Reply With QuoteAn excellent read, both interesting and educational. Thanks for taking the time to do the post.
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.
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.
Cutting away the damaged pivot
Measuring the length of the removed pivot/arbour.
Size comparison of the removed rusted pivot/arbour compared to my index finger.
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.
Drilling the hole
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.
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!
New staff for a pocket watch
A really nice pocket watch arrived and had suffered a broken balance staff.
First task, harden and temper a piece of virgin Swedish high carbon steel, tempered to a dark blue as you can see.
The staff is turned down and the balance test fitted
Before parting off the bottom pivot is rough shaped and a V notch cut to allow centring in the lathe once flipped round.
Once flipped the bottom pivot is made and the roller table is test fitted.
Here is the staff before final polish.
Here the staff is riveted onto the balance arm and the pivots are burnished to compress and harden them.
Next the staff is 'poised' which is to make sure it has no heavy spots, think of balancing the wheels on your car tires.
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.
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.
With that out of the way, next I made a new bushing and tapped it to fit our existing stem.
Test fitting the crown onto the new insert.
Installed and working as it should.
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.
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.
That's all I have time for this instalment, till next time, thanks for reading.
Rob
www.roberthoran.eu
An excellent read, both interesting and educational. Thanks for taking the time to do the post.
F.T.F.A.
Great to have proper watchmaker on the forum and a very interesting post.
Making your own drills seems a bit extreme - are they not available to buy?
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Very impressive stuff, thanks for posting.
This sort of stuff blows my mind every time I see it. More please!
Very enjoyable and I'm envious of your working life. Glad it brings you so much pleasure.
Last edited by stix; 6th April 2016 at 09:40.
Love reading your posts, many thanks for taking the time and for the excellent photos. I am in awe of such micro-engineering.
wow I'm sure a watch is safe in your capable hands. Your photo's are impressive to. Thx for sharing!
Last edited by soesgsxr; 6th April 2016 at 10:32.
Thankyou for taking the time to post. A really interesting read and some amazing pics especially with the parts being so tiny. The next post eagerly awaited.
Interesting and informative, as ever, Rob.
Absolutely unbelievable, thank you for sharing. When I see the pics of the drill bits and the holes, I have to mentally re-adjust my perception and realise this is craftsmanship on an massively small scale, but you make it look as if you're drilling a hole in the wall i.e. easy! Credit to you.
I recognise that stripped crown! Always amazing to see your work Rob - and to benefit from it too.
yes indeed interesting, i would like to see more.
when the part is shown on your finger tip, that brings it all to scale, i would never be able to work with parts so small
Lovely.
And a beautiful little poising tool.
Great post, very interesting, you make it look so easy.
The shot of the watch part on your finger is just brilliant too, because with the other pics it's easy to forget the scale of things that you're working on.
This was an amazing read, thanks for taking the time to document the process.
I shall now document my day sat infront of my PC sending and responding emails.
I could read posts like this all day long. I love to see engineering and pure craftsmanship on a micro scale.
It always amazes me how watchmakers remember the order of assembly without having a manual to reference. There's no way my rubbish memory would allow me to do that!
Cracking post OP.
Fascinating article.
I also like the jewelled stand for poising balances, what a super little thing.
Kudos. Largely beyond my understanding and absolutely beyond my mechanical ability. I am suitably impressed!
I find it hard to comprehend working at such a small scale! Very informative post, thank you.
I know relatively little about the inner workings of a watch, but I love seeing the dedication of an engineer and the precision that goes into your work!
I can't even imagine working so precisely with components of that scale. Proper bespoke engineering too much of it. Brilliant stuff, very well done. And thank you!
Great read. Really helps to put into perspective the skill and dedication it must take to get to a level anywhere near shown above.
I work with surgeons and the intricacy on show here is on PAR with what they do. Next time someone asks why I would one day love to own a really special watch, I'll show them this!
Top marks, Sir!
Great stuff and fantastic photos too.
Thank you everyone for the kind replies.
I do buy drill bits, but I can't buy the ones I need in a spade (pivot) type of shape.Originally Posted by andy tims
Drilling at this scale is a real challenge, when drilling the drill has to always be cutting the material, if it stops cutting - even momentarily - then the material touching the drill cutting edge will be burnished, which is to say hardened and compressed, and once burnished it is very difficult to cut and requires higher pressure on the drill. At 1/4 of a millimeter, the amount of pressure you can apply is critical, slightly too much and the drill snaps in two...
