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Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 15th, 2019, 3:13 pm
by EBWing
Reminds me of a couple of PM’s I have had from unreformed66 lately 😂 he been complaining to me about the same thing incomplete shotty work done by people that shouldn’t be working on them... glad we have masters like you Both around to clean up Everyone’s mess!

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 15th, 2019, 4:05 pm
by unreformed66
The main problem in fitting the bushing that I made was that the brass that the Chilean uses to make these plates is VERY soft. Making the bushing is easy. Riveting it into the plate required a little finesse due to the soft shitty brass that they're made from. And the plating on them is water thin. I got ahold of one that had some scratches so I thought I would re-brush it. ONE LIGHT SWIPE with a fine scratch pad wore right through the finish! I have to say that I am not a big fan of these plates. I've never had two that were exactly the same. I've heard people blame variations in the SF240 movements as the reason that they often don't fit correctly as made but honestly I think there is a big quality control problem in these. A while back I happened to have two of them on the bench at the same time and stacked them up on top of each other and the bridge screw holes didn't even line up exactly from one to the other. I wish I'd taken some pictures but I didn't. I get them with holes not threaded, the center wheel bushing either too large or too small, machining errors and so on. But hey, they're the only game in town so that's what we have to work with. And on this particular one somebody had reamed the barrel arbor hole out for some unknown reason. Who knows what the hell he was thinking when he did that.

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 15th, 2019, 4:28 pm
by Yoda
unreformed66 wrote: December 15th, 2019, 4:05 pm The main problem in fitting the bushing that I made was that the brass that the Chilean uses to make these plates is VERY soft. Making the bushing is easy. Riveting it into the plate required a little finesse due to the soft shitty brass that they're made from. And the plating on them is water thin. I got ahold of one that had some scratches so I thought I would re-brush it. ONE LIGHT SWIPE with a fine scratch pad wore right through the finish! I have to say that I am not a big fan of these plates. I've never had two that were exactly the same. I've heard people blame variations in the SF240 movements as the reason that they often don't fit correctly as made but honestly I think there is a big quality control problem in these. A while back I happened to have two of them on the bench at the same time and stacked them up on top of each other and the bridge screw holes didn't even line up exactly from one to the other. I wish I'd taken some pictures but I didn't. I get them with holes not threaded, the center wheel bushing either too large or too small, machining errors and so on. But hey, they're the only game in town so that's what we have to work with. And on this particular one somebody had reamed the barrel arbor hole out for some unknown reason. Who knows what the hell he was thinking when he did that.
So you noticed the soft brass! LOL! Yes on the too small or too big center wheel bushing, yes to missing threading and yes to bridge holes not lining up...oh, and yes to very thin plating.

It is a mystery why the barrel arbor hole was reamed...

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 15th, 2019, 7:57 pm
by unreformed66
You know Yoda, sometimes I think that you and I must both be masochists to keep taking on these jobs... :lolno:

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 16th, 2019, 3:46 am
by Yoda
unreformed66 wrote: December 15th, 2019, 7:57 pm You know Yoda, sometimes I think that you and I must both be masochists to keep taking on these jobs... :lolno:
I have been thinking the same thing now and then....

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 22nd, 2019, 11:57 am
by Sevanata
So glad you posted this Dave.

I am glad I referred Calvin to you, i am sure he ll be happy with the result.




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Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 22nd, 2019, 8:18 pm
by Tanukjaju
I’m probably guilty of sending you little lumps of turds too :)

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: December 23rd, 2019, 9:42 am
by civic4982
unreformed66 wrote:The main problem in fitting the bushing that I made was that the brass that the Chilean uses to make these plates is VERY soft. Making the bushing is easy. Riveting it into the plate required a little finesse due to the soft shitty brass that they're made from. And the plating on them is water thin. I got ahold of one that had some scratches so I thought I would re-brush it. ONE LIGHT SWIPE with a fine scratch pad wore right through the finish! I have to say that I am not a big fan of these plates. I've never had two that were exactly the same. I've heard people blame variations in the SF240 movements as the reason that they often don't fit correctly as made but honestly I think there is a big quality control problem in these. A while back I happened to have two of them on the bench at the same time and stacked them up on top of each other and the bridge screw holes didn't even line up exactly from one to the other. I wish I'd taken some pictures but I didn't. I get them with holes not threaded, the center wheel bushing either too large or too small, machining errors and so on. But hey, they're the only game in town so that's what we have to work with. And on this particular one somebody had reamed the barrel arbor hole out for some unknown reason. Who knows what the hell he was thinking when he did that.
Sounds like terrible quality control.
Soft metals.
Poor finishing.
Multitudes if errors in machining.

It’s too bad they’re the only game in town and we have to accept it.

With that many errors I would expect a seller to take their product back in exchange for another. This ain’t a hobbyist just doing stuff for fun and it’s not chump change either.


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Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: January 16th, 2020, 12:14 am
by Chileantiques
Sorry guys but i cant replace something that someone else reamer hole. Regarding brass its engraving brass cz120 or 121 i dont remember well but not soft, most watchmaker recomend it for plates, you cant compare it with a bushing brass or bronze.
Worn brass holes are not like the one show, worn ones are not simetric (eliptical) thats clearly a reamered hole, btw do you measure the winding drum axle? Will be good to know if the hole was bad or the axle.
I never sold a direct bridge to the customer that send you the movement, so, someone else put hands on that.
Regarding brushing over plating... bad idea i think, if you scratch it the best is to rebrush and replate. A good idea its to cover the plate with plastic adhesive or your tweezers with something similar, this way less possibility to scratch the bridges. I use 1200 grit sandpaper to brush, so need to use same and same direction to make it look similar.
Probably you all right... ive seen a lot of movement just with ratchet bridge scratched... come on guys... i have seen a lots of cases when customers send the like NOS movement buy from me to a watchmaker and the the movmement have scratches everywhere because dont take actions to avoid that.
Yes i know its difficult to not scratch but its possible to prevent it.
Well i have lot of pics of how looks the movements after send alone on or watch heads to share if you want. If the only person that makes those bridges can, all can. Regards.

Re: The shit that crosses my bench.....

Posted: January 16th, 2020, 5:28 am
by Tanukjaju
I’ve received a few over the years and each time I have heard the plates are improved, I get a new set. I’ve also had numerous plates and movements sent to me over the years for a conversion too. These aren’t a simple drop in unit and off they go tonunreformed or Back to the customer. I’ve probably had less that a 25% success rate of these dropping in.

IMO, these are cosmetically good but still require working on. If you buy these, there is a likelihood that they will still need to go to a watchmaker who can work on it.