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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/13/18 in all areas

  1. https://www.aimtools.co.uk/products/20-4 Available from other places under different brand names. Cost me £49 I think. It was accurate enough to core out an M3 screw with a 2mm bit in order to create a self-centring drill for M3 threaded holes.
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  2. I use a bare paper-cutter to start a gap for the case-back knife. I position the edge of the knife at the case/caseback joint and force the blade into. Sometimes I use a small hammer to tap the blade in. Note that the paper-cutter blade is brittle and will break if you twist it. Once a gap is created proceed with your usual caseback knife. Be careful when using the paper-cutter as a slip can pretty much wreck your day! Anilv
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  3. By punching a staff out you are breaking the rivet this usually removes metal from the staff it is then not possible to reuse the same staff a new staff is required to form a decent rivet and secure it unless they are friction fit. Staffs are a one use item.
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  4. re crown set bridge - the set lever should hold the winding pinion against the clutch wheel.. ie the two parts with the ramped teeth should be forced together when the set lever and its spring is installed. A pic without the bridge would assist diagnosis. Balance wheel. Can only see one pivot clearly.. the other should look the same. You would usually get the balance in place and the balance bridge in position before tightening everything down gradually while making sure the balance spins. Tightening the screw in one go will break the pinion if it is not safely in its hole. If the balance spins one way and not the other then the impulse jewel is not in the fork at the end off the pallet lever. If all is in place correctly but the balance is still sluggish then you may need to clean the balance jewels again. big screw/gear .. this is usually a left handed screw. ie clockwise to open. It is also usually very tight. This can break, especially if someone has already used force to try and unloosen it like a normal screw. I would leave it alone for the moment good luck! Anilv
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  5. Here is my "new" take on oiling pallet pivots. I had one of "those" watches hanging around my bench for a while. You know, the one that just seems like it wont' run right? Well, after working on wrist-watches for a while now, and learning not to oil the pallet pivots on them, I decided to apply this knowledge to a ladies pendant watch that always seemed to run sluggishly. It was a little over a year ago that I cleaned and oiled it, but still it ran with poor motion. It was poor enough that it would stop. I figured that I could put a new mainspring in it to give it bit more get-up-and-go, but hadn't as of yet. Then it dawned on me that I may have done this watch before I learned not to oil pallet pivots on watches smaller than a 3/0 or so. This one is a 6/0 Waltham Sapphire from their Jewel Series of movements. I decided that rather than cleaning it again, I'd just pull the pallet-bridge and clean the jewels with some pegwood, as well as clean off the pivots in some Rodico. See the before and after videos from this morning. The first is obviously the way it ran with pivots that were likely oiled like any other wheel pivot. The second is after the quick pegging and reassembling. After looking at these videos, does anyone still think it's a good idea to oil the pallet pivots on small watches? I should think not. Cheers. MAH00270.MP4 MAH00271.MP4
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  6. "little watch pocket size" in the chineze made jeans, all the pocket sizes are SCREWED UP! pocket watches are still the mark of a working man OR best place for very valuable watch, vin
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  7. Back in the late 1990s I worked in the Northern Territory of Australia and from the heat and humidity I developed a bad skin allergy to wrist watches and could not wear one until I had been living in Glasgow Scotland for about 3 years (Heat is not an issue in Glasgow), as this was before smart phones I used to wear a pocket watch and can confirm I did indeed use that little pocket for my pocket watch during that time. WHat Pocket watch did I use as my daily watch for 4 years, A Waltham of course. (Which unfortunately got stolen in Glasgow when my apartment got broken into)
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  8. Welcome to my custom made watchmaker and repair video camera. Paul Stuart’s Professional Watchmaker Video Camera Project Historical methods of magnification There are many well established historical methods still used today by watchmakers to magnify watch movements while working on them. Without suitable magnification, it is almost an impossible task. To this day, these historical methods still serve the industry well. Stereo and USB microscopes Modern technology has come to the aid of the watch manufacturing and repair industry. Many watchmakers/repairers use stereo and USB microscopes to assist in their work. These have proven to be of benefit for work on extremely small parts such as pivots, hairsprings and so on. Some of these types of microscopes can be connected to monitors so that one can see, magnified and in real time, exactly what is being worked on. However, sometimes the working distance between the watch and the end of the microscope can make life difficult. Microscopes with a reasonable working distance of say, 30cm to 50cm, or even more can be very expensive. Not that one would require more of course. My watchmaker/repairer video camera project As an amateur watch repairer, I have often wished for a better method to magnify and view watch movements in real time on my computer so that I can, without straining my eyes so much, take movements apart and reassemble them. I’ve already mentioned working distance, I think 30cm to 50cm would be a good with its obvious benefits. Also, being able to capture reference photos and HD video is important. To