# Sticky  Tip Thread



## samanator

I have seen many great tips here for everything from polishing a watch to drying out moisture to tightening a case back. I thought is was time to start a tip thread that I will sticky here. Here are the rules:
Use the advanced option to title your what your tip is. 
One tip per post. 
Absolutely no comments to posts here in this thread (they will be deleted).
Please post pictures in your tip if you can.
Please feel free to cut and past your older tips in this thread.


I think it will make a nice read as it grows.


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## samanator

*Release for a Tuna crown*

After many Autos mu first Tuna had me guessing which hole was to release the crown. The photo below should help.

I was able to easily remove the crown with a bracelet tool (This worked best, the smaller one I tried before did not release the button). With the crown unscrewed place the spring pin tool in the indicated hole and push the button and gently pull out the crown at the same time. Comes out like a champ.


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## W123

*Re:Tip for curing gritty crown threads*

Tip for gritty feeling screw down crown: pull crown out all the way and run some waxed dental floss on the threads. The floss will come up black from machining grit. Keep doing it until the crown feels silky smooth when screwing down.

FWIW I've done this on a lot of watches but every Seiko diver I've handled has had this little issue (except 6309-7040) and this trick works really well... and you only really have to do it once and its good for years.


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## timmytron

this thread needs more tips


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## Poseidon-Jim

*Re: Tip for curing gritty crown threads*

Very nice Tip on the dental floss W123!

I never had that cross my mind till I read it here, although I've used things like a piece of paper towel crunched up to a point which could leave paper fibers behind it worked okay, but your advice Tip is awesome...

Thanks,
Jim


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## BigJunior

*What to do when your Seiko is running exceptionally fast*

I've heard this works for the 6r15 & the 7s series








*What to do when your Seiko is running exceptionally fast* 
permalink

What to do when your Seiko is running exceptionally fast. Exceptionally fast is + seconds per hour. Since there are weekly posts about this issue I thought I'd try to make finding the solution easier.

Originally posted by Fugit

Quote:
I am not a watchmaker, so follow this advice purely at your own risk. But, it worked for me.

I received my first new Seiko, a Black Monster, back in October. Out of the box, it was gaining 10 seconds a MINUTE. I was disgusted, but I hate sending stuff back, so I did some research. It appears that the hairspring of the 7S26B can get hung up on the regulator pins if it takes a sharp impact. Mine was definitely not magnetized - it had no effect whatsoever on the needle of a good Suunto compass.

Based on posts on this forum, and others, it appears that the fast-out-of-the-box problem is common. However, the 7S26B seems to be very reliable in actual use. My theory is that the dynamics of the balance wheel are such that the hairspring is vulnerable when the mainspring is unwound and everything is "loose", but better controlled once the mainspring is driving everything.

Back to the solution. I tapped the watch, on a cloth-covered wooden table, alternately on the caseback and on the edge opposite the crown. Based on pictures of the movement, this seemed the logical direction to get the hairspring back in place. I have no way of calibrating the force used, but I would call it fairly hard "taps", but short of "banging" (all with wrist and finger motion, not moving my elbow). A level of force that I wouldn't expect to damage anything, and that certainly wouldn't mar the case in any visible way (in case I ended up sending it back after all).
The result: on about the 6th tap, the second hand visibly slowed, and the watch began to keep time. I have worn it daily since, with about +4sec/day accuracy on average and no problems at all. Your mileage may vary.
As far as the demagnetizing suggestion, that might actually work, in an indirect way. Demagnetizers, at least that I am familiar with, also make ferrous metals vibrate. This might shake the hairspring back in place, even if the watch was not magnetized to begin with. I would add that it would be fairly difficult to magnetize a watch in typical shipping packaging, with the box enforcing several inches of effective air gap around the watch itself. Also, the 007 is an ISO diver, with a fair degree of antimagnetic protection (not quite up to Milgauss or Gaussman level, but still more than an unprotected watch).


