Watch case closing press

[fuzz1]

Hello

I noticed that I have problems closing the case of some watches using my press.

Would love to hear from you.

Is that normal the alignment of the press. I found that they are slightly off centered by probably 1-2 mm.
Should I cut the lower piece and try to align it so that when the press closes the two pieces bottom and top are properly aligned?

Thanks

 

[karlmansson]

Hello

I noticed that I have problems closing the case of some watches using my press.

Would love to hear from you.

Is that normal the alignment of the press. I found that they are slightly off centered by probably 1-2 mm.
Should I cut the lower piece and try to align it so that when the press closes the two pieces bottom and top are properly aligned?

Thanks

View attachment 715009

What type and make of press is that?

 

[Skutt50]

I think you should have the top and bottom aligned but how to get there is harder to tell.

Depends on why they don't align. Is there some distorsion in the press body or a bent pusher? Is ther some play in the top and bottom pieces and you have to align them manually each time?

 

[fuzz1]

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

There is hardly any play. I think it's a manufacturing defect.
The bottom part (screw) seems to have been glued or epoxied. So if someone could check on their press to see if theirs's are align please.

I will drill off the epoxy and glue the bottom screw.

 

[Skutt50]

I don't have this type of press but on mine (two different hand type presses) the top and bottom pieces do allign........

 

[Dave Haynes]

I bought one of those big Chinese arbor press types with a big wheel on top steel and red metal. I have a couple of sets of those plastic cups of various sizes and shapes. You just have to keep trying different sizes and shapes until you come up with two that will support the bezel and case arms and still fit flush on the back door. You can mess up a cheap case in a big hurry by just cranking down until you hear something pop. It is a totally crappy design and I hate to do anything on them but friends will ask me to change a battery and I'm forced to work on that junk.
The wheel press has advantages in that it pushes straight down with equal force and you can pick up the whole thing and look at it from all angles before proceeding. you just have to make sure you are not breaking a crystal or bending a crown/pipe etc.

 

[roughbarked]

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

There is hardly any play. I think it's a manufacturing defect.
The bottom part (screw) seems to have been glued or epoxied. So if someone could check on their press to see if theirs's are align please.

I will drill off the epoxy and glue the bottom screw.

View attachment 715014

Sounds like someone has either made a bad repair or have deliberately set it off centre?
The glue is a clue. There should be no glue involved here.

 

[karlmansson]

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

There is hardly any play. I think it's a manufacturing defect.
The bottom part (screw) seems to have been glued or epoxied. So if someone could check on their press to see if theirs's are align please.

I will drill off the epoxy and glue the bottom screw.

View attachment 715014

Which brings me back to my question: what type and what make of press is this?

The fault finding will be very different depending on wether or not we can assume it was well made in the first place.

I use a Robur brand screw down press with well aligned dies.

 

[fuzz1]

Which brings me back to my question: what type and what make of press is this?

The fault finding will be very different depending on wether or not we can assume it was well made in the first place.

I use a Robur brand screw down press with well aligned dies.

Hi
I posted the pic of the press above. It was the one which could ship to my place. It probably needs just a tweak to align it. I have saved a lot just using it with some care.

 

[karlmansson]

Hi
I posted the pic of the press above. It was the one which could ship to my place. It probably needs just a tweak to align it. I have saved a lot just using it with some care.

I don’t know that particular press and don’t recognize it, that’s why I asked. What did you pay for it and where did you buy it from?

If it’s a cheap Chinese press (almost looks like a plastic body from the pictures?) it’s pretty safe to assume that it wasn’t made precisely to begin with. You can luck out on those cheaper tools and get a really good one but QC tends to be nonexistent. So quite a few borderline unuseable ones get sold.

 

[fuzz1]

Hi. Yes Chinese one. Around 20 USD i think. Yep i think it's a quality control issue too.

I managed to cover the price for what i paid for it. Even though i change watch batteries for friends and for myself. Just have to be extra cautious.
I'll have a go at fixing it. I'll try to align the top and bottom parts.
The press from horotec looks so simple that i wanna try make one and use my existing parts

 

[karlmansson]

Hi. Yes Chinese one. Around 20 USD i think. Yep i think it's a quality control issue too.

I managed to cover the price for what i paid for it. Even though i change watch batteries for friends and for myself. Just have to be extra cautious.
I'll have a go at fixing it. I'll try to align the top and bottom parts.
The press from horotec looks so simple that i wanna try make one and use my existing parts

That’s the thing though, most watchmaking tools are simple in construction and mechanism but it’s the execution and tolerance of that construction, along with choice and heat treatment of materials, that makes the tool. As I’m sure you’ve found out from experience now.

 

[fuzz1]

I'll take it as a challenge to sort it out. Hopefully this will help others who have same problem. I'll try to post the fix if I'm successful

 

[fuzz1]

I'll take it as a challenge to sort it out. Hopefully this will help others who have same problem. I'll try to post the fix if I'm successful

Here is the fix. Remove the glue and found out that they used glue gun. I just melted it out then glued it back. Seems the glue gun does the job

 

[roughbarked]

But but, both dies need to be changed to suit different watch cases.

 

[fuzz1]

But but, both dies need to be changed to suit different watch cases.

Hi

Yes both dies need to be changed. Can both be changed in less than 30 seconds. Screws and unscrews. I glued the screws of course not the dies.

 

[karlmansson]

Oh, so it IS plastic. It sure looks like that press would flex quite a bit under load. Beware of that. Even though you dies are aligned now, a case requiring a hard press to seat a case back will not get that force applied straight down.

 

[fuzz1]

It's hard plastic. The black parts doesn't flex. But l will keep a close eye.
I only decided to do my own stuff with watch cause of bad experience with the watch dealer n watchmaker.
They scratch my watch case while trying to open them and still charge me a high price.

 

[karlmansson]

It's hard plastic. The black parts doesn't flex. But l will keep a close eye.
I only decided to do my own stuff with watch cause of bad experience with the watch dealer n watchmaker.
They scratch my watch case while trying to open them and still charge me a high price.

To quote a more experienced machinist than myself who's name I can't remember now (but I know Robin Renzetti has said it too): Everything is rubber.

Everything flexes, just to different degrees. Tungsten carbide also flexes but way less than tool steel. Plastic flexes a LOT. So perpendicularity is also relative in an unbalanced system such as the press you have. A press with more of a gantry and supports on both sides would press down more evenly, even if the structure was weaker.