MoT's WDF

Normally you would want to source a proper gasket for your watch, but sometimes you just need a quick solution to a problem. That is when you make what you need out of what you have in hand.

I purchased a Soviet watch for the $35 mechanical field watch challenge and it kept fogging up on me. In looking at the watch I saw that the caseback has a ridge that would dig into a washer, but there was no washer. Nothing at the hardware store was thin enough and I figure that rough fix would be appropriate for a Soviet era watch.

-I took a section of bicycle inner tube and washed it to remove the white dust that is on the inside of the tube and cut it to make a flat piece of rubber.

-Cuts were made with a fresh hobby blade as it needs to be sharp to cut cleanly.
-Using the retaining ring as a guide, I pressed the retaining ring onto the rubber while tracing around the inside and then outside to complete the cuts. It was a little easier to do the inside first and then the outside. -I pulled all the little bits that are hanging off from where two cuts meet so that no rubber could come loose and fall into the movement.

-This was coated lightly with silicone grease/oil and then installed in the watch.
That’s it. I would ideally source an appropriate washer, but for a fun, low cost watch, I think that this is fine. It also adds a little more flair to the watch in a bootstrapped/MacGyver type of way.

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