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## Turnaround

*Re: Resizing my Samurai bracelet*

I just re-sized my Samurai bracelet with a small nail, hammer and pliers. Just some light tapping on the pin loosened it from the link, I pulled the pin out with the pliers, and the "ring" fell out the other side (make sure you stay aware of this sleeve or ring part as they are very small). I took the next pin out to take away a link and put the pin back in, slipped the sleeve into the other side and tapped it to cinch the pin into the sleeve. Been fine for a few weeks without any pins slipping out (unlike they did when I had an AD re-size it. I caught it before I lost the parts or worse, the whole watch).

Store the extra links, pins and sleeves in a small plastic bag.


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## krisstoffer

*Re: Resizing my Samurai bracelet*

Hejdav

I have looked, but couldn't find any guide for this, so i made one myself

I dont have the biggest wrist in the world so natos are often too long for me, so here is a nice way to shorten them.

Here is a before pic.


What you need=
1 pair of scissors
2x coins, i used 2x 20 danish krones
1 clamp
1 lighter




1 You tighten the two coins around the nato.
2 You cut around the coinedges.



3 You smelt the end of the nato to prevent the strap to fray.



4 You now have a shorter nato than 2 minuts ago.



I think it looks good and its an very easy way to get a good result.



Hope someone can use this!

Kristoffer


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## troylee

I think it will make a nice read as it grows.


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## defendnola

I've found that while inserting pins on a Seiko monster band, after you make your adjustments, pin pushers can sometimes be too narrow to push the collar inward.. it goes through the middle of the collar. While this may be obvious to some, to others it may not.. you can use the end of a large paper clip (not the mini ones) to push the collar on.. while using another paper clip end to press the solid side at the same time. I hope this helps.


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## LesserBlackDog

*Re: what to do when the diver's extension on your bracelet is digging into your wrist*

Some folks, especially those of us with smaller wrists, find that the diver's extensions on watches like the Monster and the BFK dig painfully into our wrists.

There is a quick and easy solution that doesn't require you to buy any new accessories. Simply remove the bracelet, flip it around, and reattach it to the watch. The end that was attached at 6 o'clock should now be attached at 12 o'clock, and vice versa. This places the diver's extension on the far side of your wrist where it is more comfortable - the only downside is that the buckle is now "backwards" and can be slightly more difficult to manipulate.


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## Ed B.

*Re: what to do when the diver's extension on your bracelet is digging into your wrist*

Just want to add that I was about to send out my SPORK for service because the stem grittiness was getting very unpleasant. After ten minutes with dental floss the improvement is tremendous.

Regards to all,

Ed B.


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## murkeywaters

*Tailor make your rubber strap to suit your wrist..super comfy!*

Most of this post is on another thread but thought it would be a good addition here.

I have a Seiko Z-22 rubber divers strap and after market flat divers rubber, both were straight ridged and very uncomfortable, they now feel softer and fit like a glove after I formed it to shape with boiling water.

Its easy to do just put the buckle through the hole that you would if you had it on your wrist, wrap a few elastic bands around any parts that might stick out like the end of the holed length, I made mine a oval shape to match the shape of my wrist with the use of blue tac and elastic bands, dropped it in a straight sided mug and made some Seiko tea!! leave to stew for a couple of minutes and quench with cold water... *disclaimer - obviously take the watch off the strap first *;-)

Not only is it comfortable but it has softened up slightly and feels like I imagine it would if you wore it for 5 years...Pic shows how the straps retain their shape even when loose..









Can even make the the end of the holed part of the strap blend in with the shape as it is annoying when it sticks out.


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## Silvertouran

*Re: Tailor make your rubber strap to suit your wrist..super comfy!*

Found a cheap or actually FREE way to clean the gunk out of the underside of a watch, using them little plastic toothpicks you can nick from restaurants which sit on the table wrapped in paper.

You can press real hard and they don't scratch the watch at all, or use a toothbrush.


