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@@timcarpenter9835 yes, but spring winding tools are quite expensive (for example Bergeon, Chinese tools even don't worth talk about), and the point of this video is to be of some help how easy it is to step into watchmaking without huge investments at the beginning, and to facilitate our learning process. Not all of us have enough money to buy everything we need right away.
I want to say thank you. Just finished taking apart and redoing my first movement. AS 1187. Did lots of reading and watched lots of videos. My biggest trepidation was the balance and the mainspring. I almost didn’t do the mainspring at all. I was just going clean it in the barrel as best as I could and then put it back in. Watched this video and it gave me the confidence to give it a go. I wasn’t going to spend the money on winders to service a $15 watch. Not sure I would like it enough to do a second watch. Did it just like the video and, amazingly, it went perfectly and wasn’t nearly has hard as I thought it would be. Watch is from the 60’s and keeping time very well after two days. There will definitely be a second watch. Thanks again for posting these videos.
Fantastic. This is the reason I made the video. It splits opinion as hand winding is not the correct way. From a hobbyists standpoint I think its fine it gets your watch working and more into the hobby. The further down the rabbit hole you fall eventually a winding set would be purchased but only when you can justify it to yourself.
You are so humble about your experience and skill, but as a new enthusiast and neophyte watch repair hobbyist, it's really rewarding to watch someone who actually knows what he is doing. Been making the rounds of different watch repair channels and, lordy, some of them are absolute watch butchers.
Thank you. I am just a hobbyist and will never pretend to be anything else. So you see in my videos all my mistakes but also that as a hobby this is achievable for anyone.
After popping the lid, I use my plastic tweezers to stick one end under the barrel, the other under the lid, that way you keep the spring safely in place. I keep the tweezers in place, and centered and then remove one end of the spring at the center, and then when the barrel is turned the spring comes out really gradually. The tweezers in this position ensure the spring will never pop out when opening the lid and the removal is also really safe and controllable that way. So I don't just use the tweezer tips, but basically clamp the whole barrel between the wider part of the tweezers. Your method letting go half a coil at a time with your fingers doesn't look like a very good idea to me, especially for novice watchmakers.
Mike, I'm a big fan of the channel and I recently attempted one of my first full rebuilds. I had taken the barrel apart to clean the main spring and I was without a winder. I was able to safely and properly wind the main spring back into its barrel thanks to these instructions. Thank you so much!
Thank you for making this video. I'm learning how to service a watch for the first time and I was told that winding in by hand was a big no, but I can't afford to buy the expensive winders. This makes me feel a lot better about servicing the mainspring!
This is why I made the video. I too could not justify the cost although I now have a set of winders. Ironically I’ve scrapped more springs in the winder than I ever did hand winding.
Disassembling and assembling my first ever manual mechanic watch at the moment and fully intend removing main spring!!!!!! Yikes... was starting to think I would need a spring winding gadget but thanks to you I'm gonna be soon blinded by flying movement part???!!!!! Lol... No, its Truly helpful Mike and I can't wait to get cracking. Keep the videos coming and I will follow up with my medical bills! I meant to say, with telling you how I got on. GREAT VIDEO....
THANK YOU for this video. I was pulling my hair out trying to get the main spring back in the barrel. Admittedly, I never thought of starting from the outside in. Watched your video and, suddenly, it's all re-installed.
I restored a Cupillard 233-60 powered watch, branded Lejo, that I bought at a French jumble sale. The mainspring looked ok but I decided to buy a new one to be on the safe side. Not a good idea, as after installing it and trying to get the arbor in, the spring hit just under my eye at about 200 mph. This video saved the day and I managed to get the watch working successfully after manually installing the spring. You are a genius Mike.
Happened upon this video and will check out the series. I bought a beautiful Seiko ring watch, and my novice gut tells me that it is overwound, which started me on the hunt to see if I can fix it. Can't afford to go to a jeweler. I have a lot of timepieces that I can practice on before trying to fix my new ring watch. I've been passively collecting the timepieces of ancestors and junk shops, because of my fascination with these things. I also sew and have several machines that I've "repaired" myself. I believe I saw something familiar to the hook/bobbin mechanism in the watch interior... I'll have to really set up a a clean space, should I move forward with my endeavor to fix a watch. Thank you for this wonderful video!
Bravo, Mike. You have a marked talent for for explaining these things, and I have an awful lot to learn before my watch repairer retires. Very much appreciated.
GenWivern2 thank you for such praise. I often think I am taking to myself which even our car looks at me a bit weird! If you have the desire to attempt some repairs then please do so. It’s got to be worth a try if your interested. Watchmakers are worth their weight in gold . Fortunately there is still a demand and I believe younger people still want to learn the trade. For me this is just a hobby that I have considerable amount still to learn.
Mike - Thanks for the how to vid. I have found success with reinstalling the barrel arbor with the cap off. Take a pair of small jewelers plyers and carefully turn the arbor in the center of the mainspring in the direction to wind the spring until you can see or hear the hook in the arbor catch the spring detent. You can see the spring wanting to wind up in the center thus confirming the arbor is properly set and engaged in the center of the spring. Then proceed to reinstall the cap. I use Moebius 8217 Natural Grease as a breaking grease on the out barrel wall in 3 places and then use 8141natural oil to oil the mainspring. I use a smear of D5 on the barrel arbor openings top and bottom to lubricate the center arbor bearing. I was lucky enough to score a set of vintage K&D variable spring winders and these make winding and loading the spring in the barrel much easier than by hand.
Supercruze thanks for you advice . I have in the past for stubborn arbours used a pin vice , like I show in the video but with the lid off. I am always fearful that you could easily uncoil that spring! I really need to invest in a set of winders! You use all the correct and better oils than I . I knew the 8200 was not ideal but at the time I was actually advised to use it by a professional! Thanks for watching and supporting my channel.
Thanks for showing how to do this manually. Many armature hobbyist watch makers like myself that like to do our own service cannot justify the Bergeon ETA winder set.
Your welcome. Glad you found it of use. This is why I made the video so people who cannot justify the price for a winder set can still attempt a MS service.
Also, breaking grease I believe is more there to protect the barrel than the spring. The barrel, usually being made of soft brass seems to me like the thing that gets the most damage from the spring slipping through.
Thank you for this video!! I just hand serviced a mainspring on a 1960s Elgin following your guidance. It was scary and I thought I was going to break it or ruin it the whole time, but everything worked out and the watch is running great!
I did my first complete tear down/servicing of a movement (Seiko 6106-7107) and wanted to say thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. Your videos helped a lot.
Mate I really really need this, I'm servicing a watch for the first time and didn't realize that a mainspring winder is super expensive and getting a new mainspring is also quite expensive, more than I thought, and I got no more budget to get any of these. So thank you so so much
Ditto. I could have bought a new watch for the money I've spent on tools and oil...the oils are crazy money. But I find it very therapeutic...very calming...and hugely satisfying.
Great talent to have in an emergency. You know, misplaced winder and customer on the way! My first attempt was very successful, but taught me to never misplace my winder gain. Thanks for the video...
William Hudson thanks. If I have helped you no matter how bad practice hand winding is then I am pleased. Ironically I have scrapped more springs in a winder than I have by hand winding .
I think if the watch has seen a lot of service its a good idea to fit a new main spring in most cases these are fitted in a ring and can be pressed directly into the barrel.
