So here’s a list of tools required for top-modding and a little bit of diatribe on each of them. I have reviewed the following separately in more detail, so will not repeat myself here…
Hand Removers
Hand Pushers
Glass Press
- essentially you’ll need tools for removing and pushing-on hands, but you can choose whether glass replacement (a press) should be part of your modding / building repertoire as you develop.
Tweezers
There are of course loads of tweezer sets on Ali Express and other such sites for next to fuck-all. Don’t be afraid to buy them - they are all pretty good - certainly good enough for modding, albeit they might not be any good for the very delicate work of setting the cushion-holders for jewels and other such delicate tasks of actual stripping and rebuilding movements (I don’t really know as whilst I’ve taken a few movements apart, I’ve not any of them back together again - largely because I’ve destroyed them in the stripping with my shite tweezers! Only joking.)
Anyway, with them being so cheap I would recommend lashing out on a set of plastic ones and a set of non-magnetic metal ones - the plastic ones avoid scratches for hands and face work - the metal ones are robust enough to fine tune the position of a movement / press the stem release and other such tasks. Buy a non-magnetic set because if you find a magnetic pair handy, you can always take one pair and stroke a magnet in one direction down the them to magnetise them so you can pick up awkward iron based things magnetically (you’ll just need to deftly use another tool or a Rodico piece to dislodge the thing at the intended point of placement later) - but if you do magnetise a set, do remember to keep them very separate from your other metal tweezers to prevent magnetising those.
Pliers / nippers
You’ll need a good pair of each. Nippers should have little or no recess to the cutting edge (like pliers inevitably have) as you will use these to detach excess location-lugs from the back of dials, so you want to be as near to the flat of the back of the dial with your nip as possible to reduce the amount of filing. Also you need pliers for for shortening stems and any pliers will do - don’t use your nippers for that job as they won’t be strong enough to nip a stem without denting the nipper blades.
Vernier callipers
For measuring the distance between case and crown when shortening a stem. Make sure when you buy a set, that they have the expansion measure on the opposite side to the (wider) mouth measure as it is the expansion measure that will give you the best results for this job.
Micro File(s)
You just need a micro file with a tight pattern for filing small watch parts. Ideally it will be square or triangular with an end that tapers - Its inevitable that if you file the back of a dial, you are going to scratch it, but the taper will prevent it scratching too far across the width of the dial whilst allowing you to get purchase on what you are filing - moreover a square or triangular one will reduce width of scratching - all important stuff when you are trying to miss the back of the day / date window.
Rodico
This is, for want of a better description, reduced-tack Blue Tack. If you’ve watched the videos you will see that its two main purposes are 1. picking up things; and 2. cleaning things (hands / dials / glass). Very handy stuff!
Face protectors
These are great albeit often hampered by dial markers that are in high relief off the face (which means that the hour hand should sit almost as low on the pinion that the face protector sits on the face and makes that hand difficult to work with the protector on). I use them mostly for just protecting the face against constantly picking up second hands if they prove tricky to get on as constantly dropping and picking them off the watch face risks scratches appearing from the simple picking up / dropping process. For lifting hands off, they are often too thick and prevent the remover tool from getting under the hour hand sufficiently, so a thinner and transparent plastic bag will be best as it will protect both the face and the hands. I often put the entire movement into a small bag to do this so that the hands cannot ‘ping’ off anywhere and get collected in the bag.
Case back openers
Ball, clamp or pro - the ball ones that work on friction are highly versatile and everyone should have one as lots of watches do not have the squared cuts into the case to seat a clamp type opener tool. The clamp type are cheap on Ali and work nicely as they clamp in all directions to suit any gap between lugs to achieve a three pointed grip. If you also have a vice with rubber grips like I do, there is no case back that can defeat you with these. The professional models which looks more like a very large glass press and allow you to clamp the watch in pace and lower a tool onto the watch back, set the toll and then twist to open through a handle (all to ensure there is no possibility of a slip) will absolutely ensure you don’t put a big scratch into ah case back, but I’m not convinced they are really necessary unless you are dealing with hugely expensive or rare watches.
Movement holders
These are great for keeping movements out of the morass of other stuff kicking about on your worktop as you mod away furiously, but also for adding marks to align stuff to (like 12 o’clock when you’re using dial dots instead of lugs). They also allow you to turn a movement over once the hands are on and hold it whilst you remove the stem - albeit I’m still a fan of doing that with my teeth!
Link pushers
Small plastic tray with a windable push rod that will push out the friction fittings of a bracelet - these are essential for removing links easily from such bracelets - I know to my cost that dong this freehand can lead to disaster as I took the lug off a watch case on a ladies watch when adding pressure to a bracelet that was acting solely on the lug because the bracelet was unsupported by such a tool. Get one - they seem flimsy and a bit shit and cost about 50p, but they are superb.
Mini screwdriver set
From Ali or akin, any set will do the job - used for removing links with screw fittings, maybe tightening / changing rotor arms etc (and other household tasks like repairing your glasses).
Case opener tool
Effectively this is a penknife with a stumpy blade, often curved, for forcing into tight cracks to remove a case back or bezel. I just have a very stiff bladed penknife for this job and I find the extra length very handy for ratcheted / wide divers type bezels - the removal of which benefits from having an elongated point of contact by virtue of a longer blade.
Strap Tools
Simple - the more straps you buy on Ali Express and similar sites, the more free strap removing / setting tools you will get - I am awash with them - I keep opening the drawer and think they have been breeding. Changing straps is the simplest mod you can do and setting the spring bars is a piece of piss (unless you’re half blind and trying to film it like me, in which case its a twat!).
Options
Gasket grease / oil - add oil / grease - I think this is a yes.
Canned compressed air (blast) - cleaning - I think you can do without this.
Masking / frog tape - protect cases / mark stems - 50:50 - you might have other methods.
Lens cloths - for cleaning - I think these are essential but you might have other cloths / things for this job.
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