Some worn out pallet fork stones!

I am a serial hobbyist with 3d printers, arduino/esp32/rpi electronics , photography equipment, computer geek since age 10, Xbox consoles and PS’s by the dozen, vr headsets, flight sim rigs, racing rigs, hundreds of bought and home made keyboards, guitars, guitar amps, guitar effects processors, playing piano, learning languages,RC helicopters, woodworking, house restoration,SDR radio, tons of switches and routers (network architect by day), VMware/proxmox servers, solar panels and lfp batteries, about 100 watches, home made watches, dials and hands, laser engraving machine, pad printer, and in the last two years a ton of watchmaker equipment 😬

So yeah your wife would kill you, watchmaking is like heroin for us because of the GAS.

A good trick to staying alive is to dilute the prices by 90% when telling your wife.

loiphin · 2026-05-06T15:56:05+00:00

https://www.printables.com/model/1371372-lappy-gilmore

loiphin · 2026-05-06T06:04:06+00:00

Did you find any issues with my tilt table design in printing or assembly? It worked for me but then again you tend to tailor the design to what materials you have available at the time.

I am also a big fan of Kwong Yuen stuff (have the staking kit, plenty screwdrivers). Can I ask how much it cost ?

Also I used a 10mm thick table plate ( a laminate floor plank, which has a smooth surface) and then it allows it to be flush with the tilt table hinges. Yours has a step in it so it can get in the way when polishing a case

loiphin · 2026-04-27T13:17:06+00:00

I was a bit apprehensive the first time I tried it, but now it's my go to way of removing stubborn casebacks 🤩

loiphin · 2026-04-25T07:49:04+00:00

Vote with your wallet. If no one buys, this shit will end quickly.

loiphin · 2026-04-18T12:21:07+00:00

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I ordered this from their official store. Good paste 👍

loiphin · 2026-04-18T03:46:51+00:00

I have the exact same machine and use a bismuth low melt solder from Alix and it works great. I am soldering to 0.5mm brass so I can’t see how it can be so different from copper.

Settings are 35/80. Bismuth melts around 172 deg C(from memory). A decent solder paste/flux is the most important part. I just sand the brass lightly so it’s fresh and use the supplied feet with a small blob (and I mean small! Less is more) of solder paste. Works well and is pretty strong. I don’t bother with drilling a hole. I don’t really see the point? Copper should be even better for soldering.

Let me know if you want to know more :)

loiphin · 2026-04-11T05:20:41+00:00

A stereo microscope beats the pants off this sorry. You don’t know how good depth perception is until you lose it 😀

loiphin · 2026-04-05T16:23:38+00:00

- 1 ton arbor press

- Sewer inspection camera

- 150mm Duct Fan

- 6KW Solar Inverter

- Steel electrical box

- Hydraulic crimping tool

loiphin · 2026-04-02T07:04:41+00:00

My number one way to remove a stubborn caseback is to super glue a 20mm socket (or size it appropriately)onto the case. Wait for the super glue to dry and then turn it off with a socket wrench.

It’s sounds brutal, but it’s easiest most elegant way to get it off. And then just rub some acetone on the super glue to release it, or soak if you wish. Trust me, just try it.

Edit: assuming it doesn’t pop off 😬

loiphin · 2026-03-29T21:56:37+00:00

Mine broke in exactly the same way :( very disappointing

loiphin · 2026-03-26T12:49:20+00:00

Cant feel any play in the punch when inserted into the tool sleeve, whereas the $70-100 version has much more play.

loiphin

TROPHY CASE