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## Lemper

*Re: Tailor make your rubber strap to suit your wrist..super comfy!*



murkeywaters said:


> Most of this post is on another thread but thought it would be a good addition here.
> 
> I have a Seiko Z-22 rubber divers strap and after market flat divers rubber, both were straight ridged and very uncomfortable, they now feel softer and fit like a glove after I formed it to shape with boiling water.
> 
> Its easy to do just put the buckle through the hole that you would if you had it on your wrist, wrap a few elastic bands around any parts that might stick out like the end of the holed length, I made mine a oval shape to match the shape of my wrist with the use of blue tac and elastic bands, dropped it in a straight sided mug and made some Seiko tea!! leave to stew for a couple of minutes and quench with cold water... *disclaimer - obviously take the watch off the strap first *;-)
> 
> Not only is it comfortable but it has softened up slightly and feels like I imagine it would if you wore it for 5 years...Pic shows how the straps retain their shape even when loose..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Can even make the the end of the holed part of the strap blend in with the shape as it is annoying when it sticks out.


Love the color variants. Looks awesome!


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## Mudman001

Awesome idea with the dental floss. Since reading this tip I've done the dental floss tip on all my divers. They screw down so much easier now. Thank you. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## 6r15c

*Re: what to do when the diver's extension on your bracelet is digging into your wrist*



LesserBlackDog said:


> Some folks, especially those of us with smaller wrists, find that the diver's extensions on watches like the Monster and the BFK dig painfully into our wrists.
> 
> There is a quick and easy solution that doesn't require you to buy any new accessories. Simply remove the bracelet, flip it around, and reattach it to the watch. The end that was attached at 6 o'clock should now be attached at 12 o'clock, and vice versa. This places the diver's extension on the far side of your wrist where it is more comfortable - the only downside is that the buckle is now "backwards" and can be slightly more difficult to manipulate.


Another tip is that when you sizing your bracelet then shorten it only on the 6 o'clock side. Then the buckle should be less in the way when sitting with your wrist and arm on a table.


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## robfurrow

Want to achieve a uniform brushed metal finish on you case or band?

Use a fiberglass jewelers brush. Works great for revitalizing scuffed bands and clasps that have directional striations.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=191059601220

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk


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## GROSS

robfurrow said:


> Want to achieve a uniform brushed metal finish on you case or band?
> 
> Use a fiberglass jewelers brush. Works great for revitalizing scuffed bands and clasps that have directional striations.
> 
> http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=191059601220
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk


Great tip but keep in mind that some metals have a treatment on them so by using that brush, you may be inadvertently sanding it off and may allow scratches to occur easier or sometimes even rust/discolorations


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## 5-pot

For sizing the pin-and-collar bracelets found on monsters, I used the fat side of the pin I removed to re-fit the collars. 

So, when I resized my bracelet, I removed two pins and removed the unnecessary links. Then, i refit the two ends of the bracelet together and insert one of the pins. I dropped the collar into the opposite side and used the fat end of the remaining pin to seat the collar on the pin in the bracelet.

Voila, no need to fiddle with two paperclips, screwdrivers or bracelet tools that are too narrow.


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## crappysurfer

I made this tutorial on a simple dial and hands swap mod.

SNK80X Mod Tutorial - Imgur


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## felipefuda

WHERE TO BUY AQUALAND(1ST GEN) BEZEL INSERTS

hi there...

dagaz website has it....

search on webstore - bezel inserts- aqualand insert...

i bought one and it fits perfectly....

us$22.50 is the price


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## robert-tomlinson

I regularly have trouble removing the spring loaded pin to change straps? seems all most seized but i was advised not to use oil to loosen it?


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## robert-tomlinson

crappysurfer said:


> I made this tutorial on a simple dial and hands swap mod.
> 
> SNK80X Mod Tutorial - Imgur


Awesome, will be purchasing tools very soon! Cant wait to give a small project like this a go my self.


