larry g. olsen wrote:

Do any of you readers know how to remove the links in the stainless steel
bands on these watches? It appears to be easy but the pins that you can see
through the holes in the links do not want to compress. There are
directional arrows on the side of the links that would be against the
wearers arm. Not sure what they indicate, but they are on the links that
appear to be removable for shortening the watch band.

The arrows indicate the direction to push the pin.

The pin is a 'cotter-pin'. A little different from what most
mechanically-inclined folk think of when they hear the name, but that's
what they are called. The end that looks like it _might_ be a screw head
is the end that comes out first. That slot-looking feature is just the
split between the two 'leaves' of the pin. The other end of the pin is
usually more rounded looking.

Push it out with something that's about .9mm in diameter. Drill a small
hole in a piece of wood and place the band against it with the hole
where the pin will come out of the band.

The pusher should have a _flat_ end on it and be made of pretty good
steel. You can probably do it with a modified paperclip and a good pair
of pliers. Start with only a little (~2mm) of the paperclip sticking out
of the pliers and get the pin to move just a little bit.
(Control is the essence here, if you're using too much force and you
slip, the blood on the table will be yours. So will the scratches in the
bracelet.)
Once you get it moving, stick a little more of the paperclip out of the
pliers and move the pin some more.
Repeat until the pin comes out.

The pin goes back in the way it came out.

I do this every day. It's part of my job.
I have slightly special tools to do it though.

--
Carl West http://carl.west.home.comcast.net

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