I agree, provided you can find one. I'm working on a pocket watch from 1868. The spring is intact, but I suspect it's lost much of it's power after 155 years but I can't locate a replacement so I'm hoping a clean and service will help.
I just wanted to add for other people who may not be aware, you don't need to put braking grease on the barrel walls if the watch you're working on doesn't have automatic winding. On watches without automatic winding you can only wind them so much but with automatic winding your arm movements cause the automatic winding mechanism to keep winding and if the barrel is fully wound then the spring it allowed to slip around the inside edge of the barrel which is why you need the grease there at that point.
Just what I was looking for! Just dismantled a seiko 7009 mainspring but needed help to figure out which way to wind it back in... invaluable video. Thanks
Thank you for this master class. I haven't dare to open a barrel and taking out the MS yet, but I know it's very important to service it when restoring a watch. Only a few days ago I show a video of someone using tweezers to hold the MS in place while taking it out, and it look like a good idea.
Agustin Aguilar thank you for commenting. I am intrigued why you would use tweezers to take it out, sounds harder. My thoughts are removal without any tools is best with hands after all you will clean and then oil it so your finger prints will not effect removal in the slightest .
@@MyRetroWatches I really don't think the tweezers technique is better than using the fingers. I've been looking for the video I commented (ruclips.net/video/vZrrHgo9SMU/видео.html) and I found another video from the same guy in wich the MS jumped when it was only 50% unwound, so when I got in the feel of it I'd try with my fingers.
Thanks for that Mike, I've just started working on what looks like a m24 movement, i found out the hard way the mainspring barrel has no lid, your method of getting the spring back in is a lot easier than the method ive been trying.
It works! I'm new to watches and read that doing by hand would cause the spring to get kinks and become conical. For fun I took a crusty Waltham 750B barrel apart and reinstalled the spring then removed and reinstalled it again. It was perfectly fine from what I could tell.
It took me 2 seconds to open the barrel. The main spring is still in. The barrel arbor went half way out, but I put it back in. Thank you for this video. It really helped me to understand the whole process of cleaning and winding the main spring. This is my next project 😳☺️
From one hobbyist to another- first your contribution is appreciated. Secondly, it is important to mention that the entire practice of manually handling springs is a malpractice with poor outcomes. Also the grease on the barrel should be 8217.
nukvar23 thanks . I agree on the grease being perhaps not the correct one however for hand winding of main springs is quite common in my circles. Agreed a mainspring winder is much more reliable and less problematic however the costs are prohibitive for someone just starting out to buy a decent set or individual size. I want to encourage people into the hobby by showing that basics can be achieved with minimal equipment . The further we all go down the rabbit hole the more tools and equipment we purchase to get better at what we do for the best results. I am still quite new into all this myself. I will now order some 8217 so thank you kindly for this.
@@MyRetroWatches I completely agree. Just think it is worth mentioning the drawbacks. By the way, I fair set of winders can be hunt for about 50 pounds
I have a T end older spring to get in. It is in the packaged coil holder from the manufacturer. I hope I can get the pin lined up while pushing it into the barrel from the holder without springing it out.
2nd vid of yours I've watched. You've just saved me a ton of money and worry at the moment by doing this video. As a newbie old guy I've been agonizing over the prices of main spring winders both new and vintage, not to mention dealing with snipe bidders on ebay(go up against me in a real, live auction then see how far ya get with me!), wondering how I could get around this for now, wondering if it can be done by hand. great video and in language and explanations I can understand. gives me confidence too. Like- hell I can do that! great stuff and on behalf of all us new old guys, a hearty cheers to you. thank you. eventually, I'll get a decent set of winders but not any time soon! (say to myself: now if I can just figure out a way to get around getting a staking set..........)
Thank you. glad this video was useful and for now has saved you the money. I have scrapped more mainsprings with my winders than I have using my hands..!
Thanx so much for doing this video. I have seen this done in several video's but not in this kind of detail. I have also just seen a video where a watchmaker says it is not a good idea to wind the main spring by hand. I understand that. I will be using your methods so thanx for the demonstration.
Thank you. Hand winding is not good practice and frowned upon by many. However if you don’t have a set of winders or can’t afford them then this is the only alternative in my opinion.
Nice job, thanks an explanation of the bridle would help me... and how it sits against the barrel , every one develops their own way and become comfortable with it.. yours is as good as and near as.. good point with the pin vice that would have saved me a pain in a Jaeger Le Coultre.. today... I am from Cotswolds and get homesick at times... take care.. John.
Brilliant video, thanks Mike. When I took a watchmaking course for three years we had access to spring winders in the lab but now my course has finished I can't afford those to use at home (hobbying) and didn't have the confidence to do it by hand until I watched your video. Just wound my first by hand successfully and ironically enough I found it much much easier by hand than with mainspring winders
I have a wonder set but it’s only right handed (I think) as I do mostly seiko some like the 7### series are left handed and you need another winder for that at £70 a go.., I find hand winding fairly easy but it really is frowned upon so this video split opinion like hot knife through butter.
@@MyRetroWatches well tell them if they want to donate to my spring winder gofundme page (sarcasm)I'd be more than happy to accept. far be it from me to turn down a free meal! that'll be $1,140 dollars please.
The pin vice, and taking a photo before hand are certainly very good tips! Under a microscope though, since the diameters on the arbor, where it protrudes through the lid and barrel are usually not the same, and seeing the hook on the barrel, I know already which way around the spring needs to be wound. There is always something that can lead you back to the direction, if it won't be the diameters, it'll be the teeth height on the barrel, and inner thread on the arbor, combined with the hook on the arbor that give it away.
Thanks very much. In this one video, you answered a whole heap of questions none of the professionals bother to discuss when they're demonstrating a service! I had also not seen a manual replacement/rewind of the spring inside the barrel. Everyone else shows off their swanky spring-winding device... Well done!! And your pin vice wouldn't grasp the arbor, because you were undoing it, instead of tightening it up, it seemed to me :-)
I'm about to embark upon the service of a 1974 citizen diver... I new I'd never source a new barrel but managed to find a batch of toss away movements almost exclusively to practice this exact process! As well as perhaps find the best mainspring in the lot to use in the final service..... I'm glad I did buy them as the first one I attempted (rusted out movement so no loss) I snapped off the bridle XD
Hello. Thanks for your comment. I too have broken bridals when I first started doing it but you soon get the hang of it. Once the bridal is in and the spring has past it a few times it gets easy from there. Best method is still with a set of main spring wonders though . Safer and goo practice
It's always exciting to watch you My Seiko watch has now also stopped and I'll dare to disassemble it and try to repair it Thanks for your informative videos
How lovely. Loved the video. Comprehensive and I love the tidbits you gave us from your experience. Helps us not make the same mistakes. From one watch lover to another, thank you!
I didn't know this could be done without a winding tool that knowledge will save me some money! I'm currently attempting my first watch a Goliath pocket watch. That spring is so old it doesn't spring, it remains coiled out of the barrel so I'll be ordering a new one.
Hi again Mike! I just wanted to tell you that I saw a video from Mark Lovick opening a 70xx barrel just with his finger nails. I had to service a 7019 barrel too so I decided to give this technique a test and hey! it works just fine, it can be open with the nails quite easily. I thought you may want to know.
