The ol' matchbook trick. Bending springbars

Hello. Slightly embarrassed to be starting a thread with such slim pickin's but here we are.

https://i.imgur.com/HuEFhf4.jpg

I own this delightful JLC. Lots to love about it, but a couple of niggles - no AR means that the crystal is very reflective, and the space between the springbars and the case is very thin, meaning that thicker straps (which might suit the chonky watch) are out.

I'll make a proper thread if I ever get the crystal coated, but I can fix the other problem here, thanks to a poster on another forum I use.

No space between the strap and the case? Make your own bent springbars by pressing them one at a time between two tablespoons. It doesn't need much of a bend, but it makes all the difference and it allows (in this case) me to use a thick Haveston canvas.*

https://i.imgur.com/Ejtutnw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rB8MKbD.jpg

If it works for you then all well and good. However, I'd be worried about bending straight bars, losing a little bit of length as a consequence and then putting them under stress with a thick strap.

Easier and safer to just buy some curved bars in the correct length, I'd have thought.

As with everything in the watchmaking world, there's a tool for that. Exactly the same principle as using two spoons but a bit more control. You can get fancy ones with nylon jaws and pay a small fortune for anything made in Switzerland, if you so wish.

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:

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Originally Posted by learningtofly

... losing a little bit of length as a consequence ...

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Always a worry for us chaps - but also a very good point, well made: my recent-ish Formex needs 22mm curved springbars, so I experimented with some spare cheap-chinesium SBs and found that ones that started as 22mm ended-up nearly 1mm too short to hold by the time they were bent to fit. 23mm are fine, but were it not for the tray of random (mainly useless) sized cheapos I foolishly bought early into rekindling this hobby, I wouldn't have such a size available...

I'd tend to buy purpose-made examples now I must admit - not worth the risk.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by earlofsodbury

Always a worry for us chaps - but also a very good point, well made: my recent-ish Formex needs 22mm curved springbars, so I experimented with some spare cheap-chinesium SBs and found that ones that started as 22mm ended-up nearly 1mm too short to hold by the time they were bent to fit. 23mm are fine, but were it not for the tray of random (mainly useless) sized cheapos I foolishly bought early into rekindling this hobby, I wouldn't have such a size available...

I'd tend to buy purpose-made examples now I must admit - not worth the risk.

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Thank you all for the replies - and of course, Omegary, if there's a way to part us from our money, the gnomes will have thought of it! (Bergeron, probably! (Ooh, no - StrapCode sells one for $40. Not as bad as I thought, but still more expensive than spoons!))

I've ordered some 21 and 22mm curved bars from Cousins, and tomorrow, when I've got the light, I'll check to see just how much length I've lost to the bend!

Reply to come tomorrow!

Ideally the ends of the spring-bars shouldn't be curved, unless the holes aren't perpendicular to the lugs...

I've tried bending them myself, with some success, but they're so cheap from Cousins that it's not worth the bother. I first got them because when I started using Haveston canvas straps they just wouldn't fit in my Damasko DA37, and only just in my DC56. That's why, when Damasko first produced their bracelets, the watch had to be sent to them to have the bracelet fitted, there was no standard measurement for the spring bar drillings. With curved bars they slip in easily. I also have them fitted to my PRS-5 Broadarrow, 36mm Everest and PRS-68. They are all tighter than I would like for fitting the Havestons. Before I sold my 40mm Everest I had straight bars fitted, but in 1.5mm thickness, to accomodate thicker straps.

This is the one I bent, compared to a straight one. Not much of a difference.

https://i.imgur.com/o0kTwTR.jpg

I will have a look, now I have the Cousins package in my hands, what happens to the ends of their factory-bent springbars - I suspect that they are as bent enough to make Kingstepper worry.