Jump to content

vintage pocket watch mainsprings


Recommended Posts

Quick question,  where to buy old but new mainsprings for old pocket/fob watches?

I'm in need of one at the moment as the arbour end snapped off, my measurements are as follows

height 1.95mm

thickness 0.24mm

approx 300 mm in length

inside diameter of barrel is 41mm

now ive hunted through cousins with no success, ive also tried putting in the exact measurements of smiths ingersoll dollar watches mainsprings but again im coming up with nothing.

anyone have any ideas please cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bit confused, Cousin's search tool doesn't seem to be working right now, but you can see what they have here https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/upto-200mm-height

More confusing are the dimensions you have given. Is this a regular 30-40 hour lever escapement pocket watch, or an 8 day watch? A 41mm barrel is the size of a watch, and whatever the barrel size, 300mm sounds short.

You may find that you don't have the right spring fitted, and you need to work out what should be in there.  There is an excellent expanation of how to do that here http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/blogmainsprings.php. I can't remember if it tells you but you need a spring heith with about 0.2mm clearance to the internal barrel depth.

Photos would help if you need more advice, and we all love to see them anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so for a 14mm barrel, the calculator says the mean spring thickness would be 0.17mm and length 439mm.

A 0.24 thick spring will give more power, but will have to be shorter to fit the barrel, and is only going to give you 4.5 turns, so unlikely to run for more than 20 hours or so. You aren't going to find a spring this size so you would need to cut one down to get this if you really want to.  I would be inclined to use the thinner spring which will give you the right number of turns.

Cousins search is working again now... not sure if it was me or them.

There are very few 1.95 high springs, so in the 1.9 range, GR5607 is your closest bet, assuming you need a regular hooked bridle end spring, or you could use 5616 which is slightly thicker at 0.18mm.

I would still check the barrel depth to make sure you can't fit a higher spring. If a 2.0 will comfortably fit then you could go for GR5853

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stuart you are a star, very niceley explained and easily understandable so much so that I will use your method for future springs that I need for ancient pocket watches.

One final question, I will have I will have a look myself across the net, but would you know the correct size spring for a 16 size waltham traveller?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Verging on a new thread here, but still pw mainspring related.

You can use the GR catalogue on Cousins site https://www.cousinsuk.com/PDF/categories/7815_GR Pages 191 - 200.pdf

but you will need the movement type which you should get from here https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/guide/company/waltham/serial-number-lookup

if that doesn't get you there then post more details, or search at NAWCC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stuart many thanks my friend, your knowledge is far greater than mine,I shall have a good look this evening when I finish at the coalface, and yes it is a normal hook bridle, no fancy t bars etc on this old movement. It hasn't even got a case, I just wanted to get this old movement running again, it will probably sit in a box somewhere after this until I can source the correct size case, then knowing me it will sit with your collection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it's not pretty, 1 due to the condition of the jewel holding area prior to work and 2 no  sietz jeweling tool in sight and 3 never done this before.

well whilst working on this old unknown ladies size 6 (34mm plate diameter) fob watch I ascertained it needed a new mainspring, help was given on sizing as I couldn't find an exact match by a very helpful forum member Stuartbaker

new mainspring fitted and then as another post in this thread mentioned I needed a replacement balance cock jewel.

i took a gamble and bought a random mix from red rooster on the bay. As luck would have it there was a few in the mix that looked like they would do the job.

so away I went and took the cock apart and started the job

 

IMG_7460.JPG

IMG_7463.JPG

IMG_7464.JPG

IMG_7465.JPG

IMG_7470.MOV

Edited by transporter
Attempting to upload short video
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • A already know the size movement I have the problem is the dial a had purchased has a dimension 20.6mm wide a want to find a watch case that going to fit the dial perfectly 
    • Hi.  I would like to take issue here regarding battery driven , watches, clocks,etc. I will and do repair these clocks in fact I have sever al in my collection as well as the regular mechanical ones. I have one on my mantle piece over 60 years old tha belonged to my wife’s Aunt,  long gone Iam afraid and it has been cleaned etc and never missed a beat and is accurate. Every one has their preduices as regards Electrical /electronic Horology but I regard it as part of the progress time line of the art of Horology and to be treated as such. Like Darwin’s theory of evolution it evolved.  Two cavemen knocking rocks together and a shard broke off , looking at it he worked out if it was stuck on the end of a stick he would have a spear. Likewise his pal seeing what he was up to picked up a piece  and did the same, now that’s evolution. Some clockmaker decided to build a clock that ran with a battery and no spring to wind up and break, progress and both the mechanical and battery driven clocks evolved, the battery ones got better to the point that if it broke you changed the complete unit. Likewise watches did the same but both can be repaired by people who approach Horology with an open mind without preduice.  We all have our likes and dislikes bu I for one would never dismiss any technology because I don’t like it.   The mobile phone is a good example of modern technology at work as is the automotive industry. There buttons and switches in my car I don’t use because to me they are not nesessary but I still drive the car.
    • I haven't gone through all the reading of what it might be or not. The first thing I would do if nothing obvious stands out is replace the mainspring, you have to start at the source of the power. Nine times out of ten that is the problem.  
    • Haha. You're just in a wicked mood today John 😅
    • Heres my watch of today, a Smith 13'" RY . My missus bought me this for this Valentines day a bargain 14.99 with a reduction, the seller has occasional 20% off offers now and then so it was about 15ish with delivery. I love Smiths and i love bulleye dials, this is my first one. The watch arrived non working as stated and i knew what was inside and what would be against me, but i enjoy a challenge, we dont expect a lot if anything from pin pallet movements. A balance pivot was broken and i didnt have another staff but i did have another RY with a battered dial so i robbed the balance and tweaked it around to make it work apart from that mostly just a good clean and relubrication. Keyless works are pretty rough by design and the crown is a bugger to get in and out with the dial on, the setting lever hits the dial before it releases it, so a little mod is needed to help that along. Major problem was the pins on the lever were quite worn which make the old tg have a snow storm fit. Its a similar read for most pin pallets, these were brass as was the escape wheel. But perseverance is me, i didn't change the pins but i did spend some time dressing and polishing the worn areas which improved the trace a lot with some straightish lines 😅 and a beat error of .5 . Not sure what the lift angle should be on these and i Wasn't in the mood to work it out and who believes timegraphers anyway, but at the default 52° it runs with 260ish full 210 after 24 hours dial down , the verticals rates were pretty much all over place. So lets just put it in it's superlight aluminium case and see what happens. Been wearing it now for 3 weeks and it's consistently losing around 1.5  minutes a week winding each morning i think pretty good for an old pin pallet watch. I just love this dial, thanks wifey heres my Valentine's gift for yer sweetie x
×
×
  • Create New...