Agustin Aguilar I will look into this , which video of Marks was it? I am intrigued to see it done as they are not easy due to that split in the middle . Thanks
@@MyRetroWatches This is the video: ruclips.net/video/DlyNICm2N9k/видео.html Believe me it is super-easy, I did it in my first MS service, and yes I did the rest of the service following your instructions.
Thanks for making and sharing this vid. I’m gradually learning the ropes but had found the mainspring quite intimidating. You’ve given me some confidence and good tips here
Thanks for the time and added bother of putting this up here. So far it's the most applicable guide I've found to my own situation: I've had a garishly over-steampunked Chinese pocket watch for years, for which I think I paid just $4 with free delivery from the Far East. Only lately has it been anything less than "appropriately reliable". It kept reasonable enough time for my post-retirement needs, and spends most of its life safely tucked away in the breast pocket of my old motorcycle jacket. I've always taken care not to overwind it, but I suspect something may be awry with its main spring. It'll still runs near full wind, but only for 4 or 5 hours. I'm guessing that it's the mainspring somehow acting up. The problem for me is that it seems silly to spend a whole lot getting g a $4 watch repaired, you know? I adore it and all, bit still... If I can fix it DIY, it seems sensible to do so. Naturally, any and all advice from you or other proper horologists in the Comments would be welcome. Until then, you get a big "Thumb's Up" from me for your efforts. Thanks again!
Hi, That is hard to say what is going on there. In theory the mainspring could be the issue as its the only source of energy. However the power has to go through the train of gears. All pivots should be oiled but over time that oil turns to sticky gunk which can slow watches down. equally a thicker oil is applied to the barrel arbour bearing (holes) as its higher friction so when that oil goes hard it will limit the power of the spring. Springs generally last decades but who knows what sort of quality spring they have used in a $4 watch..
@@MyRetroWatches Thanks for the response! I'm now inclined to think you may be right about there perhaps being a problem with the works being somehow gunked up with old oil, hardened grease or what have you--not just the mainspring that's the culprit. For the past couple of days I've managed to run out the mainspring's tension by either lightly tapping the watch or simply turning the crown/winding stem the opposite direction from winding. I imagine the tapping of the ratchet mechanism may be just enough to coax the works through those grubby spots. Once it gets going, it'll tick happily for hours and hours. So yeah. Maybe it just needs a good servicing? I've also read that electro-magnetism, such as from a cell phone, can also goob up the works, and de-magnitizers are sold to correct this. The jacket pocket I normally keep the watch in rests directly over the shirt pocket I hold my phone in. Have YOU encountered this magnetism issue? Fortunately, I have located a very well-reviewed horologist's shop quite nearby. Instead of diving in and just buggering it up myself, perhaps I should just swing on by there. Sure, it's just a $4 watch, but I really DO like it all the same. And it HAS served me well enough until just recently for many many years.
Moebius 8200 is just a grease intended for the mainsprings and bottom of the barrel. It has no breaking capability, so don't use it on the side wall of a barrel of an automatic watch. Moebius makes for that breaking grease, such as 8217, 8212 (for aluminium barrels), and 8213 (for brass barrels).
Thank you for this wonderful explanation; very helpful for begginers like me. I have an automatic TH that does not start ticking the moment I wind it. It is until I move the watch a little that the automatic feature kicks in and it starts running, but if i dont move it the watch wont start running even though it has power in reserve. Any idea why this can be?
Brings back memories of servicing clocks. Just scaled down and not as strong. Also gets almost no oil compared to clocks which get 4 to 8 drops depending on size. Barrels are usually brass not steel and get inspected for ridges in the cover or back of the barrel that may cause the spring to unwind less than smoothly. All just a matter of scale, you get fiddly and I had to use more force. :)
I have been very naughty in the past and cleaned the mainspring when still in the case but open. I will now give this a go with a practice movement. Wish me luck.
I have a set. This video is to help new hobbyists who can’t afford or yet justify the horrendous cost of winders. I’ve scrapped more mainsprings in winders than I ever do hand winding!
Transition from outside the bridle to inside the bridle of the mainspring was a hurdle for me. Tripped up on the direction of the coil. Blame it on poor logic. Definitely a challenging experiment of finger dexterity. For sure I could not have accomplished this step without you Sir Mike, thanks!
thanks , it can be fiddly and the more advanced and pro's really frown on this winding technique..
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At the end, when you compare the two drives, it is clear that the two mainsprings rotate in two different directions. I wonder if that will affect the winding of the machine or not?.
I am showing in the video that not all mainspring wind the same way. There are some left haneded and some right. Clockwise winding is the most common. Seiko use both so it is important to look at the direction of spring before removing it.
Well that’s saved me a couple of hundred quid, it can be done by hand with no I’ll effects, thanks new to your channel and it’s a lot of useful info. Got me an early Seiko auto to start on just need the right size screwdriver and permission from er indoors to by them. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
well I do not recommend this long term as any professional will tell you this is a massive NO NO to hand wind. It is not easy depending on the spring you are working on. I do believe there is a Chinese winder set on AliExpress that has steel arbours and handles which do the job well enough and are around £60-70 for a set. I will pick some up at some point to review.
If you forget to take a photo just stop and think about which direction the barrel turns to wind up the watch. Pay attention to the click. Make a little diagram with the wind direction if you need to. The square on the arbor will face up on the click side putting the opening on the barrel facing down or toward the face side of the watch. I find that with many movements the winding gear for the barrel moves clockwise when being wound which means winding is counter clockwise when looking into the barrel. This means that the spring spirals out from the mandrel in the clockwise direction.
Hi Mike, really enjoying the series. One of the main hurdles for any budding watch tinkerers out there is servicing the MS barrel and you've done a great job of explaining it in layman's terms . Quick question: the (potential) scoring on the inside of the barrel, when does that become an issue? Looking forward to the next installment!
Thank you so much for your comment. Its great to know I’m getting it right. The scoring , very difficult question for me to answer however firstly looking at this barrel the damage to the lid could have possibly been caused by the old grease wearing on the lid. Seiko I believed used graphite grease which turns black and horrible , look at the 7025 barrel at the start, absolutely full of dirt and my guess is that it’s never been opened before. I would assume that tolerances on the barrel wall and lid are not critical and wear would not cause too much of an issue as the spring would just expand to take up the gap. It’s the arbour and the holes they pass through that would be effected by severe wear as the holes would go out of round and make the arbour wobble which could then cause issues with the centre wheel and ultimately stop the movement.
Thanks for this video! Mike or anyone else who's done this: what is the success rate of winding the mainspring this way? I ask because many professionals seem to say hand-winding can cause a lot of problems and make a watch not work properly. But also I don't doubt some hand-winder repair people they speak of are the the kind who aren't too careful about watch repairs to begin with. Mainspring winders also seem to be some of the most unforgivingly expensive watch tools out there for novice repair folk--so if hand-winding can work, that'll easily save me a few hundred bucks. Thanks in advance for your replies!
