OFFICERS:

PRESIDENT:        DAVE GRAU,    dg33@mindspring.com

V. PRESIDENT:      AL TAKATSCH, al_taka@yahoo.com

SECRETARY:        JOHN REILLY,  jrol@aol.com

TREASURER:        STAN CRAIG,   no e-mail

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: EARL KNIGHT,  earljan@mydirecway.com

DIRECTORS:

JERRY KINCAID (07)      tictoctwo@aol.com

BRETT LOUIS (07)        no e-mail

DAN SPATH (07)          daspath@verizon.net

GEORGE TRESANSKY (07)   geotnant@aol.com

JACK KENNAN (08)        jgkennan@webtv.net           

GEORGE PAINTER (08)     gpainter@adelphia.net

President’s Message and Newsletter February 2007:

Message:

It’s hard to believe it is almost spring.  And talking of springs, we are well into our syllabus on watch repair (please forgive me for that).  Stan has been giving his talks on how to break down and put a watch back together, oiling, and looking up parts.  He has been great—thank you Stan!  Dan has been there helping those working on their projects, as well as others who are so willing to share their knowledge with the rest of us.  Also, John Kuntz has graciously agreed to present a technical talk (how to take apart a clock and put it back together) at one of our upcoming workshops

The club members expressed their preference, at the last meeting, that they would like to have workshops alternate between wristwatch repair and clock repair.  To the extent that instructors are available, that will be our plan.

We also discussed testing out another meeting room for the Tuesday, April 9 workshop.  Stay tuned.

Again, any and all suggestions are welcome.  Please send them to me or to any board member.

Hope to see you all on March 12.

Regards,
David

Newsletter:

This is a short newsletter because we do not have a meeting in February, only workshops.  Our workshops are progressing nicely and I think a lot of members are getting more out of the structured lectures followed by hands-on in the workshop.  So far we have learned to disassemble a Swiss pocket watch and put it back to running.  We then had a lecture on oiling the same watch but due to time constraints at that workshop, Stan demonstrated the oiling procedures.  It was amazing to see him disassemble a watch in about a minute and a half.  He then showed all of the places that get oil and places that get grease. His philosophy is that parts that slide against one another get grease and those that don’t get oil.  Wheel teeth never get anything. He brought examples of the types of oil for watch pivots and pallet stones. He uses mainly synthetic oils that have low evaporation rates and stay where they are put.  He uses Mobius 8200 grease that is not as thick as most greases; it flows out a little but is thick enough to be effective.  He then reassembled the watch and asked each of us to oil one on our own or we can use one of the association’s Swiss demonstration movements at the next workshop to practice.

At the last workshop on February 26, Stan brought several of his parts books and explained how to use each of them to order the right part.  There are many and the task is not as easy as it would sound. There are many substitute parts and parts that are interchangeable if you know how to go about looking them up.  If you can’t figure it out you can always call him or Dan Spath and they will set you straight.

While many members were attending the lecture and demonstrations, others were doing their own thing and asking for help as needed.

It was brought up that we must not loose our members that are interested in clock repair.  When asked for a show of hands on who is interested in clocks vs. watches, it was about 50/50 with many showing interest in both.  So to that effect we discussed having a similar structured workshop series on clocks, perhaps starting with a simple timepiece and progressing to a striking clock and then a time/strike/chime clock.  Several of our members are capable of directing such a series and perhaps the duties can be shared by several members, namely John Kuntz, Jack Bishop and George Tresansky.  Dave Grau said he would talk to John Kuntz about the matter and as you can read in his message, John has agreed to a technical talk at one of the upcoming workshops.

Meantime, practice what we have learned so far and come to the next meeting on March 12 at St. John’s Church beginning 8 PM.  By the way, the drawing for the Dudley Masonic watch will take place on Tuesday the 13^th at 7 PM at the Masonic lodge.  So I will stay in touch with Mac and e-mail the name of the winner on Wednesday morning. Good luck.  See you on the 12^th.  Regards John Reilly