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St. Valentine's Day Watch Massacre.
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Sweety Pie was busy with a project of her own yesterday so, after the requisite exchangin' of gifts and a little snugglin' and smoochin', I had a couple of free hours. What better way to stay out of trouble than a bit of..
..Caveman Watchmaking!
LOL!
The victim? Yet another ALPHA! Sub, another that I recieved from Wen. This one came sans dial and crystal, but did have hands installed (and installing hands on a movement without a dial has me more than a little
. Wen? LOL!). I kept this one running on my bench for a couple of weeks after I recieved it, so I knew the movement was sound & keeping good time. The only thing holding me back was that I had no bezel for the case. Well, I recently made a parts trade with greg honeycutt, and the stars aligned in such a way that I got what I needed to lash up yet another Caveman Alpha. Or so I thought.. 
It didn't turn out quite like I planned. Greg sent along a sub-style case, complete with bezel and crystal, so I planned to swap the movement into that one. It was not an Alpha case, though, and alas, it was ~ .5mm too shallow to accept the S.T. 22-jewel engine.
However, greg also sent a couple of spare bezels and, while they did not fit the Alpha case depth-wise, they were the correct diameter. Hmmmmmm... 
So, 'ere's the Work Order;
Executive Summary - while the job wasn't exactly smooth sailing, I did Git R Dun.
Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo
Perhaps the biggest disappointment with the Caveman Vostok was that I was about 5 or 6 minutes off in my alignment of the hour and minute hands. Note that I got 'em spang on this time. The date changeover is a bit early, mind you, at ~ 11:56. Still, not too shabby for a caveman.
Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo
The sharp-eyed among you will note the lack of a seconds hand, and the long of memory will recall that the Caveman Vostok was the same. That pesky seconds hand was definitely the biggest frustration in the job, and this job's biggest disappointment. In my defense, the seconds hand was bent rawther badly when I recieved it, requiring some serious caveman straightening before the test run in December. But it did run. However, on my first attempt yesterday the seconds hand fouled the minute hand big-time. I figured it must still be bent, and I simply didn't notice. So I took it all back apart and, lo and behold it was parallel to the adjacent hand, and did have sufficient clearance. WTH?
So then I figure, OK, I didn't seat the minute hand all the way, and the base flanges are contacting each other. So I pull the seconds hand back off and, no, the minute hand is seated properly. 
Altogether I R&R'ed the *#%@ed thing something like 6 times, and never could solve the problem, so I declared the seconds hand a 'bush part' and gave up.
Of course, after sleeping on it, I realized prexactly what's the problem.
See, I used the same tool to set all the hands, a pin vise adjusted for a slip fit over the shafts. Worked like a treat on the hour and minute hands, but it "dished" the flange of the seconds hand. A forensic examination with the 10x loupe this morning confirms this. Arrrrrgh! Ah well, live and learn. I (briefly!) considered pulling it all back apart again, straightening the flange, and having another go. But at this point, I'm callin' the lack of a seconds hand A Feature Not A Bug.. aka Submariner Simplified. LOL!
Sure, I took a lume shot!
HERE for larger photo
You observant types will notice something a bit odd here - no lume on the indices. Again, 'tis A Feature Not A Bug. The lume on the indices was so raggedy and uneven (remember, this dial was kicking around unprotected in a box of spare parts for God Nose how long) that I produced me X-acto and scraped the remainder off. Submariner Simplified, right?
Now for the pièce de résistance, The True Caveman Feature of this watch. Did I say greg honeycutt sent along spare bezels? Well, they were actually bezel inserts, not complete bezels. But not the thin ~ .3mm aluminum inserts that are OEM on Alphas (and actual Submariners, for that matter). No! These are hefty 1.2mm thick behemoths! Dunno where he got 'em, but they are the King Kongs of bezel inserts. How'd I attach 'it? Easy! The Caveman's Friend, 5-minute epoxy. I had my choice of silver or black, and chose the latter so as to not be too close to the original Caveman Alpha Sub.
Now, the fast thinkers among you are goin' "But Ricky! A bezel insert with no actual bezel...?" You're absolutely right! This side view should make things clear, even for riders of The Short Bus. LOL!
Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo
Yeah, I know that big gap looks a bit wonky. But I do have A Plan. Which is, I'll simply get me a nice black rubber O-ring, 35mm inside diameter, stretch 'er into the gap & call it good! 
An.. ahh, unique solution I know. But also one I'm thinkin' will look quite pleasing. The unique part can't be denied... Once again, it could be viewed as A Feature Not A Bug, for it will mean that the crystal is triple-sealed; the OEM cystal gasket, the bead of 5-minute epoxy, and the external O-ring. Should be good for 4 ATM wi' all that!
And, hey, I'm only half-jokin'. The crown and caseback gaskets were in good shape, and I gave 'em a judicious coating of silicone juice. So I would in no way be scared to wash my hands while wearin' this ALPHA!. LOL!
I leave you with a HWS!...
Click HERE for larger photo or HERE for supersized photo
..and a list of Things I Learned from this project;
T'anks for lookin', y'all!
-Ricky
..Caveman Watchmaking!
