Twisted and bent hairspring

[Khan]

Hi guys. 

Can such crooked hairssprings be rescued?

I feel the more I correct it, the more crooked it gets. I guess that I should fix the twisting first, so that its flat horizontal and then turn it into a circle? I have seen Mark's videos but this seems different. 

[jdrichard]

Hi guys. 
Can such crooked hairssprings be rescued?
I feel the more I correct it, the more crooked it gets. I guess that I should fix the twisting first, so that its flat horizontal and then turn it into a circle? I have seen Mark's videos but this seems different. 

It is a very difficult job to straighten out a hairspring. I would recommend taking all the twists out first. Then I would start bending the round. Once it is flat and round, I would determine where the turn starts and make sure the angle up and then flat is correct and aligned to the stud holder on the balance cock. Then shape it to follow the regulator path.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[MechanicMike]

hairspring work is a craft and trade unto itself, and a vanishing art. back in the days of old when pocketwatches were the smartphones of their day, a master would even send his hairspring work to a specialist called a "Vibrator," of all things. thats all they did for 8 hrs a day for an entire career. a very exact, and mysterious science.  just recently I had a twisted up hairspring, what I dubbed the "slinky snafu," not only was it kinked, it had twisted across itself. nope. not even close. I spent a ton of time on it, no luck. The more I tried, the worse it got. I lost that battle but will try again when the opportunity presents itself. mark made it look easy. I wish I had even come close to that. I had to replace it. good luck my friend. don't pull too much hair out...

[MechanicMike]

2 minutes ago, MechanicMike said:

hairspring work is a craft and trade unto itself, and a vanishing art. back in the days of old when pocketwatches were the smartphones of their day, a master would even send his hairspring work to a specialist called a "Vibrator," of all things. thats all they did for 8 hrs a day for an entire career. a very exact, and mysterious science.  just recently I had a twisted up hairspring, what I dubbed the "slinky snafu," not only was it kinked, it had twisted across itself. nope. not even close. I spent a ton of time on it, no luck. The more I tried, the worse it got. I lost that battle but will try again when the opportunity presents itself. mark made it look easy. I wish I had even come close to that. I had to replace it. good luck my friend. don't pull too much hair out...

my apologies for the terrible pun. that was awful.

[watchweasol]

I have done Balance springs they take a lot of time and a lot of patience, the last one took days tweaking it and then leaving it untill my mind cleared then at it again not easy for the casual repair person.

[MechanicMike]

On 8/5/2020 at 3:56 AM, watchweasol said:

I have done Balance springs they take a lot of time and a lot of patience, the last one took days tweaking it and then leaving it untill my mind cleared then at it again not easy for the casual repair person.

Totally agree.