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## jkpa




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## Patsbox7

For a seized up rotating bezel, fill up a sink with warm water, and turn the bezel submerged a few times. Watch needs to be water resistant obviously.


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## greene-r74

The best way I have found to size a band with the pin and collar system is to use a dental pick with a hook on it. (found at walmart) its thinner than a normal pin pusher so it goes through the collar nicely and will push out the pins with very little effort. And the bend in the hook will catch the collar on the end so you don't loose the collar.


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## crappysurfer

I've made an updated guide on how to modify your Seiko:


How to mod your Seiko -


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## greene-r74

I hate 5 ring natos. I recently received one in a trade. And I don't know if people are aware of this or not, but you can cut the stupid tail part off with the extra rings in it and it makes a perfectly awesome 3 ring nato.


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## srexy

If your bezel becomes so incredibly tight that you're unable to move it you can use a 3-way caseback remover tool as an impromptu vise to grip the sides of the bezel and twist it until you're able to either remove it and grease it or free whatever obstruction is stopping it from rotating freely.

I know from bitter experience having mangled 2 knives and a nice SKX case experimenting with other methods.


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## ShaggyDog

greene-r74 said:


> I hate 5 ring natos. I recently received one in a trade. And I don't know if people are aware of this or not, but you can cut the stupid tail part off with the extra rings in it and it makes a perfectly awesome 3 ring nato.


I did this once (I'd accidentally ordered a 5 ring instead of a 3 ring and thought it would be easier to send back than return it) but when I cut the end and sealed it with a lighter I found that it ended up hard and scratchy against my skin. It was pretty much unwearable, is there a tip for getting a nice smooth clean finish on the cut and seal?


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## greene-r74

Don't seal it.  the stitches will keep it from unraveling.


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## AT1984

I've never seen it mentioned before, but here's something that worked for me: I was moddimg my SKX007, and if you've ever changed a bezel insert, you know how hard it can be, to get through the factory rubber cement. I don't have a heat gun, so I put the bezel in boiling water for a couple of minutes. 

Loosened the glue up, and I didn't have to use a thin bladed knife.

AT1984


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## Jonpod

I did my first bezel insert swap on my most recent turtle 777. I had never taken off a Seiko bezel before. Reading the tutorials made it seem easy but when I tried to get any blade to get the bezel up it simply would not budge. I was using so much force that my fingers were getting sore trying to get between the case and the bezel. I got frustrated and tried prying which scrached the case and irritated me even more since the bezel still did not come up. I finally made a gap and got the bezel off and replaced the insert but after getting it back on it would not turn. I learned that there is a gasket inside the bezel that had come unseated and was keeping the bezel from turning. During that particular project I had to take off and remove the bezel about 5 or 6 times to get it right. I realized to easily get the bezel off is to put your thin blade in the gap and use the small watchmakers hammer to tap the blade in. Once the blade is in just work your way around and the bezel comes right off. This is effortless and if I had known this technique to start I never would have scratched the case by prying or gotten deep sore pressure groves in my thumb. A small amount of silicone grease really smoothed the action on the bezel also.


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## SSK877

Should you get water inside the case - especially seawater - remove the case back and rinse thoroughly with distilled water. Dry thoroughly before replacing the case back. Of course with a quartz movement, you need to remove the battery before rinsing. This method saved my TAG Heuer quartz movement. With a mechanical movement, you may need to lubricate it before reassembly, but I'm not sure, as that is above my pay grade. You should probably replace the seal as well.


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## westy64

*Any tip to remove Z20 or Z22 bands on non drill lugs ?*

Hi guys,
I drilled to blood my fingers twice when trying to remove a seiko Z22 rubber band on an undrilled lugs watch.
I also plyied my tool (chinese steel before it was taxed).
Is ther a tip to succeed compressing the fat spring bars on a Z22 band ?

Should we make "windows" with a cutter blade on both ends before setting the band ?