LOL!The victim? Yet another ALPHA! Sub, another that I recieved from Wen. This one came sans dial and crystal, but did have hands installed (and installing hands on a movement without a dial has me more than a little
. Wen? LOL!). I kept this one running on my bench for a couple of weeks after I recieved it, so I knew the movement was sound & keeping good time. The only thing holding me back was that I had no bezel for the case. Well, I recently made a parts trade with greg honeycutt, and the stars aligned in such a way that I got what I needed to lash up yet another Caveman Alpha. Or so I thought.. It didn't turn out quite like I planned. Greg sent along a sub-style case, complete with bezel and crystal, so I planned to swap the movement into that one. It was not an Alpha case, though, and alas, it was ~ .5mm too shallow to accept the S.T. 22-jewel engine.
However, greg also sent a couple of spare bezels and, while they did not fit the Alpha case depth-wise, they were the correct diameter. Hmmmmmm... So, 'ere's the Work Order;
- 1- Uncase the movement
- 2- Pull the hands off the movement
- 3- Remove cyclops from the crystal
- 4- Install crystal in the case
- 5- Clean the dial
- 6- Mate the dial and movement
- 7- Reinstall the hands
- 8- Case up the movement
- 9- Jury rig the spare bezel onto the case
Executive Summary - while the job wasn't exactly smooth sailing, I did Git R Dun.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment with the Caveman Vostok was that I was about 5 or 6 minutes off in my alignment of the hour and minute hands. Note that I got 'em spang on this time. The date changeover is a bit early, mind you, at ~ 11:56. Still, not too shabby for a caveman.
The sharp-eyed among you will note the lack of a seconds hand, and the long of memory will recall that the Caveman Vostok was the same. That pesky seconds hand was definitely the biggest frustration in the job, and this job's biggest disappointment. In my defense, the seconds hand was bent rawther badly when I recieved it, requiring some serious caveman straightening before the test run in December. But it did run. However, on my first attempt yesterday the seconds hand fouled the minute hand big-time.
I figured it must still be bent, and I simply didn't notice. So I took it all back apart and, lo and behold it was parallel to the adjacent hand, and did have sufficient clearance. WTH? So then I figure, OK, I didn't seat the minute hand all the way, and the base flanges are contacting each other. So I pull the seconds hand back off and, no, the minute hand is seated properly.
Altogether I R&R'ed the *#%@ed thing something like 6 times, and never could solve the problem, so I declared the seconds hand a 'bush part' and gave up. Of course, after sleeping on it, I realized prexactly what's the problem.
See, I used the same tool to set all the hands, a pin vise adjusted for a slip fit over the shafts. Worked like a treat on the hour and minute hands, but it "dished" the flange of the seconds hand. A forensic examination with the 10x loupe this morning confirms this. Arrrrrgh! Ah well, live and learn. I (briefly!) considered pulling it all back apart again, straightening the flange, and having another go. But at this point, I'm callin' the lack of a seconds hand A Feature Not A Bug.. aka Submariner Simplified. LOL!Sure, I took a lume shot!
You observant types will notice something a bit odd here - no lume on the indices. Again, 'tis A Feature Not A Bug.
The lume on the indices was so raggedy and uneven (remember, this dial was kicking around unprotected in a box of spare parts for God Nose how long) that I produced me X-acto and scraped the remainder off. Submariner Simplified, right? Now for the pièce de résistance, The True Caveman Feature of this watch. Did I say greg honeycutt sent along spare bezels? Well, they were actually bezel inserts, not complete bezels. But not the thin ~ .3mm aluminum inserts that are OEM on Alphas (and actual Submariners, for that matter). No! These are hefty 1.2mm thick behemoths! Dunno where he got 'em, but they are the King Kongs of bezel inserts.
How'd I attach 'it? Easy! The Caveman's Friend, 5-minute epoxy. I had my choice of silver or black, and chose the latter so as to not be too close to the original Caveman Alpha Sub.Now, the fast thinkers among you are goin' "But Ricky! A bezel insert with no actual bezel...?
" You're absolutely right! This side view should make things clear, even for riders of The Short Bus. LOL!Yeah, I know that big gap looks a bit wonky.
But I do have A Plan. Which is, I'll simply get me a nice black rubber O-ring, 35mm inside diameter, stretch 'er into the gap & call it good! An.. ahh, unique solution I know. But also one I'm thinkin' will look quite pleasing. The unique part can't be denied... Once again, it could be viewed as A Feature Not A Bug, for it will mean that the crystal is triple-sealed; the OEM cystal gasket, the bead of 5-minute epoxy, and the external O-ring. Should be good for 4 ATM wi' all that! And, hey, I'm only half-jokin'. The crown and caseback gaskets were in good shape, and I gave 'em a judicious coating of silicone juice. So I would in no way be scared to wash my hands while wearin' this ALPHA!. LOL!
I leave you with a HWS!...
..and a list of Things I Learned from this project;
- Pulling hands is a piece o' cake, and my cut-rate Chinese hand-puller works just fine. Can''t imagine why it took me years to try it out!
- Installing hands is pretty darned tricky, and seconds hands in particular do not suffer cavemen gracefully.
- Cyclops removal is also a walk in the park.
- The Alpha stem and stem-release mechanism, at least in this specific movement, are way tough, easily capable of handling a dozen R&R cycles by a caveman.
T'anks for lookin', y'all!
-Ricky
sub jectsmiley62!
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