This is a good question! okay so I will try to answer, without question the best and the correct method is to use a spring winder tool. They are expensive and you need many different winders for different barrels both left and right handed. This for me at least is the reason I learnt to do it by hand . By hand you do run the risk of breaking the bridal, kinking the spring, snapping the spring or even it uncoiling half way though and throwing the barrel into orbit. Care must be taken, safety glasses are a must. However with practice and patience its achievable. You will make mistakes so practice with some old ones first to get the hang of it, also practice without oiling the spring or the barrel walls , oil makes them allot more slippy. The hardest part is the first few coils the bridal holds allot of tension so getting that in and the spring past it can be hard. once past that slow and steady wins the race. That and a firm grip another important thing to take not is the direction of the spring, always take a photo first as I have learnt the hard way of winding a spring in, fitting into a movement and rebuilding only to find the spring wont hold tension past the arbor. you then have to take everything to bits again. For newbies and tinkerers on a budget doing their own watches then I see no harm in hand winding other than the more experienced telling you you should never do it. The more you get into the hobby the more you will want to invest in better tools I think its just a natural progression. Good luck
@@MyRetroWatches I've been hand winding main springs for 20 years with good success. I also know when you take one back out and set on a flat surface, it does cone up and not lay flat. So I can see why the experts would have a problem with it.
Thanks, Mike! I tried this on a scrap pocket watch spring a few months ago. Finally got up the courage to try it on a 7009 mainspring. Cleaning the barrel was like cleaning a black powder rifle - filthy! The 7009 spring was a lot tougher. It has lots more "spring" left. Here's hoping I did it right.
@@MyRetroWatches I put the whole thing together and got finished around 3 AM this morning. I didn't wind it fully, but it's still running and the time looks good. Your videos are extremely helpful. Now, if I can just figure out the trashed crystal. ;-)
Great and well presented live video, I found your channel recommended and have watched with interest a couple of the digital rebuilds, (they're quite alien to me as mechanical are my area of interest as a hobbyist watchmaker and collector) I do have quartz analogue/digi combined but not had a fully digital since my schooldays In the 80's. Have subbed to hopefully learn more about those.Re the arbor, my routine is to remove it in situ by gripping with tweezers and turning opposite the direction of winding while pulling up, keep a nail on the spring while doing this, the latch will disengage and it will pull out, refit in the same manner. This removes the risk of it flying off the spring and across the bench. I wouldn't try to refit on the spring before winding in fully. Otherwise that's how I manually wind in main springs, but I am going to try 3D printing a mainspring winder.
Thanks for your comment and subbing to the channel. Appreciate that. I will do some more digital stuff in the future and actually have an ana digi on my to do list so will most likely film that in the coming months. I’m back into my mechanicals at the moment... I flip between the two when I get fed up with one genre I flip to the other . I’m. Soon buying a mainspring winder set so I can do what is the correct & safer method.
Thank's for this video! I am studying this and working ON IT as we speak. I kind of placed the mainspring in the wrong direction, so it got little bit twisted/damaged so finally it broke but hey, as i say: Practise makes perfect. I love your videos! A true inspiration for all of us out there!
Thank you for your nice comment, also just subbed to your channel ! Just remember that hand winding is not good practice in this hobby and many will tell you it should not be done. That said I’ve scrapped more mainsprings in winders than I have ever done by hand.
@@MyRetroWatches Thank you! I am honored by that! And Your videos about bulova has helped me to gain experience and to fix them. I appreciate this ! Take care 🌎☕🙃
I had the same problem. It came out great, but rewinding somehow got twisted around so that the final coil was backwards and broke after another attempt. (I realize now I wound counterclockwise! Should have been clockwise.) That's fine since it was 52 years old anyway. A NOS mainspring is in the mail. I'm going to take a closer look at the inexpensive winders. There's an affordable one now that supposedly fixes past shortcomings.
Hello Mike. Great tutorial. Moebius 8200 isn’t an adequate braking grease and may actually allow too much slip. Moebius 8213 (brass), 8217 or more expensive Kluber P125 is what is recommended.
24 Hour GMT Channel hi thanks. Yes you are right I think someone else corrected me either here or in the FB group. I now use 8217. Thing is you can’t edit already uploaded videos so I’m stuck with it really. ( wish YT would allow us to do so post upload)
Would you advise replacing with a new main spring or just cleaning? I'm just starting on my first movement AS 1506 which has been sat doing nothing for over 40 years. Lots of good information on your channel. Very helpful.
Mike ,when you re-insert the mainspring barrell onto the watch and insert the winding stem does the mainspring automatically attach to Something to tighten it and power up the power distribution. Barry ,liverpool.
Hi Barry, the smallest coil on the mainspring has a hole in it. The barrel arbor has a hook so it find the hole and then pulls the mainspring tight to give it power.
@My Retro Watches thanks Mike, much appreciated, I love your line when you say " it's gone in on the wonk 'I laughed every time I thought of it .barry ,liverpool
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Yes helped me too much
Wouldn't it be easier to use an actual mainspring winder?and maybe even finger cots?
@@timcarpenter9835 yes, but spring winding tools are quite expensive (for example Bergeon, Chinese tools even don't worth talk about), and the point of this video is to be of some help how easy it is to step into watchmaking without huge investments at the beginning, and to facilitate our learning process. Not all of us have enough money to buy everything we need right away.
I want to say thank you. Just finished taking apart and redoing my first movement. AS 1187. Did lots of reading and watched lots of videos. My biggest trepidation was the balance and the mainspring. I almost didn’t do the mainspring at all. I was just going clean it in the barrel as best as I could and then put it back in. Watched this video and it gave me the confidence to give it a go. I wasn’t going to spend the money on winders to service a $15 watch. Not sure I would like it enough to do a second watch. Did it just like the video and, amazingly, it went perfectly and wasn’t nearly has hard as I thought it would be. Watch is from the 60’s and keeping time very well after two days. There will definitely be a second watch. Thanks again for posting these videos.
Fantastic. This is the reason I made the video. It splits opinion as hand winding is not the correct way. From a hobbyists standpoint I think its fine it gets your watch working and more into the hobby. The further down the rabbit hole you fall eventually a winding set would be purchased but only when you can justify it to yourself.
AS 1187 was my first non-pocket watch movement too...
You are so humble about your experience and skill, but as a new enthusiast and neophyte watch repair hobbyist, it's really rewarding to watch someone who actually knows what he is doing. Been making the rounds of different watch repair channels and, lordy, some of them are absolute watch butchers.
Thank you. I am just a hobbyist and will never pretend to be anything else. So you see in my videos all my mistakes but also that as a hobby this is achievable for anyone.
Thanks a lot Mike! I serviced several of my watched but never dared to open the barrel. I gained confidence now and will give it a go soon!
After popping the lid, I use my plastic tweezers to stick one end under the barrel, the other under the lid, that way you keep the spring safely in place. I keep the tweezers in place, and centered and then remove one end of the spring at the center, and then when the barrel is turned the spring comes out really gradually. The tweezers in this position ensure the spring will never pop out when opening the lid and the removal is also really safe and controllable that way. So I don't just use the tweezer tips, but basically clamp the whole barrel between the wider part of the tweezers. Your method letting go half a coil at a time with your fingers doesn't look like a very good idea to me, especially for novice watchmakers.
Nice information for watch lovers ❤❤❤❤❤
Mike,
I'm a big fan of the channel and I recently attempted one of my first full rebuilds. I had taken the barrel apart to clean the main spring and I was without a winder. I was able to safely and properly wind the main spring back into its barrel thanks to these instructions. Thank you so much!
Thank you for making this video. I'm learning how to service a watch for the first time and I was told that winding in by hand was a big no, but I can't afford to buy the expensive winders. This makes me feel a lot better about servicing the mainspring!