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## zaphod777

*Re: Any tip to remove Z20 or Z22 bands on non drill lugs ?*



westy64 said:


> Hi guys,
> I drilled to blood my fingers twice when trying to remove a seiko Z22 rubber band on an undrilled lugs watch.
> I also plyied my tool (chinese steel before it was taxed).
> Is ther a tip to succeed compressing the fat spring bars on a Z22 band ?
> 
> Should we make "windows" with a cutter blade on both ends before puttong the band ?


On my SKX007 I had success using a watch back prying tool, the one with the yellow handle in this picture. 
I used it to push the rubber watch band back and then the spring bar popped right off.


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## westy64

Thank you, I will try it, as I have this toolset.


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## Stuey63

Years later, but the tip here is to quickly squeeze the melted part between finger and thumb while soft, avoiding burning your fingertips. Soften, very quick squeeze, soften, very quick squeeze. You can mold the end to a smooth shape.



ShaggyDog said:


> I did this once (I'd accidentally ordered a 5 ring instead of a 3 ring and thought it would be easier to send back than return it) but when I cut the end and sealed it with a lighter I found that it ended up hard and scratchy against my skin. It was pretty much unwearable, is there a tip for getting a nice smooth clean finish on the cut and seal?


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## whizod

*Re: Tip for curing gritty crown threads*



W123 said:


> Tip for gritty feeling screw down crown: pull crown out all the way and run some waxed dental floss on the threads. The floss will come up black from machining grit. Keep doing it until the crown feels silky smooth when screwing down.
> 
> FWIW I've done this on a lot of watches but every Seiko diver I've handled has had this little issue (except 6309-7040) and this trick works really well... and you only really have to do it once and its good for years.


Best tip by far, just did it on my brand new SKX009 and it makes the whole unscrewing and screwing down of the crown a delight!! Thanks for this.


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## Larryjb

After all my searching this and other forums, I had been left with the belief that it is possible to regulate a 7S26 to be with in 1 S/day. In practice, I found that if your activity level varies day to day, this is not possible. 

I noted that my watch was -5 s/day, put it on my timegrapher and noticed that it was +0 s/day face up, but -10 s/day crown up. After about 20 tries, I got it to +6 s/day face up, -5 s/day crown up. If my daily activity causes it to be fast, I leave it crown up overnight until it's accurate again. If if slow, I can leave it face up overnight. 

If I'm going to do any really vigorous activity, I wear my wonky Tristar Orient. (lots of people have been happy with Orient, but there is something wrong with mine)


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## brodog49

Makes me nervous just looking at it...going to leave it to the pros! Great post.



crappysurfer said:


> I made this tutorial on a simple dial and hands swap mod.
> 
> SNK80X Mod Tutorial - Imgur


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## MrDisco99

If you need to remove the stem on your Flightmaster (SNA411/413/414) or other 7T62/92/94 movement to do a crystal swap or realign the inner ring or whatever...


There's a little arrow marked "push" on the movement. It looks like it's pointing to the metal tab inside the hole, but no... you need to get a tool BESIDE that little metal tab and way down into the movement to get to the setting lever.

Also, the crown should be pulled out to the first click first. This is according to the technical guide.


Pull the crown to the first click, and get a tool through that tiny hole and into the middle of the movement to push the setting lever. The stem should pull right out after that. When you push it back in, it'll slide into that first click position. You can then push it once more to go all the way in (or pull it out to the next click to set the hands).


Also the inner slide rule ring is only held in place with the crystal gasket. So if it's out of alignment, it's pretty easy to slide it back into place after popping the crystal. No need to fight with any alignment tabs.


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## L110BFV

ShaggyDog said:


> I did this once (I'd accidentally ordered a 5 ring instead of a 3 ring and thought it would be easier to send back than return it) but when I cut the end and sealed it with a lighter I found that it ended up hard and scratchy against my skin. It was pretty much unwearable, is there a tip for getting a nice smooth clean finish on the cut and seal?


