President’s Message:

Happy Fourth!

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer.  HAM has been busy this past month:

About 12 people (including spouses and family members) met at the NAWCC museum in June for what was really a great afternoon.  It was my first trip to the museum and for those of you who have yet to go there, the displays were fantastic.  If you’re interested in photos of some of the objects at the museum let me know and I will gladly e-mail them to you.

We had a nice showing at the last workshop with three groups going— those working on watches, a clock discussion group, and those watching videos on watch repair in a darkened room just off of the main room.  As always, the camaraderie was palpable and the sharing of knowledge and information was much appreciated.

I have started a collection of funny eBay listings.  “Funny,” in this case has two meanings-- “funny” as in humorous and “funny” as in not humorous, i.e., “funny money.”  Here are a few of my favorites: 1) an Omega with a “glit” dial; 2) an “Omega Luftwaffe WWII aviator wristwatch” with an Omega pocketwatch movement from 1915 in an unsigned case (never buy a watch from the Ukraine, by the way); 3) a Bulova Accutron described as “fabulous” and added “this beauty is not running”; 4) “I know nothing about watches.  I thought it was pretty.  Bid with confidence”; and finally, 5) an Omega with Roman numerals at the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock positions—unfortunately “XI” appeared where “IX” should have been at the 9 o’clock position.  I asked the seller about it to see if maybe it was the blurriness of the photo and he responded “Not everyone is as perfect as you.”  Huh?

HAM next gets together at 7:30pm on July 9 at the Senior Center in Ellicott City.  We’ll have a short business meeting and then Stan will give a technical talk on the repair of quartz watches.  The workshop on July 23 will provide an opportunity for everyone who is interested to get hands-on experience with quartz movements.

See you in few days!

Regards,

David

Secretary’s Notes:

We’ve had two workshops and a tour of the NAWCC Museum since our last meeting.  At the June 11 meeting Stan brought his friction-jewelling machine and gave a talk and demonstration on how to install friction jewels. Jewels are measured by the outside diameter of the jewel and the size of the hole. The thickness is less important since the jewel can be pressed flat to the plate surface or below it using the machine. One always uses a jewel 1/100 mm larger than the hole in the plate in order to obtain a good friction fit.  Rubies are the second hardest gem next to diamonds and actually compress the metal without breaking.  Even though rubies are the second hardest gem diamonds are 85 times harder than rubies.

Most watches today use friction jewels.  Most are set flush with the plate but some are set below the plate. The jewelling machine has a micrometer so that the exact amount of the recess can be determined before the old jewel is removed and reestablished for the new jewel. The micrometer also can be used to get the proper amount of end shake.  Some jewels are set in a bushing much like the bushings used to repair pivot holes.  In this case the jewel can be replaced without removing the setting if it is tight in the plate.

Many older watches have a bezel setting. In these watches the walls of the setting are not vertical but beveled and must be reamed out to make them straight up and down before the friction jewel can be inserted.  Please be mindful of the antique value of the watch before making such a change.

Replacing the jewel in a bezel setting is a delicate affair.  The bezel wall is usually a very thin lip of gold that must be bent back in order to replace the jewel.  You can do this without special tools if you work carefully but it is easier with the proper tools; Stan of course has all the proper tools.

We also continued to work on the tooth replacement in a clock wheel.  John Reilly auctioned off some of his clock and watch stuff and donated the money to the club.  Tom Koluch won the watch stuff and John Kuntz won the clock stuff.  I think both were happy with the materials.

On June 26, 12 of us met at the NAWCC museum in Columbia and took the tour.  We were told that the museum has 5500 items on display and another 5500 items in the basement.  Also, they have recently received a donation of 600 clocks from a collector from Oregon.  If you haven’t been there lately you should go, it really is a nice display.  Thanks to Dave Grau for arranging the tour.

The HAM library and equipment has been handed over to Dave Hannemann for his keeping.  Dave is updating the additions since I last did it and will have a complete list soon.  All requests for books, videos and technical guides should go to him.  If you need the timer or any other equipment to be brought to a workshop or meeting, contact Dave.

After our next regular meeting on July 9, Stan will give a talk on quartz watch repair.  Then on July 23 George Painter will bring a number of quartz watches in need of repair to the workshop and we will make them well.