This is why I made the video. I too could not justify the cost although I now have a set of winders. Ironically I’ve scrapped more springs in the winder than I ever did hand winding.
Disassembling and assembling my first ever manual mechanic watch at the moment and fully intend removing main spring!!!!!! Yikes... was starting to think I would need a spring winding gadget but thanks to you I'm gonna be soon blinded by flying movement part???!!!!! Lol... No, its Truly helpful Mike and I can't wait to get cracking. Keep the videos coming and I will follow up with my medical bills! I meant to say, with telling you how I got on. GREAT VIDEO....
Thanks and good luck especially if you still have eyesight to read this!
THANK YOU for this video. I was pulling my hair out trying to get the main spring back in the barrel. Admittedly, I never thought of starting from the outside in. Watched your video and, suddenly, it's all re-installed.
I restored a Cupillard 233-60 powered watch, branded Lejo, that I bought at a French jumble sale. The mainspring looked ok but I decided to buy a new one to be on the safe side. Not a good idea, as after installing it and trying to get the arbor in, the spring hit just under my eye at about 200 mph. This video saved the day and I managed to get the watch working successfully after manually installing the spring. You are a genius Mike.
No genius but happy the video helped you as thats why I produce them.
Happened upon this video and will check out the series. I bought a beautiful Seiko ring watch, and my novice gut tells me that it is overwound, which started me on the hunt to see if I can fix it. Can't afford to go to a jeweler. I have a lot of timepieces that I can practice on before trying to fix my new ring watch. I've been passively collecting the timepieces of ancestors and junk shops, because of my fascination with these things. I also sew and have several machines that I've "repaired" myself. I believe I saw something familiar to the hook/bobbin mechanism in the watch interior... I'll have to really set up a a clean space, should I move forward with my endeavor to fix a watch. Thank you for this wonderful video!
Bravo, Mike. You have a marked talent for for explaining these things, and I have an awful lot to learn before my watch repairer retires. Very much appreciated.
GenWivern2 thank you for such praise. I often think I am taking to myself which even our car looks at me a bit weird!
If you have the desire to attempt some repairs then please do so. It’s got to be worth a try if your interested. Watchmakers are worth their weight in gold . Fortunately there is still a demand and I believe younger people still want to learn the trade.
For me this is just a hobby that I have considerable amount still to learn.
Lol.ditto
Mike - Thanks for the how to vid. I have found success with reinstalling the barrel arbor with the cap off. Take a pair of small jewelers plyers and carefully turn the arbor in the center of the mainspring in the direction to wind the spring until you can see or hear the hook in the arbor catch the spring detent. You can see the spring wanting to wind up in the center thus confirming the arbor is properly set and engaged in the center of the spring. Then proceed to reinstall the cap. I use Moebius 8217 Natural Grease as a breaking grease on the out barrel wall in 3 places and then use 8141natural oil to oil the mainspring. I use a smear of D5 on the barrel arbor openings top and bottom to lubricate the center arbor bearing. I was lucky enough to score a set of vintage K&D variable spring winders and these make winding and loading the spring in the barrel much easier than by hand.
Supercruze thanks for you advice . I have in the past for stubborn arbours used a pin vice , like I show in the video but with the lid off. I am always fearful that you could easily uncoil that spring!
I really need to invest in a set of winders!
You use all the correct and better oils than I . I knew the 8200 was not ideal but at the time I was actually advised to use it by a professional!
Thanks for watching and supporting my channel.
Thanks for showing how to do this manually. Many armature hobbyist watch makers like myself that like to do our own service cannot justify the Bergeon ETA winder set.
Your welcome. Glad you found it of use. This is why I made the video so people who cannot justify the price for a winder set can still attempt a MS service.
here here to that. hrumpf hrumpf!
Also, breaking grease I believe is more there to protect the barrel than the spring. The barrel, usually being made of soft brass seems to me like the thing that gets the most damage from the spring slipping through.
You are very correct on the braking grease. Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for the detailed instruction. I've been having a heck of a time with mainsprings for the newbie watch servicer.
Thank you for this video!! I just hand serviced a mainspring on a 1960s Elgin following your guidance. It was scary and I thought I was going to break it or ruin it the whole time, but everything worked out and the watch is running great!
I did my first complete tear down/servicing of a movement (Seiko 6106-7107) and wanted to say thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. Your videos helped a lot.
Thank you so much for saying so, Always good to get feedback from viewers . If my videos have helped then I have achieved my goal.
I'm impressed that everything went without any incidents. Great joy to watch it!
Thank you.
Hence the reason as to why the arbor is always removed before removing the ms.
Excellent lesson on main springs and a pleasure to watch.
Mate I really really need this, I'm servicing a watch for the first time and didn't realize that a mainspring winder is super expensive and getting a new mainspring is also quite expensive, more than I thought, and I got no more budget to get any of these. So thank you so so much
Ditto. I could have bought a new watch for the money I've spent on tools and oil...the oils are crazy money. But I find it very therapeutic...very calming...and hugely satisfying.
Great talent to have in an emergency. You know, misplaced winder and customer on the way! My first attempt was very successful, but taught me to never misplace my winder gain. Thanks for the video...
William Hudson thanks. If I have helped you no matter how bad practice hand winding is then I am pleased. Ironically I have scrapped more springs in a winder than I have by hand winding .
I think if the watch has seen a lot of service its a good idea to fit a new main spring in most cases these are fitted in a ring and can be pressed directly into the barrel.
I agree, provided you can find one. I'm working on a pocket watch from 1868. The spring is intact, but I suspect it's lost much of it's power after 155 years but I can't locate a replacement so I'm hoping a clean and service will help.
I just wanted to add for other people who may not be aware, you don't need to put braking grease on the barrel walls if the watch you're working on doesn't have automatic winding. On watches without automatic winding you can only wind them so much but with automatic winding your arm movements cause the automatic winding mechanism to keep winding and if the barrel is fully wound then the spring it allowed to slip around the inside edge of the barrel which is why you need the grease there at that point.
Just what I was looking for! Just dismantled a seiko 7009 mainspring but needed help to figure out which way to wind it back in... invaluable video. Thanks
Blair Robert I am happy this helped you. Good luck with the rewind!
@@MyRetroWatches If not sure which way to wind it back, just look at the arbor hook. The hook will be "pulling" the mainspring during wind up.
Andre Kowalczyk very good point thanks
Thank you for this master class. I haven't dare to open a barrel and taking out the MS yet, but I know it's very important to service it when restoring a watch.
Only a few days ago I show a video of someone using tweezers to hold the MS in place while taking it out, and it look like a good idea.
Agustin Aguilar thank you for commenting. I am intrigued why you would use tweezers to take it out, sounds harder. My thoughts are removal without any tools is best with hands after all you will clean and then oil it so your finger prints will not effect removal in the slightest .
@@MyRetroWatches I really don't think the tweezers technique is better than using the fingers. I've been looking for the video I commented (ruclips.net/video/vZrrHgo9SMU/видео.html) and I found another video from the same guy in wich the MS jumped when it was only 50% unwound, so when I got in the feel of it I'd try with my fingers.
Thanks for that Mike, I've just started working on what looks like a m24 movement, i found out the hard way the mainspring barrel has no lid, your method of getting the spring back in is a lot easier than the method ive been trying.
