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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/19/19 in all areas

  1. Zero to do with watches, but the place has been a bit quiet and if all we talk about is watches, well, no one gets to know anyone. Five years ago after 25 years of professional services, I completely lost my mind and bought a defunct manufacturing business and have slowly been building it up. Here's some shots I took yesterday of a couple of current projects we're just finishing up; a medium size box girder overhead crane and a lugger truck body. Apparently we've got an 80ton crane coming in; 110' long, 5' box girder - that's a large crane! I mess about with machining, welding, electronics and bit of clocks and watches for kicks in my home shop, but I've a lot pride in the team here, these are the people who really know what they are doing. Hopefully we get some more day job "show and tell"s....
    2 points
  2. I don't have the tool with me unfortunately but I think all that was there is pictured. I think it is just whatever cutting tool that is described in the images that is missing. The top part of the Mimo tool is separate to the lower part which is labelled 1CR1, and the top part rotates freely on the base. The red balance wheel holders are then placed on the top of the tool. The first image in the patent is a vertical cross section through the two parts of tool, illustrating the bearing surfaces.
    1 point
  3. I've made a few watch tools which are available on my thingiverse here. Simple design movement holders which I like as they're easy to make in online cad software to whatever size you require and hold the movements firmly and no risk of marking them or other damage. https://www.thingiverse.com/m1ks/designs
    1 point
  4. I've just measured some of the generic shepherds crook springs that you can get from Cousins: https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/shepherds-hook-springs-wristwatch Whilst these of course aren't click springs, they do come in a variety of widths ... including the 0.15mm you need. They're also quite large so should give enough material to perhaps adapt / shape for the click spring you need. They're also inexpensive so might be worth a punt if you come up blank through other routes. Just an idea...
    1 point
  5. Stainless steel hard wire of 0.15mm for spring applications definitely exists: https://stainless-wire.co.uk/hard-wire-piano-wire/coils-o-0-10-to-0-80mm/product/stainless-steel-hard-wire-13815.html Now just to try and find smaller quantities...! I've read it's sometimes used by anglers to make lures so this may be another avenue...?
    1 point
  6. Ha sorry! From a discussion a while back on a machinists forum there was mention of California Fine Wire and Mount Joy Wire. I just checked Mount Joy and they have it down to .004" (.10mm) and finer on request; no idea what their minimum order is though.
    1 point
  7. For me its more of a general shop resource vs watch specific - something to be pursued if you like making things. I've not yet thought of any watch uses that it would just perfect for, but in general it opens up a lot of possibilities I bought a Prusa recently, it was supposedly highly rated.... look at all the useful stuff I've made! What a disaster! Anyway, I'm down on this crappy printer, I do keep working on trying to solve the bugs, as the potential capabilities it brings to the shop are really quite exciting. Prusa griping aside, check out the second image - a yoke for a dynamic balancer I'm making. A part like that would be near impossible except by casting and a pattern. Aside from making a pattern and doing a casting being a huge amount of owrk, its also unlike a casting in that you specific the "fill" percentage so items end up very strong and light - there's no other way to do things like that (3rd photo of partially printed parts so you can see the fill). In the photo its a 25% fill - interior is only 25% material
    1 point
  8. I have a monoprice voxel. It is limited in features compared to others but works out-of-the-box and was a good price. I wouldn't bother with a 3d printer for parts holders and the like. There are a few nice designs on thingiverse but really it isn't worth the bother. Injection molded supplies are going to be better quality and you can buy a bunch all at once instead of one waiting to print them out one at a time. Where it may come in handy is when you need something in a specific shape that you cannot buy. But keep in mind you will need to learn at least some basic CAD design. I use Moi3d which is excellent but there are cheaper alternatives. I've used my 3d printer to create different adapters and holders where I needed an exact shape. For example, I was bending a strip of brass and was able to create plastic bending clamps I compressed with some pliers. I was able to figure out the exact inside and outside curve I needed and print to match. The nice thing about the 3d printed parts is you can use glue to attach whatever you need to it without worrying about having to damage the print when removing it as you can always print a new one.
    1 point
  9. I've got the Flashforge Dreamer 3D printer. I've not really made much with it for watchmaking, myself, but have used it for many other things including making parts for my 1970s electro-mechanical pinball machine that were not obtainable any other way. A very important thing to think about when buying a printer is the size of the print bed as this dictates the biggest thing you can make, usually cheaper machines have smaller print beds that will limit the size of things you can make. Try and buy a printer that is fully enclosed as it eliminates the problems of cold drafts cooling the print too much between layers that can lead to print failure. You want a printer that can print from an SD card not just from your computer. That way you don't need to leave you computer on when you are doing an 8 or 12 hour print. Choose a printer that parts are readily available for and that has a big user following, as this will give you more help with finding the best settings. Look at what software comes with the printer and think about what other software you might use. I design most of my parts on the free software sketchup, but purchased simplify3D for doing my slicing as it produces better results than the software that came with my printer. Printers are somewhat noisy and do give off plastic fumes so best if you don't need to leave it running in a small enclosed room. That should give you a little to think about.
    1 point
  10. Arrived today [emoji4] Thanks again Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
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