is painful to look at.