It works! I'm new to watches and read that doing by hand would cause the spring to get kinks and become conical. For fun I took a crusty Waltham 750B barrel apart and reinstalled the spring then removed and reinstalled it again. It was perfectly fine from what I could tell.
It took me 2 seconds to open the barrel. The main spring is still in. The barrel arbor went half way out, but I put it back in. Thank you for this video. It really helped me to understand the whole process of cleaning and winding the main spring. This is my next project 😳☺️
thank you.
From one hobbyist to another- first your contribution is appreciated. Secondly, it is important to mention that the entire practice of manually handling springs is a malpractice with poor outcomes. Also the grease on the barrel should be 8217.
nukvar23 thanks . I agree on the grease being perhaps not the correct one however for hand winding of main springs is quite common in my circles. Agreed a mainspring winder is much more reliable and less problematic however the costs are prohibitive for someone just starting out to buy a decent set or individual size.
I want to encourage people into the hobby by showing that basics can be achieved with minimal equipment . The further we all go down the rabbit hole the more tools and equipment we purchase to get better at what we do for the best results. I am still quite new into all this myself.
I will now order some 8217 so thank you kindly for this.
@@MyRetroWatches I completely agree. Just think it is worth mentioning the drawbacks. By the way, I fair set of winders can be hunt for about 50 pounds
@@nukvar23 Hi. Can you tell me where, please?
@@carloscarvalhido2424 look for the old brand GB on ebay
@@nukvar23 OK. Thanks.
I have a T end older spring to get in. It is in the packaged coil holder from the manufacturer. I hope I can get the pin lined up while pushing it into the barrel from the holder without springing it out.
Spring cleaning in January ! Enjoyed watching that. 👍
nico de zwart haha great comment . Thanks
Your method for winding the spring back in the barrel worked like a champ. I was able to get it on the first try :-)
2nd vid of yours I've watched. You've just saved me a ton of money and worry at the moment by doing this video. As a newbie old guy I've been agonizing over the prices of main spring winders both new and vintage, not to mention dealing with snipe bidders on ebay(go up against me in a real, live auction then see how far ya get with me!), wondering how I could get around this for now, wondering if it can be done by hand. great video and in language and explanations I can understand. gives me confidence too. Like- hell I can do that! great stuff and on behalf of all us new old guys, a hearty cheers to you. thank you. eventually, I'll get a decent set of winders but not any time soon!
(say to myself: now if I can just figure out a way to get around getting a staking set..........)
Thank you. glad this video was useful and for now has saved you the money. I have scrapped more mainsprings with my winders than I have using my hands..!
@@MyRetroWatches Mike, can I ask what winders you do have and where you got them?
Love your content. You inspired me to open up and replace the main spring on a pocket watch that has been sitting in my drawer for very long.
Thank you. Mike really knows his watches
Thanx so much for doing this video. I have seen this done in several video's but not in this kind of detail. I have also just seen a video where a watchmaker says it is not a good idea to wind the main spring by hand. I understand that. I will be using your methods so thanx for the demonstration.
Thank you. Hand winding is not good practice and frowned upon by many. However if you don’t have a set of winders or can’t afford them then this is the only alternative in my opinion.
Nice job, thanks an explanation of the bridle would help me... and how it sits against the barrel , every one develops their own way and become comfortable with it.. yours is as good as and near as.. good point with the pin vice that would have saved me a pain in a Jaeger Le Coultre.. today... I am from Cotswolds and get homesick at times... take care.. John.
Brilliant video, thanks Mike. When I took a watchmaking course for three years we had access to spring winders in the lab but now my course has finished I can't afford those to use at home (hobbying) and didn't have the confidence to do it by hand until I watched your video. Just wound my first by hand successfully and ironically enough I found it much much easier by hand than with mainspring winders
I have a wonder set but it’s only right handed (I think) as I do mostly seiko some like the 7### series are left handed and you need another winder for that at £70 a go..,
I find hand winding fairly easy but it really is frowned upon so this video split opinion like hot knife through butter.
@@MyRetroWatches well tell them if they want to donate to my spring winder gofundme page (sarcasm)I'd be more than happy to accept. far be it from me to turn down a free meal! that'll be $1,140 dollars please.
The pin vice, and taking a photo before hand are certainly very good tips! Under a microscope though, since the diameters on the arbor, where it protrudes through the lid and barrel are usually not the same, and seeing the hook on the barrel, I know already which way around the spring needs to be wound. There is always something that can lead you back to the direction, if it won't be the diameters, it'll be the teeth height on the barrel, and inner thread on the arbor, combined with the hook on the arbor that give it away.
Thanks very much. In this one video, you answered a whole heap of questions none of the professionals bother to discuss when they're demonstrating a service! I had also not seen a manual replacement/rewind of the spring inside the barrel. Everyone else shows off their swanky spring-winding device... Well done!! And your pin vice wouldn't grasp the arbor, because you were undoing it, instead of tightening it up, it seemed to me :-)
I'm about to embark upon the service of a 1974 citizen diver... I new I'd never source a new barrel but managed to find a batch of toss away movements almost exclusively to practice this exact process! As well as perhaps find the best mainspring in the lot to use in the final service.....
I'm glad I did buy them as the first one I attempted (rusted out movement so no loss) I snapped off the bridle XD
Hello. Thanks for your comment. I too have broken bridals when I first started doing it but you soon get the hang of it. Once the bridal is in and the spring has past it a few times it gets easy from there.
Best method is still with a set of main spring wonders though . Safer and goo practice
It's always exciting to watch you My Seiko watch has now also stopped and I'll dare to disassemble it and try to repair it Thanks for your informative videos
How lovely. Loved the video.
Comprehensive and I love the tidbits you gave us from your experience. Helps us not make the same mistakes. From one watch lover to another, thank you!
Me: opening the barrel in 10 seconds, the rest of the day in search for the spring.
haha. you have to be careful with these !
If you can’t find a mainspring that gets away, how are you planning to find the small springs when they try to escape?
@@JasperJanssen try finding a lost pallet fork M8 😐
@@internettrihard2955 I almost lost mine and found it on the carpet
@@internettrihard2955try finding an arbor that rolls everywhere when you breathe on it slightly
This is one of the great videos! It just came to my way exactly when I needed to learn on how to do this job. Thank you!
I didn't know this could be done without a winding tool that knowledge will save me some money! I'm currently attempting my first watch a Goliath pocket watch. That spring is so old it doesn't spring, it remains coiled out of the barrel so I'll be ordering a new one.
Great half hour demonstration! Thanks Michael!
Eric Cheung thanks Eric
Loved this video, it was extremely helpful, thanks!
Your welcome
Nice,very easy to understand simplified thank you for showing this video 👍
Glad it was helpful!
it was thanks
Thank you very much. I was trying to do it today with success, but I found quite hard to reassembly at first, with the double coil.
Daniel Ruiz Kujavec thanks and glad this video helped you. The start is the hardest. With practice it does get a bit easier.
Thank you so much! I have an old automatik Seiko with this problem. Let me see what happens
This is a great video, thank you. It’s answered a lot of questions for me, not for the lacking of trying
Hi again Mike! I just wanted to tell you that I saw a video from Mark Lovick opening a 70xx barrel just with his finger nails. I had to service a 7019 barrel too so I decided to give this technique a test and hey! it works just fine, it can be open with the nails quite easily. I thought you may want to know.
