LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 WARNING: I adhere to no best practices so don't follow in my blunderings -- or do so at your own risk. So my white Exp II landed a few days ago and all was good. All was good until I set the date. Essentially the date from the 20-31 was sitting low and to the left in the date window. Originally I said I would live with it and order another white Exp II (along with 5 other watches) then C&R this one. I actually placed an order but haven't paid yet (paying today). Needless to say, I'm keeping this and changing my order. Having changed a Milgauss dial the other day, I was ready for this. I also watched a few videos on YouTube which makes me an expert. Let's go! Picture of the hand stack in case I forget. The back of the dial looks like crap... and seems to be a recurring theme (I've seen the back of 3 so far). The entire date wheel popped off as I was checking it out. At this point I was about to give up because it looked as if the date wheel overlay was well affixed to the date wheel. I attempted to reseat the date wheel but it didn't work. Some more YouTube videos later, I gained 30xp and leveled up -- I found out that I have to pull a spring lever back to seat the wheel. Because the Rolex date wheel overlay is so wide, it's near impossible to pull back the pin (hidden by the overlay) and seat the date wheel. After a few posts in the repair section, I said screw it. I HAVE to remove the overlay in order to reseat the wheel so there's only one way to go. I loaded a fresh blade and... At this point, I tried to reseat the date wheel but still failed. The damn thing was too small so I used the 5x loupe and headgear. I have to say, if you are going to work on watches, GET THE RWG TOOLKIT. It's got everything you need and I couldn't have gotten so far without it. I might have been able to hack my way but by this point, no loupe would have been a deal breaker. Originally I used just 4 drops of GS Hypo to affix the date wheel but after a few adjustments, it stopped sticking (well). I ended up using 8 drops and about 10 minutes to get it near perfect as it can be. I think by this point I would have spent about 1-1.5 hours. Again, I could have put the hands on by other means, but the RWG TOOLKIT came with Rodico which made the job that much easier. Here are some before and after pics... I mustn't have spent 2 hours or so doing this. I intend to mod more date wheels (on subs). I can now also appreciate the skills our modders like BK have to do this kind of work. Sure, they can do it quicker, but working at this scale on a customer's watch gets dicey. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 More pics before: After (yeah I know it's not the same date!): By the way I bought a bunch of TC date overlays without realizing they are made for 40mm Rolex only. The same for BK. These are 42mm. This stupid mistake also meant I couldn't do the (now sold) gray DateJust either. By the way, this is a "noob best" Exp II. The date wheel font is glossy and raised. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SSTEEL 0 Posted April 30, 2013 Well done mate, and thanks for sharing your process, this will come in handy. Which hands remover do you use, the presto in the RWG kit? Whats your experience with it? I am planning on getting the lever type too just in case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyr 4 Posted April 30, 2013 Great job and thanks for the detailed pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 Well done mate, and thanks for sharing your process, this will come in handy. Which hands remover do you use, the presto in the RWG kit? Whats your experience with it? I am planning on getting the lever type too just in case. The one with the spring piston in the middle. The first few times was scary but after that, you get a feel for the amount of pressure (very little!) needed to pop off the hands. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SSTEEL 0 Posted April 30, 2013 Thanks, thats the presto hand remover. Never used one before, so will practise on a crap POS first before I venture into the work I need to do Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Markrfc 3 Posted April 30, 2013 Great tutorial kep up the good work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 Thanks, thats the presto hand remover. Never used one before, so will practise on a crap POS first before I venture into the work I need to do Easy for you... I already sold all the "crap POS" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sequel7 0 Posted April 30, 2013 LG... Excellent tutorial... Few questions though... Pardon my noobness but... 1. is it required to remove the rotor to remove the movement? 2. Can you please share more detail how to seat the date wheel? Because u mentioned there was a spring lever.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
court 12 Posted April 30, 2013 Am I right in saying that the date wheel is just poorly positioned when you get it rather than the font being printed off-centre? I always assumed the latter was the case and so a new inlay would be needed. Informative thread thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lordsquidgy 0 Posted April 30, 2013 2. Can you please share more detail how to seat the date wheel? Because u mentioned there was a spring lever.... +1 on excellent thread. I struggled with your latter point but there is a good video tutorial on youtube. Helped me a lot to see it in practice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Odyseus 1 Posted April 30, 2013 You mean this spring lever on the day date wheel?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sequel7 0 Posted April 30, 2013 Excellent video and pic guys.... Well done... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 Am I right in saying that the date wheel is just poorly positioned when you get it rather than the font being printed off-centre? I always assumed the latter was the case and so a new inlay would be needed. Informative thread thanks. Even if it was printed off center, you have a little latitude to adjust. In this case it was just glued off. You mean this spring lever on the day date wheel?? Yep. On the 42mm Rollies the overlay completely covers the spring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
court 12 Posted April 30, 2013 Am I right in saying that the date wheel is just poorly positioned when you get it rather than the font being printed off-centre? I always assumed the latter was the case and so a new inlay would be needed. Informative thread thanks. Even if it was printed off center, you have a little latitude to adjust. In this case it was just glued off. Thank LG good to know Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyr 4 Posted April 30, 2013 One blade of fine tweezers inserted at an angle under overlay and datewheel at slot by 23rd will allow you to compress spring and install datewheel even if overlay covers spring. Downward pressure and a slight twist will snap it in position. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J.Eric 693 Posted April 30, 2013 Awesome Job!! I know from experience this can be a real pain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 One blade of fine tweezers inserted at an angle under overlay and datewheel at slot by 23rd will allow you to compress spring and install datewheel even if overlay covers spring. Downward pressure and a slight twist will snap it in position. You'd think so. The Venus tweezers are quite fine but the spacing just isn't there under the wide date wheel overlay. Maybe a smith with very high dexterity could pull it off but the greater part of 15 minutes says I can't :( Still it's for the better because if I got it on, I wouldn't have realigned the overlay.,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyr 4 Posted April 30, 2013 One blade of fine tweezers inserted at an angle under overlay and datewheel at slot by 23rd will allow you to compress spring and install datewheel even if overlay covers spring. Downward pressure and a slight twist will snap it in position. You'd think so. The Venus tweezers are quite fine but the spacing just isn't there under the wide date wheel overlay. Maybe a smith with very high dexterity could pull it off but the greater part of 15 minutes says I can't :( Sorry to here that , maybe I've been lucky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 There definitely is no greater satisfaction than fixing things yourself. I looked down at the "30" today and felt rightfully smug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparkal 4 Posted April 30, 2013 Awesome shit, Cant wait to see what you try next when you reach prestige Level 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted April 30, 2013 Awesome shit, Cant wait to see what you try next when you reach prestige Level 1 I'm building up to "balls to the wall" level 4 -- that will be when I strip the markers and relume. Then "balls to the wall" level 5 by disassembling the keyless, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyr 4 Posted April 30, 2013 You will have no problems with keyless(I have faith) Reluming, will be a challenge! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerkstore 14 Posted May 1, 2013 Yup. Keyless gets to be a breeze after you do it a few times. Just be careful where you put things and you won't have a problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted May 1, 2013 You will have no problems with keyless(I have faith) Reluming, will be a challenge! I've been ready to start reluming for a while now... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