Yes, after you seal it by singeing it, use emery cloth or a similar abrasive to smooth out the sealed nylon


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## Gl3nS1m0n

Guys, i have a problem. Have a SNK615 model and a donor SNK793. Both 7s26. I'm putting SNK615 caliber into SNK793. I push the caliber gently as deep inaide as i can. Stem inserts very fine, day and date switch perfectly. I tighten the case lid by hand and the rotor spins normally. As soon as i tighten the lid completely with a tool, the rotor gets stuck at some point and doesn't rotate freely. What could be the reason? It rotates pefecrly when out of the case.

Sent from my SM-G770F using Tapatalk


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## jayhall0315

If you are modding Seiko diving watches, this tip may help: I have tried several cheap and mid-range crystal presses and none of them worked well (and I don't want to spend $300+ to get one from Bergeon or Horotec [ ... you need a fair amount of force to set a crystal for a diving watch correctly]). After receiving a good tip from a gent in the watchmaking sub-forum about using a G clamp, I decided to give it a try with a C clamp. I got out one of numerous $5 C clamps I own from Lowes and did some practice runs with my stock SKX007 case and crystal (on the right):










I used nylon dies I had from a cheap $17 crystal press. The C clamp pressed in and pressed out the stock crystal just fine. (Make sure you place a cloth under your watch case to prevent it from being scratched.) I was very careful to check the plastic crystal gasket and make sure there were no alignment problems (which there were not). Then I took out my sapphire crystal from Crystal Times and pressed it in just fine to the CT modded case (on the lower left). I took it over this afternoon to mechanical engineering and subjected the case to 50 bars (= 500 meters) at one of their hydraulic presses and no leaks were detected. Worked like a champ! Far, far, better than the other crystal presses I have used. $5 C clamp = 5 star crystal press!


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## DonJ53

Great...that were me who advised G clamps.


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## AT1984

jayhall0315 said:


> If you are modding Seiko watches, this tip may help: I have tried several cheap and mid-range crystal presses and none of them worked well. After receiving a good tip from a gent in the watchmaking sub-forum about using a G clamp, I decided to give it a try with a C clamp. I got out one of numerous $5 C clamps I own from Lowes and did some practice runs with my stock SKX007 case and crystal (on the right):
> 
> View attachment 16110172
> 
> 
> I used nylon dies I had from a cheap $17 crystal press. The C clamp pressed in and pressed out the stock crystal just fine. I was very careful to check the plastic crystal gasket and make sure there were no alignment problems (which there were not). Then I took out my sapphire crystal from Crystal Times and pressed it in just fine to the CT modded case (on the lower left). I took it over this afternoon to mechanical engineering and subjected the case to 50 bars (= 500 meters) at one of their hydraulic presses and no leaks were detected. Worked like a champ! Far, far, better than the other crystal presses I have used. $5 C clamp = 5 star crystal press!


I used a C-Clamp to press a tight fitting bezel on an SKX007. It works!
"If it works, it ain't stupid..."


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## Jo Hande

Gl3nS1m0n said:


> Guys, i have a problem. Have a SNK615 model and a donor SNK793. Both 7s26. I'm putting SNK615 caliber into SNK793. I push the caliber gently as deep inaide as i can. Stem inserts very fine, day and date switch perfectly. I tighten the case lid by hand and the rotor spins normally. As soon as i tighten the lid completely with a tool, the rotor gets stuck at some point and doesn't rotate freely. What could be the reason? It rotates pefecrly when out of the case.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G770F using Tapatalk


I had the same problem with swapping SNK371 and SNKF63: The calibre holding spacers are different,
maybe with yours it's the same (?)

As I swap dials and hands, no problem, ... but to change the spacer, you need to remove the day and date wheels, what is complicated for a non-watchmaker. So, a professional did it for me.


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## krayzie

If you find your Seiko silicone strap being too stiff out of the box, you can simply rub some DuPont Rubber Saver onto it and it will soften it just enough to be comfortable.


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