Agustin Aguilar I will look into this , which video of Marks was it? I am intrigued to see it done as they are not easy due to that split in the middle .
Thanks
@@MyRetroWatches This is the video: ruclips.net/video/DlyNICm2N9k/видео.html Believe me it is super-easy, I did it in my first MS service, and yes I did the rest of the service following your instructions.
Awesome vid. Can’t wait to try it!
I did it!! Yeah! The seller didn't send me the Bulova Buloloy just the mainspring. So I did it like this!
Thanks for your time sir, it's lovely for me to learn new skills.
Thanks for making and sharing this vid. I’m gradually learning the ropes but had found the mainspring quite intimidating. You’ve given me some confidence and good tips here
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the time and added bother of putting this up here. So far it's the most applicable guide I've found to my own situation: I've had a garishly over-steampunked Chinese pocket watch for years, for which I think I paid just $4 with free delivery from the Far East. Only lately has it been anything less than "appropriately reliable". It kept reasonable enough time for my post-retirement needs, and spends most of its life safely tucked away in the breast pocket of my old motorcycle jacket. I've always taken care not to overwind it, but I suspect something may be awry with its main spring. It'll still runs near full wind, but only for 4 or 5 hours. I'm guessing that it's the mainspring somehow acting up. The problem for me is that it seems silly to spend a whole lot getting g a $4 watch repaired, you know? I adore it and all, bit still... If I can fix it DIY, it seems sensible to do so. Naturally, any and all advice from you or other proper horologists in the Comments would be welcome. Until then, you get a big "Thumb's Up" from me for your efforts. Thanks again!
Hi, That is hard to say what is going on there. In theory the mainspring could be the issue as its the only source of energy. However the power has to go through the train of gears. All pivots should be oiled but over time that oil turns to sticky gunk which can slow watches down. equally a thicker oil is applied to the barrel arbour bearing (holes) as its higher friction so when that oil goes hard it will limit the power of the spring. Springs generally last decades but who knows what sort of quality spring they have used in a $4 watch..
@@MyRetroWatches Thanks for the response! I'm now inclined to think you may be right about there perhaps being a problem with the works being somehow gunked up with old oil, hardened grease or what have you--not just the mainspring that's the culprit. For the past couple of days I've managed to run out the mainspring's tension by either lightly tapping the watch or simply turning the crown/winding stem the opposite direction from winding. I imagine the tapping of the ratchet mechanism may be just enough to coax the works through those grubby spots. Once it gets going, it'll tick happily for hours and hours. So yeah. Maybe it just needs a good servicing? I've also read that electro-magnetism, such as from a cell phone, can also goob up the works, and de-magnitizers are sold to correct this. The jacket pocket I normally keep the watch in rests directly over the shirt pocket I hold my phone in. Have YOU encountered this magnetism issue? Fortunately, I have located a very well-reviewed horologist's shop quite nearby. Instead of diving in and just buggering it up myself, perhaps I should just swing on by there. Sure, it's just a $4 watch, but I really DO like it all the same. And it HAS served me well enough until just recently for many many years.
Moebius 8200 is just a grease intended for the mainsprings and bottom of the barrel. It has no breaking capability, so don't use it on the side wall of a barrel of an automatic watch. Moebius makes for that breaking grease, such as 8217, 8212 (for aluminium barrels), and 8213 (for brass barrels).
Andre Kowalczyk thanks . I have actually changed now to 8217 because if this.
Thank you though
Thank you for this wonderful explanation; very helpful for begginers like me.
I have an automatic TH that does not start ticking the moment I wind it. It is until I move the watch a little that the automatic feature kicks in and it starts running, but if i dont move it the watch wont start running even though it has power in reserve. Any idea why this can be?
Could be many things but mainly just a service to get it all clean and free running again.
Brings back memories of servicing clocks. Just scaled down and not as strong. Also gets almost no oil compared to clocks which get 4 to 8 drops depending on size. Barrels are usually brass not steel and get inspected for ridges in the cover or back of the barrel that may cause the spring to unwind less than smoothly. All just a matter of scale, you get fiddly and I had to use more force. :)
I have been very naughty in the past and cleaned the mainspring when still in the case but open. I will now give this a go with a practice movement. Wish me luck.
I have heard of this being done but never tried. if in water solution I would not want to risk causing rust.
How did you clean it coiled inside the case? What solution did you use? Dis you re-greased it?
素晴らしい！素手で香箱を開けてメンテナンスもできるなんて！とても勉強になります。
ありがとう。幸運を。これを手で行うことは可能です。
this is completely helpful, thank you!!
Great Video Mike. As a watchmaker the best thing to do is to get a mainspring winder from bergeon. It saves a lot of time.
I have a set. This video is to help new hobbyists who can’t afford or yet justify the horrendous cost of winders.
I’ve scrapped more mainsprings in winders than I ever do hand winding!
Thanks! I'm just getting started and not ready to make the huge investment in a set of mainspring winders yet...
This is why I made this video for hobbyists like you who cant reach for winders given the silly prices they are.
First time watcher. Your narration is great. Please
Keep up the good work.
db
Well there you go after months of procrastinating I did it not so hard really but and it’s a big BUT have I wound it the right way?
Transition from outside the bridle to inside the bridle of the mainspring was a hurdle for me.
Tripped up on the direction of the coil. Blame it on poor logic.
Definitely a challenging experiment of finger dexterity.
For sure I could not have accomplished this step without you Sir Mike, thanks!
thanks , it can be fiddly and the more advanced and pro's really frown on this winding technique..
At the end, when you compare the two drives, it is clear that the two mainsprings rotate in two different directions. I wonder if that will affect the winding of the machine or not?.
I am showing in the video that not all mainspring wind the same way. There are some left haneded and some right. Clockwise winding is the most common. Seiko use both so it is important to look at the direction of spring before removing it.
For the hobbyist with limited funds to buy a set of winders this is ideal.
Very Educational Video. Thank you! Now, to attempt a barrel spring cleaning myself...Wish me Luck! LOL!
Good luck Matt. it is not easy at first the first few turns getting the bridal in is the hardest. let me know how you get on.
Very handy Video mate! Thanks a lot I just reassembled my first pocket watch mainspring 👍🏼
Well that’s saved me a couple of hundred quid, it can be done by hand with no I’ll effects, thanks new to your channel and it’s a lot of useful info. Got me an early Seiko auto to start on just need the right size screwdriver and permission from er indoors to by them. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
well I do not recommend this long term as any professional will tell you this is a massive NO NO to hand wind. It is not easy depending on the spring you are working on. I do believe there is a Chinese winder set on AliExpress that has steel arbours and handles which do the job well enough and are around £60-70 for a set. I will pick some up at some point to review.
If you forget to take a photo just stop and think about which direction the barrel turns to wind up the watch. Pay attention to the click. Make a little diagram with the wind direction if you need to. The square on the arbor will face up on the click side putting the opening on the barrel facing down or toward the face side of the watch.
I find that with many movements the winding gear for the barrel moves clockwise when being wound which means winding is counter clockwise when looking into the barrel. This means that the spring spirals out from the mandrel in the clockwise direction.
Hi Mike, really enjoying the series. One of the main hurdles for any budding watch tinkerers out there is servicing the MS barrel and you've done a great job of explaining it in layman's terms . Quick question: the (potential) scoring on the inside of the barrel, when does that become an issue? Looking forward to the next installment!
