A typical day at my watchmaker's workbench
As a Professional Watchmaker, I think I have one of the best jobs in the world. I am independent and not tied to any manufacturer, I am privileged that customers allow me to work on and repair their watches that are important to them, and to top it all off, the daily routine at the bench always presents something new and exciting.
The following examples are simple day to day horological activities, this is the 'norm' for me and this type of work keeps my skills honed. Spare parts for all watches eventually run out, today’s new watch will one day be a vintage piece, when replacement parts are no longer available, the only solution to a customers problem is find a professional who is able to fabricate new parts and repair the existing ones.
So lets have a look at a typical day at my workbench and the work I have to carry out on customers watches.
An Angelus Chronodato
The movement was in excellent condition overall, but for some reason the 4th wheel pivot and arbour had moisture and suffered corrosion. It's beyond repair by any means other than replacement of the pivot/arbour.
First up, a general view of the movement disassembled.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psfxwaug9a.jpg
The 4th wheel mounted in the lathe ready to be repaired. I will cut off the damaged arbour, then cut a 'V' notch with no centre pip, this notch will help ensure the next step – drilling – is centred properly on the pinion.
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Cutting away the damaged pivot
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Measuring the length of the removed pivot/arbour.
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Size comparison of the removed rusted pivot/arbour compared to my index finger.
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I make my own drills, first I select a 0.25mm (¼ of a mm in diameter) flute carbide drill and with a diamond stone, I will turn the flute drill into a pivot drill. I have to do this because a fluted drill will catch too much and snap off in the pinion during drilling. A pivot drill shape is controllable.
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Drilling the hole
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Here you can see the results, the hole measures just over 0.25mm in diameter, and it is 4X the depth of the diameter, in other words, the hole is 1.00mm deep. Normally only 3 times is needed, but the wall diameter between the hole and the pinion leaf root is not excessive, so a deeper hole is better, as well, in a normal pivot the length is short, this is a very long pivot because it has to hold the running seconds hand.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3tmssq8z.jpg
Then I make a new pivot from high carbon steel, and it gets pressed into the 4th wheel, and it's ready to go back in the watch after a bit of final polish and burnishing, job done!
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...pss1zg8ynh.jpg
New staff for a pocket watch
A really nice pocket watch arrived and had suffered a broken balance staff.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psojmeahjy.jpg
First task, harden and temper a piece of virgin Swedish high carbon steel, tempered to a dark blue as you can see.
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The staff is turned down and the balance test fitted
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Before parting off the bottom pivot is rough shaped and a V notch cut to allow centring in the lathe once flipped round.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psjqwzkjvl.jpg
Once flipped the bottom pivot is made and the roller table is test fitted.
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Here is the staff before final polish.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...pscgiybnog.jpg
Here the staff is riveted onto the balance arm and the pivots are burnished to compress and harden them.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psryeek0vg.jpg
Next the staff is 'poised' which is to make sure it has no heavy spots, think of balancing the wheels on your car tires.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psqxnbzf3y.jpg
Once installed a minor adjustment to the end shake was needed, and the timing printout was good in all positions.
Epoxy repair for a stripped crown
What should you do if the crown is stripped and the stem doesn't stay secured any more? Well nothing wrong with a bit of epoxy to solve the problem...for a while at least… Amateur work and I see it all the time, too often actually. There were other issues with the watch, but that's for another time.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psz9kgdyee.jpg
After a few winds the crown separates from the stem, no surprise. So I needed a permanent repair.
First up, drill out the crown for the installation of an insert.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3jej74tj.jpg
With that out of the way, next I made a new bushing and tapped it to fit our existing stem.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1aqecc22.jpg
Test fitting the crown onto the new insert.
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Installed and working as it should.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psudus0djo.jpg
Rusty pivot
After a ultrasonic clean, 2 rinses and blow dry, inspection of the disassembled movement showed some rust on a pivot.
Replacing a part for such a minor issue is unnecessary, it's best to keep the original parts and restore them.
Here is a view of the rust.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psyejxigc1.jpg
And with some careful reworking and polishing using diamond pasts of various sizes, the pivot is restored, end and side shakes are checked and adjusted if needed, and more importantly the watch maintains it's originality.
http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/...psoc87trxj.jpg
That's all I have time for this instalment, till next time, thanks for reading.
Rob
www.roberthoran.eu