Humor me - catch those flyers!

[Dmitry]

Hello, 

I wonder if professionals here can share any advise on how to minimize unintended explosions. Time and time again when I am working on various movements springs and clicks and screws fly across the room. Sometimes I get lucky and find them, sometimes they get lucky and escape.

Are there any trade secrets on how to catch them or minimize those projectiles? Magnets on perifery? Nets? Domes?

Thank you.

[HectorLooi]

It gets better with practice. 

The secret is in tweezering technique. 

Firstly, dress your tweezers. It doesn't need to be expensive Swiss tweezers. But make sure the tips are straight, gripping properly. When you apply pressure, make sure the very tips of the tweezers don't open up. Tweezers slso have different closing strength. I prefer tweezers with a light touch. You can make a tweezer lighter by thinning the body of the tweezers near where the two blades come together. 

Next, learn to control your squeezing pressure. Don't use anymore force than is necessary. Squeezing harder only ensures a further flight path. Some people prefer brass tweezers as brass is a little softer than stainless steel and grips better.

Use pegwood to hold down parts that are under tension, like springs, setting levers, etc. Or you can stick a blob of Rodico to the spring to trap it when it tries to get away.

Some of our members have advised working inside a plastic bag or a photographic tent to catch the parts when they fly.

Practice your tweezering techniques on scrap parts first. Then if you are a masochist, practice on ladies watches. Some of the screws are so tiny that an ant can carry it away.

Good luck and get a torch, a long bar magnet and knee pads. 

[anilv]

Good quality tweezers are the key, cheap oness require more force to compress and the resulting force will shoot parts away.

Good tweezers require little pressure. One trick to reduce the amount or pressure required was to grind down the thickness at the part where the tweezers bend away... but ulimately cheap steel will have less 'spring' and the best solution is to buy some good quality stuff.

Anilv

[JohnR725]

Practices the number one thing to success in watch repair. Providing your practicing correctly versus practicing throwing things around the room. Then tweezers? Can we get a picture of your tweezers? Often times people think and watch repair that they should have really delicate fine tweezers and that's not always the case. If they look at number two tweezers their tips seem to be relatively big but they do hold the parts quite nicely versus other types of tweezers that cause parts the fly. This is what happens if I try to use my hairspring tweezers things are more likely to disappear.

[DavidADav]

I completely agree, it’s the practice. Even with my cheaper brass tweezers, the longer I work at this, the less I have parts fly in to the “watchmaker’s triangle,” never to be seen again. 
 

Just keep practicing your tweezer techniques. Pick pieces up, set them down, do it again and again with different parts and grips. Look at the pieces you are working with to learn where best to grip them and what the consequence will be if you pick up from the wrong side. For example, a click - is it under pressure? Then perhaps you should lift it in a way where the pressure can be gradually reduced. 
 

Also, there are other tools. Try a piece of peg wood or a plastic stick to hold the risky part down while lifting the part applying pressure to it. Or, if you are really worried, put the piece inside of a large ziplock bag as you remove it. Then, even if it flies, it’s in a contained location! 
 

Good luck!

Dave

[HectorLooi]

2 hours ago, DavidADav said:

 parts fly in to the “watchmaker’s triangle,” never to be seen again. 

Sometimes when you are looking for something you just dropped, a part which you lost eons ago will show up. I think the gremlins under the workbench have ADHD. When they get hold of something new, they forget about the old one and let it go.

[DavidADav]

1 minute ago, HectorLooi said:

Sometimes when you are looking for something you just dropped, a part which you lost eons ago will show up. I think the gremlins under the workbench have ADHD. When they get hold of something new, they forget about the old one and let it go.

So true!! Usually after you have appeased them with a higher value part.

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, DavidADav said:

Try a piece of peg wood or a plastic stick to hold the risky part down while lifting the part applying pressure to it. Or, if you are really worried, put the piece inside of a large ziplock bag as you remove it.

I have used both of these methods successfully.  Still developing "tweezer" skill in the mean time.

[Xilikon]

I always use a plastic stick when dealing with springs and so far, no flyers yet. However, there is always a flyer each time I work on the movement but it's always because i was a bit careless handling them with the tweezers or doing something too quickly.

As others say, practice help reduce those flyers a lot. Good thing i setup my workbench in area with floating floors in a corner so there isn't too many place to hide.

[KarlvonKoln]

The others have said all the good stuff: practice, good tweezers, dress them, tips & tricks to prevent parts taking flight, owning a good torch/flashlight and a long-handled magnet, etc.  I suppose a person will learn the combination things that work best for him/her in time.
I have a favorite pair of brass tweezers that I love.  I am very used to them and tend to grab them first before any others.  But I do have a bright LED light close at hand.
I have also made a special apron which I wear when doing repair or stripping down.  I made it for this purpose. The bottom edge has a rigid plastic rod, as long as my workbench is wide.  It has grommets which mount to cup hooks underneath the tabletop.  The apron has curved side-panels which are cut on a parabolic curve, such that the whole lower-part of the apron forms a sort of catch-pocket.  Anything I might drop, and about half of what might fly, will land in there.  I only have to reach down and pick it up. And it's not in the way at all.  I haven't had to search the floor in months.  That said, if anything took off flying upward...well...that's still an issue to deal with another way.

[AshF]

Of course, once you become a master watchmaker you can catch them in mid air with your tweezers Mr Miyagi style.