trailboss99 994 Posted December 27, 2008 This is just to give folk a basic understanding of the main tools required for simple tasks such as swaping a MVT, a dial, hands or changing a bracelet.. It is by no means complete and there are a few on there you could proberly do without. Tools. A set of 9 or 12 jeweller’s screwdrivers with replaceable blades: neither the cheapest nor the best. In between will do nicely. Something to remove screw on case backs: Either a sticky ball or a three gang case back remover. Stay away from the two pronged ones. If you have Rolex either the ball or a set of Rolex case back tools will be necessary. Josh carries a set of these at a reasonable price tho I have seen similar cheaper. A set of strap/bracelet tools: The stuff you need to remove straps and bracelets including a spring bar tool and a pin punch. A bracelet holder is worth it's weight in gold as well and costs a few dollars. If you but a set of bracelet tools it will include one. A couple of really good pairs of tweezers: Don't skimp too much on these. You need to pick up really tiny bits and pieces here so they must be up to the job. A straight and an angled pair should do for starters. Fine pliers: If you don't want to shell out on a set of jewellers pliers Sidchrome make a range of good miniature pliers at quite a reasonable price point. Anywhere good automotive tools are sold I should think. You are going to be using these mainly for bending/folding/snapping tuff like MVT clamps or stems so it's important that a reasonable amount of torque can be applied to the jaws. Hand removal tool: You must have this to successfully remove hands. Nothing else really works. A dial protector may be useful as well but a sheet of paper will do at a pinch. Hand replacement tool: A chunk of thin SS flat with a hole in one end. Make one if you want. Rodico: Jewellers blutac, invaluable for everything from reinstalling hands (better than tweezers IMO) to cleaning dials or even just keeping parts in place on the bench. A jeweller’s loupe or two: You need some help seeing to do some of the finer work in changing a MVT. A 5x and a 10x should cover basic requirements. Cheap and cheerful will do for now. A loupe holder may be a good thing as well. Case and MVT holders: Oke, you really don't need holders but believe me having the case or MVT securely held in a small vice makes things a lot easier. You will need a case holder and a MVT holder of the correct size. 10 to 12.5 lingue covers most of our MVTs. You will need one of those small hobby vices to hold them in. A vacuum attached one will do the job. A hand press: A pen shaped device with nylon/urethane tips on the ends. Used for pressing small parts such as second hands into place. A piece of smalldiameter (5mm) hardwood or nylon dowel with a .8mm hole in the end makes a suitable substitute. Pin punches: Three or four pin punches in at least 0.7 to 1.0mm if they didn't come with your band set. You will need the small one to release the stem. Dust blower: Necessory for removing dust from inside cases and off dials and MVTs. A very soft brush is also handy. A small pot of silicon grease: To lube crown and case back seals. Greatly aids water restiance. With the exception of the Rolex case openers (use a sticky ball instead) you should pick up that lot for 150-200USD may be less and covers all you could need to open a watch and change the MVT or dial/hands plus change bands. Consumables. A basic set of consumables is next on the list if you are going to do a bit of work. Spring bars: an assortment is 20-25 bucks and will last you for ever. You will need two sets. An end link/case set and a set of the short bracelet ones. Case seals: as above. A case back set with both flat and round seals and a crown seal set. Screw assortment: save the heartache of loosening that screw by having an assortment of common watchmaking sizes available. Various other parts sets are available as you progress further into your hobby. Individual sizes of all sets are available in packs of ten or so for refilling kits or just buying the sizes you know you will need. Lume: It's not particularly expensive neither are generic hands so buy some of both and practice. UV glass glue: Want to be sure that crystal is water tight? UV glass glue is used in gens to bond the glass to the case. Once it's in there tho it may well not be coming out in one piece. The Seiko one is good. Oils and greases: Resist the temptation to buy oil, oilers, oil pots etc until you have started to pull down MVTs to the stage necessary to oil them. When you do, buy separate oil pots rather than multi ones to prevent cross contamination and excess dust caused by having all oils exposed at once. Oilers are one time you can afford the best so buy Bergen. Don't skimp on oil quality either. Remember even the smallest amount will last you a hell of a long time so buy "the good oil". Anything Otto sells should be fine. As for oil pots, they’re a lump of plastic with a small depression in it and a lid so buy cheapies. Movements: Apart from the A7750 the MVTs in our reps (the CN ones anyway) are under fifty bucks and a lot under 25 if you do you research so Keeping a couple on the shelf is not out of the question. Even the A7750 should be under 150. Links, link pins and band parts: Keep 'em sorted and labelled. A good collection of these makes life a lot easier down the track and you may just be able to make someone’s day by supplying the link they need to wear their new pride and joy. Other stuff. A work bench: you need a good work area wether it be the kitchen table of something more permeant. You should have a chair that sits you at a hight that suits you and makes the job comfortable. Light: Good lighting is very important. You need to be able to see what you are doing at all times. If you have a dedicated bench a single batten fluoro on the wall three feet or so above bench height is a good start. A LED clip on cap light is a cheap extra at 5 or 6 bucks. A big illuminated goose neck magnifier is nice if the budget stretches that far. Storage: Most of the kits come with their own multi compartment storage boxes and you need to buy some more for stuff like you’re now growing collection of band parts, clasps etc. The little glass lidded alloy tins favoured by the beading fraternity are perfect as well. Don't forget a home for all those new tools. Alloy attaché cases with a tool pallet can be bought for 20 dollars upwards or a good quality plastic tool box from Zag or Stanley. These often have the bonus of built in small parts storage boxes inset in the lid. By the time you need more tools than that you will know what it is you need smile.gif Some links Otto Frei: Tools, parts and lots of good stuff. Cousins UK: Watch and clock parts from Rolex to Seiko Universal Dials: Lots of gen dials and other parts. For the Aussies, Watch werx: Parts, tools and watches. Over 10 000 crystals. National Jewellers Supplies: Tools and parts. Zantec: Tools. Hope this fills a gap and gives folk an idea of the basics when it comes to tools. You can get away without some of the stuff here or make a substitute but this covers most everything you may need. One other thing you may eventually consider is a simple glass press and a home made pressure tester the plans for which are here somewhere. Once you have that there's really not much you could not have a go at as far as tools go. Oh, one more thing. The Time Zone watchmaking course is worth its weight in gold to a beginner in this game. Mosey over to RWG2 for that. Thanks for reading. Col. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted December 27, 2008 Excellent post, Col. The few tools I've bought are cheap and I already regret it. One important thing I've realized is the importance of Rodico putty. Without it you'll always find little pieces of lint on your crystal or dial that you didn't see. I've taken watches apart 3 times after thinking they were clean before I got the putty to clean with. Also it's mandatory to get your greasy finger prints off things when you don't have latex gloves or fingers on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted December 27, 2008 Col, you forgot the blowtorch and the jackhammer. Newb... I'm fairly fortunate as I've been a keen modelmaker for years, so I already had all but the most specialist tools. Great post, though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trailboss99 994 Posted December 28, 2008 Col, you forgot the blowtorch and the jackhammer. Newb... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