have that capability to stream live video, and upload to YouTube etc. would be an additional benefit. Well, I had an idea for a lightweight camera that should be able to achieve the above. I think my idea may appeal to others. The project cost was reasonable. More on that later. Could I adapt a webcam to suit my requirements? No doubt the idea of using a webcam has been tried before. However, the zoom capability of most webcams is rather limited and they have wide angle lenses. Nearly all have a fixed lens. But a plus point is the webcam management software some manufacturers provide. To be fair, I have never tried using a decent DSLR or camcorder to achieve the above, but I believe I’m correct in thinking firewire connectivity is a problem between modern cameras and computers to monitor in real time. I think it is something to do with the fact they have SD cards. For me though, they seem a bit bulky and expensive for this purpose. I like tinkering with things, my idea was, what if I removed the fixed lens from a webcam and replaced it with one that could be manually adjusted for zoom and focus, together with an acceptable working distance capability and narrower the field of vision. The following is how I went about testing this idea out. How I modified a webcam After researching several different webcams specifications, I decided t adapt a Logitech c920. The c920 has proven to be one of the best webcams and was recently succeeded by the c922. But it is the c920 I used for this modification. The c920 can do real full HD streaming of 1920×1080p @ 30fps with image size up to 2304x1563p. This is how I went about it: I took a Logitech c920 apart to expose the circuit board, its fixed lens and USB wiring assembly. I removed 2 screws securing the lens assembly, then unsoldered the lens and USB screening wire. The lens, complete with its IR low pass filter, came away from the PCB quite easily to expose the CMOS sensor and its infrared (IR) part of the spectrum. For my purpose the IR part of the spectrum is not needed, so I had to add an IR low pass filter. More about that later. I solder connected 30 gauge (0.5mm) single strand wire between the main circuit board and USB board as follows: TP3 to USB board D+ TP2 to USB board D- TP1 to USB board Vcc Removed green solder mask adjacent to TP25 on the main PCB for the GND connection and GND on the USB board. Used the existing shielding solder tab on the main PCB for a shielding connection to the USB socket housing. Unsoldered the four LED’s from the main PCB at D3, D5, D6 and D8. I could have left the diodes in place and simply put some black tape over them. Both the modified circuit board and new USB socket were then mounted into a custom-made aluminum housing having a CS lens thread. Because the original filter was removed with the lens assembly, it had to be replaced with an IR Low Pass filter and mounted with double sided tape in the new custom housing. I then attached a 5-50mm CS varifocal lens with manual iris and focus. This was a f1.4, 3 mega pixels, 1/2.7” lens and suitable for the original Logitech 1/3” format CMOS sensor. Custom watchmaker camera case, rear view. With Logitech c920 lens removed, custom wiring done and circuit board assembled. Front view without the new lens attached, new IR low pass filter is assembled. Parts required 1 x Logitech c920, these can be obtained at a very reasonable price from auction websites. 1 x Custom made box for the reworked c920 circuit board, and with CS type lens mount. 1 x IR low pass filter (to replace the one removed with the c920 fixed lens). 1 x CS lens – f1.4, 5-50mm, 3 megapixel, manual focus and manual zoom. 1 x 5mm CS lens extension ring. Result I now have a camera to zoom in close and a respectable working distance between 30cm to 50cm or more. It can stream live, record videos and take snapshots. I can see all this on my computer, live as I’m working on watch movements. Example full screen captures at a working distance of 30cm At 50cm Paul Stuart’s Professional Watchmaker Video Camera Project – Parts and Specifications Parts price list Logitech C920 webcam £27.00. I got mine off an auction website cheap because the USB wire was broken. This was not needed anyway because of the new connection I was going to make to a new USB output port in the new case. Custom c920 anodised aluminium (aluminium) case. £56.00 0.5mm copper core silver plated bodge wire. £2.00. From auction website Lens 1/2.7" 5-50mm Manual Iris 3 Megapixel Lens. Features: 1. 3 Mega Pixel, manual focus iris and zoom lens 2. 2.1/2.7" High quality 5-50mm varifocal CCTV IR CS lens 3. Low distortion 4. High resolution £89.00 5mm C to CS lens extension ring. £3.00. From auction website. Total spend: £177.00
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  9. Ask a lubrication related question and you will get as many different answers as you do responses. However, here is my take on it. Consider the amount of movement and the forces involved at the pallet fork pivot compared to elsewhere in the watch, and weigh up the pro's and con's for leaving it dry. The torque at the pallet fork pivot is probably less than anywhere else in the movement, and the angle of rotation of the pivot in the jewel is something like 5 to 10 degrees. As a result the rate of wear through friction at this point is minimal and so any advantage (from a friction wear perspective) of oiling the pivot is also minimal. On the other hand, because the torque is so small at this point, the effect of drag on the pivot caused by the viscosity of the oil becomes significant, sapping the energy that should be being transferred from the escape wheel to the balance wheel and robbing you of balance amplitude, with a corresponding drop in consistency of rate. So put simply, if you oil it it may last a little longer but the watch won't keep very good time, if you leave it dry it may not last as long but the watch will perform better. I have heard of watchmakers who compromise by merely wiping the pivot with oil so as to leave the thinnest of films on it before installing it. I don't know of any research into the benefits / pitfalls of this approach. Other opinions may differ
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