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Starting aNew Balance Staff

jdrichard
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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Fixing a friends dad’s old Waltham and it needs a new staff. Step 1 is to remove the balance cock.4bd545f2041eaab967d5cdae2548d075.jpg

Step 2 is removing the balance with the roller table and hairspring attached.6233332f4638a270ba54754ea34a8898.jpg

Step 3 is removing the hairspring. Then have a look at the good pivot. It will provide a good reference to measure for the new pivot.

f0b73c50e57aa5ac3de00fc49485cf36.jpg36066cee679eceac6849d8c4f2017061.jpg

Step 4 is to remove the roller table. Lots of different tools and techniques here but I have an old factory tool.

e9c12aab08acfa6998c828f63e6367b2.jpgfae28e6171839ea95d6f805a484c2efc.jpgefc2f91fd7fdd90957bf61097913cb13.jpg

Step 5 is to cut off the old riveted balance away from the staff, on a lathe.094e0b1450385c09a76ad4e5c1bee599.jpgd008ac44b7943acbd90e966e5347bd41.jpgbb312e72455e54ff6255f04159db15ba.jpg

Step 6 is to punch out the old staff from the balancea61d5643c9897975077f1498f081906e.jpgbcfeb5e5c9248816daff16bdcf7b9448.jpgStep 7 is to measure the old balance staff09f3e8318bf7518718c56bdfc2887c1f.jpg9767263377f29398f5d223be6b948014.jpg09870f2276e9a0dcfc0e31713806d65e.jpgThen you prepare a piece of blued steel for the Lathe to cut the new staff.

 

 

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Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

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1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

You are growing in confidence in making new staffs. Nice photos so members can see what you do.

Hi Jd ,  I imagine you remove material from collet seat and inside of riviting shoulder perhaps dril a hole inside the balanace shoulder,( I think I saw it on marks video) to punch the riveted portion of staff out.

Punching the rivted shoulder and the pivot and everyrhing else out with a sldge hammer is widely practiced. Do you see the difference worth the work?

 

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Hi Jd ,  I imagine you remove material from collet seat and inside of riviting shoulder perhaps dril a hole inside the balanace shoulder,( I think I saw it on marks video) to punch the riveted portion of staff out.
Punching the rivted shoulder and the pivot and everyrhing else out with a sldge hammer is widely practiced. Do you see the difference worth the work?
 

You can punch the staff out with the tool I show in the picture locked into the Staking Tool. It will remove the riveted portion, but there is a chance you will distort the hold of the balance staff or even warp the balance arms. So that is why the best technique is to use a lathe. Not sure what you mean about drilling a hole. As well, you need the old staff to make the new staff for dimensions or you will have to figure out the staff dimensions the hard way.


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Hi , What tools do I need to measure dimentions on a staff?
I have a lot of obsolete staffs, some are mixed which I like to identify.
Here is a diagram for common language . Thanks    joe
 
3765a6fd7a98adbbfbee1bec0686f711.jpg.acce75e117f226c37ce8b688b129ff81.jpg

For general measurements I use the following gauge c302e52f144a07a626e598ba76c17c67.jpg
You could also use a micrometer



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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Well done. You could make yourself a tidy sum if you advertised that you make balance staffs.

You may be correct. Done and installed and works well.02ca2c796c2a2cd69bee03b3b39443b8.jpg45057f85755f1eef6ddd5cd8218d4c6d.jpg40e694431db9544e4bce7e546884d8e9.jpg
And then I found a bad Upper Jewel and had to trim a setting I had that almost fit. Used jeweling Collet in 50mm chuck with a 2mm flat graver and got us down to size. Pivot needed a bit more adjustment.08d83ff912533186a87c5aa87570b437.jpg1bd37921c397fc7517c057c4b5f07272.jpg26a330caed77a501801adcc764b25168.jpgf7444e96d2c02cea7de1579237ea08fc.jpgd6c352768912796354219ac8c66f571a.jpga889caf5e0979d652ad6f8000c9e5046.jpg9237d6366f913af00296c84155ebcf68.jpge6c4cf1172ebb31568d1a81fb8048f40.jpg
Done and dusted. The movement has a bad mainspring so I installed the balance and put a small push on the center wheel and the balance came to life:)9072f788199f7394671f1aad4d7bc8cc.jpg


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stevew Watch Enthusiast

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Brilliant !. Not that i can afford a Lathe at present, or wether i could even do such a task, but the satisfaction of doing such a perfect job, must be very pleasing. With hard to impossible to find staffs, for older watches, its the perfect part of learning.

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Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

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On 3/17/2019 at 5:13 PM, jdrichard said:


You can punch the staff out with the tool I show in the picture locked into the Staking Tool. It will remove the riveted portion, but there is a chance you will distort the hold of the balance staff or even warp the balance arms. So that is why the best technique is to use a lathe. Not sure what you mean about drilling a hole. As well, you need the old staff to make the new staff for dimensions or you will have to figure out the staff dimensions the hard way.


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I don,t make staffs and be happy to just staff a BW with ready factory made ones of known caliber. Dosn,t removing the rivited portion of the old staff on lathe reduce the risk of warping the wheel? 

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Brilliant !. Not that i can afford a Lathe at present, or wether i could even do such a task, but the satisfaction of doing such a perfect job, must be very pleasing. With hard to impossible to find staffs, for older watches, its the perfect part of learning.

You are correct. Four months of study and trial before I cut my first staff. Had never used a lathe before or understood how to cut properly. Did a lot of hours of practice. And also bought the two video training sessions from Trop and Tasconni.(spelling may be off)


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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I don,t make staffs and be happy to just staff a BW with ready factory made ones of known caliber. Dosn,t removing the rivited portion of the old staff on lathe reduce the risk of warping the wheel? 

It does and I have used the lathe technique for other staffs that had a rivet


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