Jump to content

hairspring repair

gina

By gina
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

gina Member

gina

Posted
Posted

Hello,

I'm brand new to this forum and also to watchmaking. I've barely disassembled and reassembled a BFG 866. That was great. And then, I bent a hairspring. And then another. So...my first question would be: is there a point where a hairspring is too far gone to be repaired? 

 

Thanks ahead for the answer!

g

Link to comment
Share on other sites
watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

Posted
Posted

Hi Gina  there is a time when the spring is beyond saving usually when its a rats nest or the kink is so sharp that the molecular structure of the metal is damaged and any further flexing will cause it to snap.  Most soft distortions when the spring is not flat or the coils are not even causing them to touch and that causes rate errors are in all probability salvageable with care and deft use of the tweezers or manipulation tools. The subject has been covered before and the references can be found via the SEARCH box at the top right of the home screen.   We have all managed to butcher a spring or two during our carees.    Cheers

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gina Member

gina

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, watchweasol said:

Hi Gina  there is a time when the spring is beyond saving usually when its a rats nest or the kink is so sharp that the molecular structure of the metal is damaged and any further flexing will cause it to snap.  Most soft distortions when the spring is not flat or the coils are not even causing them to touch and that causes rate errors are in all probability salvageable with care and deft use of the tweezers or manipulation tools. The subject has been covered before and the references can be found via the SEARCH box at the top right of the home screen.   We have all managed to butcher a spring or two during our carees.    Cheers

OK, thank you. I did search the forum, but will look again for more detailed tutorials.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

Posted
Posted

What you need to do is purchase broken watches off of eBay.  Watch repair is all about continuously practicing. Practicing putting the gears in and out for instance without breaking pivots. Practicing working on hairsprings much nicer if it's a disposable watch that you purchase that's never going to be fixed. So you can destroy the hairspring learning how to work on it. Versus trying to fix the hairspring of something good where it is going to take a lot of practice to learn how to fix it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gina Member

gina

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 3/2/2020 at 1:21 AM, JohnR725 said:

What you need to do is purchase broken watches off of eBay.  Watch repair is all about continuously practicing. Practicing putting the gears in and out for instance without breaking pivots. Practicing working on hairsprings much nicer if it's a disposable watch that you purchase that's never going to be fixed. So you can destroy the hairspring learning how to work on it. Versus trying to fix the hairspring of something good where it is going to take a lot of practice to learn how to fix it.

Thank you John. That's good advice. Fortunately, these are cheap movements, and I'm using them as practice. Would love to learn how to fix what I break before I try working on anything of value! 

Btw, everyone is so nice here. Glad to be a part of this forum.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
nickelsilver Distinguished Member

nickelsilver

Posted
Posted
56 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

Countless spare hairsprings were produced during the past hundered years, what dose that tell us? 

 

Hahaha, that even trained watchmakers kill them sometimes! I mangled a microscopic one last week in a Lecoultre 426, the balance diameter in that is about 5.5mm so you can imagine the hairspring. Got it back in order luckily; I don't have very many springs that small.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Hawaiikook808
      Seitz Tool - Help determine if Seitz or not

      By Hawaiikook808 · Posted

      Aloha All, I recently bought this Seitz tool on eBay, but it is missing some pushers reamers.  I ended up ordering new parts for those that were missing before I received the actual Seitz tool (bad idea).   Upon inspecting the pushers/bits, I noticed 23 of the 56 provided with the set had no numbers. Further inspection revealed a huge difference in the quality of those unnumbered.  Do all Seitz pushers/bits have a number on them?  I'm pretty sure that 33 of the 56 I received are cheap Chinese knockoffs.  The worst part is that I ordered $80 of parts to replace the missing pushers/bits, and now I'm looking to return the tool. I'm not crazy, right? If these are Seitz parts, they should all be numbered, correct? The first two pictures are the Seitz (numbered), and the other pictures are the suspect parts.  Will I even be able to get a refund?  Thanks, Frank     
    • luiazazrambo
      WWW Eterna sucked me in.

      By luiazazrambo · Posted

      It was £10 + min fee, total £16, could not leave it there. Its a Stanton A.D.2. http://stanton-instruments.co.uk/
    • Geotex
      Generic screws for unknown movements

      By Geotex · Posted

      Chief- The picture below shows the three parts from the dial side that are most useful to "fingerprint" a movement in conjunction with the diameter of the movement.  That's why forum participants are always asking for dial side photos in posts asking for identification.  As far as the setting lever screw, it actually sits loose in the main plate. The threads engage the setting lever below, and the elongated stem above the shoulder sticks through a hole in one of the bridge plates so that it's held captive if unscrewed all the way.  So you may be fine as far as that goes. 
    • Chief
      Generic screws for unknown movements

      By Chief · Posted

      So I found what I believe is the setting lever screw! Am I right in thinking the screw next to the click is the correct one for the setting lever? However if it is, it doesn't fit in the hole which I believe is for it! I can get the lever to sit nicely on the stem and line up with a hole, but the screw only goes as far as the shoulder and stops. It's as though the hole is too small! The dial side has been disassembled by the way, the other wheels are in my tray
    • AlanB
      Gilding after silver soldering

      By AlanB · Posted

      When faced with say a pocket watch bridge which is cracked, silver soldering to repair is often the only option (hopefully someone wasn't there before hand with soft solder). I can generally do this succesfully and tidily with a small torch and miniscule pieces of silver solder, but on parts which were mercury amalgam gilded the heat can have have a deleterious effect on the finish.   I keep wondering if there's a good way to refinish these - and despite having the needful items would rather avoid using the mercury process.   In the past for electronic work I've gold plated PCBs but this involved gold potassium cyanide solution, which also doesn't realy belong at home. I've read that there are now safer alternatives but couldn't find more detail (and importantly how similar are the results to amalgam gilding, since I wouldn't want to refinish the whole watch). Pointers would be very welcome (and yes, I know solutions containing gold won't be cheap!) Alan
×
×
  • Create New...