continuing hairspring problem

[gary17]

Hi

I posted yesterday about a hairspring problem it was twisted and though warned it was not a job for beginners i thought i would have a crack.

The pics below are the outcome.

All these pieces are still there and not broke but the spring is a right state but unbroken and has both end pieces intact.

Can any one tell me if the spring can be made good or am i flogging a dead horse if i continue.

I do have another balance from a donor watch but that is twisted as well.

 

 

cheers

gary

[rduckwor]

That one is done bud.  Try the donor balance.  Sorry.  HS are tough.

RMD

[AndyHull]

If you want the practice, then flog away, the health of this horse can't get any worse.

The trickiest bit is going to be getting that kink to lie flat.

My gut feeling is that this will take a lot of time, and there is probably a greater chance of failure than success.If you have the time to spare, then give it a try, but be prepared to walk away. Do you know how many turns the spring is meant to have?

Normally I would say, "I've seen worse", but in this case, other than snapped ones, I don't think I have seen worse.

[TheFixer]

RIP

Sorry and I really am Sorry.

[Klassiker]

I didn't think it looked too bad when it was on the balance, but now it is way beyond saving in my opinion. Maybe you could show us the tools you have been using, and describe your technique? Until you have understood what you have been doing wrong, there's no point in continuing, I would say. You can practice on this. You cannot make it worse.

Hair springs are really, really hard to do well. The only tips I can give you are to read some threads on here where people describe the process, always to look carefully before touching the spring, decide what you think needs to be corrected, and exactly how you are going to achieve it, then perform the exact movements you decided upon, slowly and gently. If you managed to perform the exact movements you planned (no slips, shakes or drops) what was the result? If it wasn't what you expected, why not? What did change, and do you understand why? It's a long learning process, and you have to go slowly and be methodical.

Don't touch the spare one until you are confident you know what you are doing.

[gary17]

Thanks

No i have no idea how many turns the spring is meant to have.

I prefer just to give it a go.

Im not much into this reading lark.

Im a bit like jeremy clarckson hit it with a hammer and see what happens.

The sad thing is thats the 7th try i have had and by far the best result.

The good news is i have quite a few more balances to practice on. Balances i have kept from other disasters.

And seriously do you really need to know how many turns the spring had?

Im followed marks youtube video, so best not tell him.

Thanks for the feedback

cheers

garyu

[AndyHull]

1 hour ago, gary17 said:

And seriously do you really need to know how many turns the spring had

In this case, yes, you will need to know the original geometry since it is such a mess.

Normally though the original number of turns is obvious.

This one is way into hairspring salad territory, and I would be guessing if I even tried to figure out how many turns it started with.

Edited November 19, 2019 by AndyHull

[nickelsilver]

I was first in my class in hairsprings and have saved many considered "gone" but that one is GONE, and I'm the biggest optimist you'll meet. Even the best old dude from the Vallee de Joux would not even consider it.

[jdm]

10 hours ago, AndyHull said:

This one is way into hairspring salad territory.

You mean this? (please excuse the poor picture)

And it's missing two more which I have sent to a fellow member for his joy.

My frustration is that for most of these I did the damage while trying to correct just minor imperfection, typically the outer coil distance. I went to the bends of the  dog leg but made it worse each time. Now I am more or less able to correct the above working only on the end arc like Master Nickelsilver recently explained. And I finish the work while it's running, observing how it breaths and trying to make that even. I think that an HS that keeps good shape while running is always better. 

Edited November 20, 2019 by jdm

[canthus]

I read somewhere (maybe the tube) that you can cure a lot of evils if you wind the spring up as you would into a mainspring winder (though a MS winder would be too large and this would have to be done on the flat of your bench for example) until it is fully and tightly coiled.  I gather this gives it its shape back and you can move on from there.  Maybe a bit of an ask for your spring though !!  Maybe worth a try as not much to lose !!

Edited November 20, 2019 by canthus

[vinn3]

There are books,       that tell you how to re-shape an hair spring  and tools to use,   I read de Carles Watch Repair.   one tool i recall is "2 pairs of rounding plyers.   vin