Leaderboard

I'm not sure what advice to give you, I've adjusted far more bracelets than I could guess, but the only times split pin bracelets have ever given me any trouble the solutions have always been the same and fairly obvious, if it doesn't hit out easily with my standard 0.8mm bracelet punch, double check bracelet is ideally placed in plastic bracelet vice (blocks aren't as good) and try a shortened punch and a harder, sharper tap. Once it's moved a little you can usually switch back to a longer punch. (You can make a custom bracelet punch if you have an old discarded screwdriver (0.8-1.00 are ideal), remove the top spinning part, take a screwdriver blade or any random metal pins you might have from anything that will fit, cut to size, and file flat) I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence with that, but you never know what isn't as obvious as you think.

I have a Star lathe & over the years I have gradually built a nice collection of collets & tools. All are used but work just fine. The hardest part when making parts using a watchmakers lathe is not the make of lathe but the skills required to use one. My brother in law purchased a Chinese lathe a few years ago & he produces excellent work from it.

That's a sweeping statement that I don't agree with Vinn. It very much depends on what you intend making or repairing.

JDM, The Sincere is also marketed by a German company under the name VECTOR. The VECTOR comes in a beautiful wooden box and the SINCERE comes in a cardboard box packed in foam. The VECTOR costs a lot more than the SINCERE but does not have the advertising stigma of "made in China" attached to it. Other than that, once they are set up and adjusted properly, both machines can make good parts. A few years ago I read an article on the NAWCC web page written by someone who purchased a HORIA Lathe. Apparently he paid a lot of money for the machine, but unfortunately, the tailstock did not line up with the spindle. He shipped it back to Horia and they shipped it back to him with the same problem. In short, he was stuck with an expensive designer label machine that did not function properly. I do not own a Horia lathe but I do own a set of Horia turns and they seem to work properly. I believe that the most important aspect in a machine is that it functions properly for the job at hand or it does not. Trying to select a machine based on its brand name can sometimes lead to a bad place. If you are unable to fix the problem you just may end up with an expensive door stop. david PS: I failed to mention the HORIA LATHE because I forgot about it. This means that there are 6 companies that currently manufacture watchmaker lathes.

A mainspring winder is my next big purchase, thanks for showing yours. I finally decided I needed one when I broke a mainspring trying to put it back in the barrel. An arrgh moment. Cheers!

Alan Garrett is a UK resident/blogger/researcher on the origins of Russian watches. Interesting read for those with a thirst for historical watch knowledge. http://birthofsovietwatchmaking.blogspot.co.uk/

BobM12, The biggest problem with most watchmaker lathes is that most of the companies that manufactured them are no longer in business. This means that finding quality accessories can be a bit of a problem. Eight millimeter collets are still manufactured but six millimeter collets are not. There are a number of used Wolf-Jahn and lorch 6mm lathes available for a reasonable price but finding collets for them can be a matter of blind luck. To the best of my knowledge the only companies who manufactured watchmaker lathes in the past that are still in business are LEVIN, DERBYSHIRE, STAR and DIXIE (marketed under the BERGEON name. I don't know how long the SINCERE brand has been out there but they currently make a high quality lathe. Both DERBYSHIRE and LEVIN have shifted over to a slightly larger instrument size lathe but the precision and quality of these machines is so fantastic (20-50 millionths of an inch spindle runout), they can certainly be used to make watch parts. As a matter of note both of these machines use ultra precision ball bearing headstocks while the Star, Dixie (Bergeon) and Sincere use the old fashioned cone bearings. While cone bearings are not as accurate as ABEC 7 OR ABEC 9 ball bearings, they have enough accuracy to make suitable watch parts. This brings the selection down to availability and affordability. Any of these five currently manufactured lathes can make suitable quality watch parts. Out of the five the Sincere lathe is the most affordable as are its accessories. As an example a Sincere milling attachment is less than $400.00 while a Bergeon milling attachment is around $7000.00. Both milling attachments are light duty accessories that lead to deflection problems under a cutter load. A 175 pound Harbor Freight (CENTRAL MACHINERY) bench top mini mill (once tweaked in and adjusted) will cut better than a watchmaker lathe milling attachment. The mini mill has more size, mass and power than the watchmaker lathe accessory, so the cutter is more likely to go where you want it to go. If I were to give a recommendation it would be to stay away from machines with aluminum beds. Aluminum headstocks are stable but aluminum beds can cause deflection and/or wear problems. This is true for lathes but especially true for milling machines. Aluminum is not as rigid as steel and tends to bend more easily under a load. Cone bearings are OK but you have to learn how to clean and adjust them. You also have to run them at lower speeds. Modern ball bearings are more accurate to several magnitudes and can run much faster than cone bearings. Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth. david

Another restore. Not original but very functional.

Congratulations in getting this far. If you can set the movement up somehow without putting it in the case then do so. This will save time and you have the advantage of making adjustments without removing from the case each time. You can buy clock movement holders or make your own, ask you chap what he does. From what you are saying I don't think you have taken apart and put together one of these before. Start by just putting the strike side in and getting the wheels lined up as they need to go in a certain way in order for the strike to work correctly. When you have mastered that do the same with the chime side, then you will have the knowhow in putting the three trains together. I always made sure everything lined up correctly on the outside even though it will right it's self I just wanted to get it working A S A P. As you say you will need help when it comes to re-bushing, just make sure all the pivots are good, the type of steel used in these movements is quite soft. If you need any more help just ask.

Looks like you may have a bent pivot on the escape wheel Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Ok the depth of the pallets is very important & setting them incorrectly it will not run. You will need a pallet setting tool much the same as below (the same as I use). I have also attached a doc I found on the net a few years ago but it explains what you need to achieve. pallet folk jewl setting.pdf