Interesting, I bought a Seiko 5 for my son's birthday (from amazon.com), and when it arrived, I opened the box up and took a look at the watch. The hour hand was bent, curled around the post. I returned it for a full refund, and bought a different Seiko for him, and thankfully this one was good. I hadn't realized that they had this level of QC fail. Does nobody even look at the watches they make anymore?

Yeah, it's next on my list! I read Henry Fried's book twice. I got that awesome lathe book, too. Been reading each issue of the AWCI magazine.

Yeah, I don't mind working on the tiny stuff. I used a microscope for everything, and my hands are steady, so the size doesn't matter much. Even my tiniest screwdriver (0.5mm wide) is about two times too large for some things, so I shaped a needle into a screwdriver-shape and use that. (For example, to spread a balance spring collet to remove the balance spring.)

I started this hobby in 2019, but have not gone to any classes in person. I've been reading books, watching videos, and asking for advice online. In fact, it took about two years until I got to meet a real watchmaker, but he was a grumpy old guy who had no interest in talking to me, so I chatted with his wife for a few minutes, before I left his shop.

I've done a few things with my lathe, but I have discovered that I really need some training in that area. I was eventually able to chase down a trained watchmaker (the somewhat-famous Aaron Recksiek) and get him to show me how to sharpen my gravers, which was a huge help.

I got a working lathe by eventually buying 3 different lathes on ebay, and merging them together. It runs great now! I was able to purchase a slide rest, but the lantern-style tool post is a no-go, I really need to find a better one.

Disassembly complete. The balance, with the associated (and removed) two balance jewels are in the little basket at the top of the photo. The mainspring is in excellent shape.

Next step is to run most of these parts through my cleaning setup, where I put them in more wire baskets, and immerse them in jars of cleaning fluids, and put the jars in the ultrasonic machine filled with water. There are a few more steps, but once they are dried, I get to reassemble and lubricate.