Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

Simon, who goes by the handle of 'Sir Alan' was one of the early major contributors to this forum - for which I remain eternally grateful. This forum section, in particular, contains many of his superbly detailed / photographed articles documenting strip-downs and re-builds of Seiko 7Axx movements, which will have impressed and hopefully benefited anyone who has taken the trouble to read them. His standards of workmanship have long since surpassed anything I ever achieved.

Simon's range of interests have diversified over the last couple of years, to encompass both mechanical and digital watches, which are outside the limited scope of this forum. So unfortunately, like most of the original membership, Simon has drifted away and found a new 'home' forum which better suits his needs.

I'd correctly remembered the topic titles he's given a couple of his threads:  Inside the 7A38 and Inside the 7A48 and thought that there was also an Inside 7A28 thread, to complete the set. Seems not, or at least not one specifically titled as such. 

Two weeks ago, he posted this superb thread on Wristsushi: http://wristsushi.proboards.com/thread/11907/seiko-7a28-work-again

It begins:

I AM impressed  with the watch work AND the photo's. A true Master         Thanks for the link Paul !

Thanks for the kind words Paul - I remain forever indebted to you for starting me on the path of this absorbing hobby. Your methodical, analytical and comprehensive posts were what triggered the thought that maybe I could do more than just collect watches. Your support in those early days, weeks and months were invaluable.

I check-in here frequently but I'm the kind of guy who likes to post only when I feel I have something to say that either hasn't yet been said or adds real value. 

I posted this latest thread over on Wrist Sushi because the 7Axx based watches don't often get discussed on there and I thought the audience would really benefit from and enjoy seeing what's inside.

I rarely work on 7Axx watches these days, spending most of my time with mechanical watches from the 60's and 70's (SEIKO of course!!). That said I have quite a few that would probably benefit from a full service, something I wasn't capable of in the early days (before I bought my strereo zoom microscope).

There are a couple of threads on here where I speak about my frustrations of not being able to get the main bridge back on. Oh how things have moved on. On this latest rebuild I got the main bridge back on in less than 30 seconds (!!) - George would be proud of me 

If anyone does want to see any specific aspects of a service then I will happily oblige with a write up with pictures.

And I am proud of you, Simon  

Amazing! Last time I did it it took me a couple of frustrating hours while I get the 7T32/42 main bridge on in 30'....

I tend to service the 7As without taking off the bridges, disassembling only the coils and accessing the step motors sideways and lubricating from above, works usuallly a treat. And besides, you don't have to realign the hands.

Chris

Here's another thread about a strip-down and clean of his 7A28-710A's movement that Simon posted on WristSushi recently:

http://wristsushi.proboards.com/thread/13628/glad-checked

It begins:

.... and includes a few of Simon's usual high-quality close-up shots:

Glad I checked.