For the last few weeks I have been sorting out my BTM lathe, shaping and honing my gravers, making and fitting handles to them, replacing the motor that drives my lathe and I'm now ready to start my journey towards making a balance staff for a Unitas 235 pocket watch.
I wasn't happy with the finish I had been getting with my graver so have spent the last couple of weeks just practicing parallel cuts on my lathe. Though I still have a lot of room for improvement I feel its good enough to start making a balance staff.
I'm pretty sure this staff will be a failure and it will be several more attempts on before I get a workable result, so still lots of time to improve my lathe skills, and I will try and share my journey here.
Just one photo tonight showing the 3.2mm blue steel rod turned down to 2.9mm and then the end turned to approx 1.25mm so the balance is a good fit onto the shaft.
Tomorrow I will attempt to turn the parallel section for the hairspring, rough in the pivot on the top end and do the undercut for riveting on the balance.
I will post some photos showing my lathe setup and a couple of tips I've recently be shown later.