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  1. #11
    Licorice eater Strange's Avatar
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    The other day, when the mesh bracelet for the Kleine Schauer showed up, I experienced the joy of swapping bands. On any other watch that would have been unmentionably trivial. Not so the Kleine Schauer. Oh no, this was a trip to the Stygian pits of Hell. You wouldn't think such a mindless task could drive you to the brink of apoplectic rage, but here we are.

    The screws on the ends of the bars (instead of spring bars) were every bit as small and impishly annoying as on the original leather strap. Handling them required very fine tweezers and the patience of a saint. Much foul language was uttered, much sweat poured, and visions of homicidal rampages danced in my brain as I wrestled with the screws to detach the bars. The heads of the bar are slotted on both ends; one end is the hollow bar itself and the other is the screw that holds the bar fast. A large part of the problem is that in order to unscrew the thing you have to keep the one end stationary as you unscrew the other end. Otherwise the whole bar just rotates and the screw doesn't unscrew. Picture trying to hold the watch and keep a driver in the slot at one end while simultaneously using another driver to unscrew the screw at the other end. Bear in mind that the slots for the drivers are less than a millimeter deep and maybe 2-3 millimeters wide. To add to the misery, some vile imp had used some species of thread locker on the screws; it took an unreasonable amount of torque to break the seal and turn the damn screw. It was such an ordeal that once I'd completed it it took about 3 bowls of Blackberry Kush to calm me down. Christ.

    I'll say one thing for this watch -- it strongly disinsentivizes strap changes.
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  3. #12
    Ich bin ein Ebeler! WWII70's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sedi View Post
    Yep, sounds like me.
    I almost impaled my hand one time while trying to get a screwbar off a Casio Protrek. Because you need two screwdrivers as the damn thing turns when the other side isn't fixed somehow. So I used two, pushed down hard (because the screw is fixed with loctite) from both sides and slipped. Luckily missed my hand by mere inches.
    +1 with a Protrek. I quickly gave up.


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  4. #13
    Licorice eater Strange's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sedi View Post
    Yep, sounds like me.
    I almost impaled my hand one time while trying to get a screwbar off a Casio Protrek. Because you need two screwdrivers as the damn thing turns when the other side isn't fixed somehow. So I used two, pushed down hard (because the screw is fixed with loctite) from both sides and slipped. Luckily missed my hand by mere inches.
    Some bright light really needs to invent some sort of rig that would securely hold the watch while also engaging the screw slot of the non-threaded end of the screwbar. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a jeweler's vice with a built in driver that could immobilize the screwbar.

    I propose extended penal servitude for any knob dumb enough to apply thread locker to a screw the size of a pin head. Seriously, what the hell were they thinking? A screw of that size has an engagement surface that should be measured in ångstroms, so it's not as if you can apply much torque to it. <shakes head in dismay>
    Слава Україні! 🇺🇦

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  6. #14
    Moderator G-Shock/Digital Sedi's Avatar
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    In the end I did manage to get the screwbar off but I had to use the blade of a knife and insert it into the slot to get some kind of leverage on the screw as the screwdriver just didn't get the job done.
    Cheers, Sedi

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  8. #15
    Moderator - Central tribe125's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Strange View Post
    [FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=3]Some bright light really needs to invent some sort of rig that would securely hold the watch while also engaging the screw slot of the non-threaded end of the screwbar. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a jeweler's vice with a built in driver that could immobilize the screwbar.

    There is such a thing, I think - or something like it.

    But maybe what I’m thinking of was on a manufacturer’s bench, rather than a tool you can buy.

  9. #16
    Licorice eater Strange's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tribe125 View Post
    There is such a thing, I think - or something like it.

    But maybe what I’m thinking of was on a manufacturer’s bench, rather than a tool you can buy.
    I need to research this. It's not the first time it's come up and it won't be the last. Having a rig like that would drastically simplify this process, and in all likelihood save me the indignity of losing my mind during a simple strap change.
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