Thank you so much for your comment. Its great to know I’m getting it right.
The scoring , very difficult question for me to answer however firstly looking at this barrel the damage to the lid could have possibly been caused by the old grease wearing on the lid. Seiko I believed used graphite grease which turns black and horrible , look at the 7025 barrel at the start, absolutely full of dirt and my guess is that it’s never been opened before.
I would assume that tolerances on the barrel wall and lid are not critical and wear would not cause too much of an issue as the spring would just expand to take up the gap. It’s the arbour and the holes they pass through that would be effected by severe wear as the holes would go out of round and make the arbour wobble which could then cause issues with the centre wheel and ultimately stop the movement.
Thanks Mike. Going to go after this tonight ....wish me luck lol
If the arbour stays in can I send it in the ultrasonic connected? Or should I remove it for proper cleaning? Thank you
Great video MB! Really good level of detail.
Hello, thanks for your vídeo. There is a way tô repair main Springs? Regards
thank you very much . I hope you make more videos that teach useful things for ưatches ❤️
Thanks for this video! Mike or anyone else who's done this: what is the success rate of winding the mainspring this way? I ask because many professionals seem to say hand-winding can cause a lot of problems and make a watch not work properly. But also I don't doubt some hand-winder repair people they speak of are the the kind who aren't too careful about watch repairs to begin with. Mainspring winders also seem to be some of the most unforgivingly expensive watch tools out there for novice repair folk--so if hand-winding can work, that'll easily save me a few hundred bucks. Thanks in advance for your replies!
This is a good question! okay so I will try to answer, without question the best and the correct method is to use a spring winder tool. They are expensive and you need many different winders for different barrels both left and right handed. This for me at least is the reason I learnt to do it by hand . By hand you do run the risk of breaking the bridal, kinking the spring, snapping the spring or even it uncoiling half way though and throwing the barrel into orbit. Care must be taken, safety glasses are a must. However with practice and patience its achievable. You will make mistakes so practice with some old ones first to get the hang of it, also practice without oiling the spring or the barrel walls , oil makes them allot more slippy. The hardest part is the first few coils the bridal holds allot of tension so getting that in and the spring past it can be hard. once past that slow and steady wins the race. That and a firm grip another important thing to take not is the direction of the spring, always take a photo first as I have learnt the hard way of winding a spring in, fitting into a movement and rebuilding only to find the spring wont hold tension past the arbor. you then have to take everything to bits again.
For newbies and tinkerers on a budget doing their own watches then I see no harm in hand winding other than the more experienced telling you you should never do it. The more you get into the hobby the more you will want to invest in better tools I think its just a natural progression.
Good luck
@@MyRetroWatches I've been hand winding main springs for 20 years with good success. I also know when you take one back out and set on a flat surface, it does cone up and not lay flat. So I can see why the experts would have a problem with it.
Thanks, Mike! I tried this on a scrap pocket watch spring a few months ago. Finally got up the courage to try it on a 7009 mainspring. Cleaning the barrel was like cleaning a black powder rifle - filthy! The 7009 spring was a lot tougher. It has lots more "spring" left. Here's hoping I did it right.
Scott Murphree-Roberts superb well done. Well you know when it’s works when the watch runs well.
@@MyRetroWatches I put the whole thing together and got finished around 3 AM this morning. I didn't wind it fully, but it's still running and the time looks good. Your videos are extremely helpful. Now, if I can just figure out the trashed crystal. ;-)
Great and well presented live video, I found your channel recommended and have watched with interest a couple of the digital rebuilds, (they're quite alien to me as mechanical are my area of interest as a hobbyist watchmaker and collector) I do have quartz analogue/digi combined but not had a fully digital since my schooldays In the 80's. Have subbed to hopefully learn more about those.Re the arbor, my routine is to remove it in situ by gripping with tweezers and turning opposite the direction of winding while pulling up, keep a nail on the spring while doing this, the latch will disengage and it will pull out, refit in the same manner. This removes the risk of it flying off the spring and across the bench. I wouldn't try to refit on the spring before winding in fully. Otherwise that's how I manually wind in main springs, but I am going to try 3D printing a mainspring winder.
Thanks for your comment and subbing to the channel. Appreciate that.
I will do some more digital stuff in the future and actually have an ana digi on my to do list so will most likely film that in the coming months.
I’m back into my mechanicals at the moment... I flip between the two when I get fed up with one genre I flip to the other .
I’m. Soon buying a mainspring winder set so I can do what is the correct & safer method.
Thank's for this video! I am studying this and working ON IT as we speak. I kind of placed the mainspring in the wrong direction, so it got little bit twisted/damaged so finally it broke but hey, as i say: Practise makes perfect.
I love your videos! A true inspiration for all of us out there!
Thank you for your nice comment, also just subbed to your channel !
Just remember that hand winding is not good practice in this hobby and many will tell you it should not be done. That said I’ve scrapped more mainsprings in winders than I have ever done by hand.
@@MyRetroWatches Thank you! I am honored by that! And Your videos about bulova has helped me to gain experience and to fix them. I appreciate this !
Take care 🌎☕🙃
I had the same problem. It came out great, but rewinding somehow got twisted around so that the final coil was backwards and broke after another attempt. (I realize now I wound counterclockwise! Should have been clockwise.) That's fine since it was 52 years old anyway. A NOS mainspring is in the mail. I'm going to take a closer look at the inexpensive winders. There's an affordable one now that supposedly fixes past shortcomings.
very helpful for future watches as I damaged one of my previous one, keep it up
STLND_Thomas_ thank you.
Hello Mike. Great tutorial. Moebius 8200 isn’t an adequate braking grease and may actually allow too much slip. Moebius 8213 (brass), 8217 or more expensive Kluber P125 is what is recommended.
24 Hour GMT Channel hi thanks. Yes you are right I think someone else corrected me either here or in the FB group. I now use 8217. Thing is you can’t edit already uploaded videos so I’m stuck with it really. ( wish YT would allow us to do so post upload)
RL-1
Would you advise replacing with a new main spring or just cleaning? I'm just starting on my first movement AS 1506 which has been sat doing nothing for over 40 years. Lots of good information on your channel. Very helpful.
Excelent as always. I have took apart some mechanicals watches before, but never open the MS barrrel. Might try one now.
Mike ,when you re-insert the mainspring barrell onto the watch and insert the winding stem does the mainspring automatically attach to
Something to tighten it and power up the power distribution. Barry ,liverpool.
Hi Barry, the smallest coil on the mainspring has a hole in it. The barrel arbor has a hook so it find the hole and then pulls the mainspring tight to give it power.
@My Retro Watches thanks Mike, much appreciated, I love your line when you say " it's gone in on the wonk 'I laughed every time I thought of it .barry ,liverpool
Thanks for your time ⌚
If we use longer windspring then will it increase power reserve.
Great video. Nervous to try it myself but feel much more confident with your help. Great video.
Thank you!
You can do it!
After watching ur video i am ready 2 rebuild my first watch
Well done. Good luck
Perfect, I just fixed a watch and this was the last step. Thank you!
You are a treasure! Thank you so much.
Very interesting and helpful , thank you very much !
Thanks for video. I would like to see your video and tips for oiling jewels. Jewels are the most tricky part I think.
I intend t show some oiling on the 6025 assembly video, oiling is tricky and people can be very opinionated about it . the main rule is less is more!