HSS drills are no good at this size because they stop cutting too easily and burnish the material.
Carbide drills are much better, but have the drawback that they are brittle, very brittle.
If I didn't modify the carbide drill and left it in a flute shape, it would grab too much of the material and snap off. Try removing a snapped off carbide piece that is jammed tight into the material, it's a challenge for sure.
So by modifying the carbide drill to a spade/pivot drill shape, I can control the feed rate while drilling, and because it's carbide, it easily cuts away any burnishing if I reduce the pressure momentarily while drilling. Keep in mind that the drill bit is not held in a chuck, but in my fingers so I can feel and monitor the cutting and pressure applied.
Thank you. My wife has used the same comparison, so interesting to hear it from firsthand experience.
Rob
Outstanding work. Patients of a saint.
Respect!
Very informative and interesting read. Thank you for taking the time to photograph the process and post them for our education. A true craftsman is a rare breed (in any profession) and You must be very lucky to have a line of job that you excel in and enjoy it as well!
Now I wasn't expecting to read that.
That explains what the odd shape chunk of metal is in front of the 4th wheel then. I assume its a type of steady?
It is a special attachment that fits onto the tail stock of the lathe, it's a pivot centering tool with various sizes of tapered holes for different sized pivots and pinions. Using it ensures that the hole is drilled perfectly centered on the pinion.
Awesome work.
Just want to quickly say how awesome it is to see this type of post in WT again. I'm sure there used to be more of them. There are a few watchmakers around here but all seem to be keeping relatively quiet lately, or their posts are getting buried in the noise. I actually think it would be good to have a separate watchmaking sub-forum: WT is too general and M&W is too specific.
nice stuff
Thanks for sharing, great photos!
It is great to see such skill in operation, therefore a special thanks for taking the time to document your work.
Now there are some manufacturers who will always guarantee to repair their watches, eg Patek, most will not repair if they have run out of spare parts.
Have you ever thought of offering your services, on a sub contracting basis, to these makers? That way you get profitable business and they get an increase in their reputation, something very important when you are marketing yourself as a producer of luxury products with a history.
Your documented work would enhance your CV very greatly.
Mitch
Hi Rob
a very interesting read, I can't imagine being able to work at those tolerances!
Mark
( the Doxa is still running well btw ! )
In it's own way this sort of miniature engineering is just as impressive as the gigantic stuff.
It is very difficult to encourage watchmakers to spend time photographing their work, then writing about it. I write for two major British Horology publications, and I can tell you that first hand experience is that many watchmakers will not write or share any of their experience or expertise with others. Which is a real shame...
I don't post in the M&W forum because I don't consider what I do anywhere near matching either of those descriptions, certainly not a "wrecker" by any stretch of the imagination. I would certainly post this in a watchmaker forum, but not sure if there is enough content to warrant creating the forum.
I like my independence and ability to do what I want, when I want. I have enough work on a constant basis that taking on a contract with any manufacturer would not be in my interest.
Hi Mark,
So happy to hear that the Doxa is still running well and thanks for the feedback.
Rob
Absolutely amazing!
Thanks for posting.
p.s. do you do model making also?
You have my admiration (for being a skilled craftsman as evidenced by this and other posts) and envy in that you have entered this career path which I love the thought of but simply don't believe I would have the skill or patience to master - chapeau!
Great post, thanks for sharing.
"That is impressive and rather fascinating."
"Yes, yes, I concur."
Absolutely love these posts. I really appreciate you taking the time to take the picutures and write them up.
I used to when I was younger, still have the desire, but I find that the watchmaking fills the need (and then some...).
Thank you for that.
A most interesting post and I congratulate you on your watch skills.
scooter
As always, fascinating to see such detail. Easy to to forget the thing on wrist is made up of so much detail. Great photos - Thanks for sharing.
Another superb, absorbing post - thanks for sharing!
Absolutely fascinating - thank you for taking the time to post these pictures. Wonderful stuff.
Fascinating. Thank you.
Inspiring work and quite brilliant to be able to get these 'junk' parts back to an original and working state. Absolutely brilliant skills and knowledge.
Thank you for posting and taking the time to do so. It's great to read threads on here that are actually interesting.
Far too many pointless arguments and slagging off, bit like a school yard! :)
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