Quick question: Someone scotch-taped the loose crystal to the Hamilton 910 I found at an estate sale yesterday. What is the best (quickest and safest) way to remove the old tape residue from the gold-filled case?

alcohol

Peter,
Do you mean you drink it before starting ???? LOL
Bill

doh of cours
jk rub the spot with alcohol and the glue will melt away

Any kind of solvent will work, but don't use on acrylic crystals as they will melt plastic. Windex also or warm soapy water will work on acrylic or glass.

Thanks, guys. I'm guessing that I can use alcohol on an acrylic crystal.

(Glass of wine after.)
kh

Naptha will effectively and totally remove any adhesive tape residue I have faced for the past 50 years. (Also principal ingredient for Zippo lighter fluid.)

Oh, thanks, David. Another watchmaker I know loves that stuff.

Hi Ken, the naphtha works great. One other solution that I use also is Kroil - it is a type of penetrating / lubricant (kanolabs.com) I have no affiliation with them, I use it at work and have found many uses for it such as cleaning up lightly rusted watch tools.

On lightly rusted watch tools? Another good suggestion.

What do you use for more heavily-rusted tools?

Depends on the tool and the surface to be cleaned, and the purpose the "surface" serves... I think most would agree to stay away from really heavy rust... The time and effort is just too much. But when it is the right thing to do, I like Simichrome polish, or Meguires car cleaner wax, with a good rag, or even a on wood barbecue stick to get into small areas. I use the Kroil to get in, free up threads and wipe off light rust

Lets see what others think, as I could do with more tips myself!

In 2008, I bought a gallon of "Prep and Etch" from Home depot which removes all rust from everything down to watch hands. "Prep and Etch" was formulated to remove metallic oxides from cement driveways and garage floors before they are sealed with Epoxy stuff. After the rust remover has done its job, the metal surface is left with a light grey cast that is easily rubbed off.

It is pictured here de-rusting a set of watch hands. The Home Depot SKU# is on the bottle.

The other is the non-ammoniated, chlorine free bathroom tile cleaner I soak some dials that are clearly coated with ugly, oily, sooty, residue including tars and Nicotine stuff from these early days of freedom prior to the Health Nazi's entering our lives with their dire predictions that living as we had when we were growing up, a person would never pass the age of 10.

quote:

Prep and Etch"

15.78 / each

UP A BIT

I bought that at the sale when Home Depot moved their store. The big discount was because it had lost its label.