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Home brew movement holders

familyguy
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familyguy Member

familyguy

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I searched movement holder in this forum and saw that they do come up in discussion so I thought I'd share my 3D printed and aluminium machined holders.
I've tried a few different cheap (Ebay) movement holders and yes they do work to a point but the movement can - and always at the wrong moment - jump out or move in the holder so I tried a few 3D printed holders, I found that estimating the amount of shrinkage was a bit hit and miss, allow too much for shrinkage and the movement tends to move around in the holder - reduce the shrinkage allowance and the movement doesn't fit, a 3d printed one that was ok and a good fit is shown next to the aluminium holder, time taken to design and print is about 60-75 minutes.

I also designed a slightly different one in Fusion360, the idea is that the 3 sections where there is a boss will be tapped 3mm and a 3mm plastic screw used to hold the movement steady, plastic/nylon screws available from electronics stores are used to fasten circuit boards down, I haven't printed this one yet I still need to decide if a 3mm screw will cause any damage if tightened at the wrong spot, that's the reason I provided 3 postions for the screw one should be in the right place.

I also made one from aluminium it works very well, like the 3D printed one it supports the movement all the way around the edges a 4mm thumb screw presses an aluminium 'jaw' against the movement, the jaw is just a 1/4" length of aluminium rod cut out to suit the curve, there is enough slop in the hole that the 1/4" rod fits into provide firm grip on the movement. Part of this was made by hand the whole process taking about 2 hrs but since then I've worked out a way to machine the complete thing. If I end up making any more aluminium holders, I'm going to 3D print a cap/cover so I can cover the movement while taking a break for the day or lunch - what ever.

 

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Screenshot 2021-09-02 205128.jpg

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Al one is nice.  I don't have that capability so my movement holders are 3D printed.  You probably already saw my thread on this topic.  I parameterized my holder so that I just enter the diameter of the movement and everything else is calculated.  I use FreeCAD for this. 

I cover my movements with something like this.

 

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familyguy Member

familyguy

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Thanks for the link, your 3D printed movement holders are much the same as the ones I printed, except that you have designed them to fit into one of those litle domed parts trays - I didn't think of that.
The first one I printed shrank about 0.5mm and the movement wouldn't fit I allowed too much for shrinkage on the next one and the movement tended to float around in the holder so that is why I designed one with a clamp screw - how did you work out the shrinkage allowance ?

I'm in the process of converting my milling machine to CNC - a CNC machine would be perfect for knocking out aluminium movement holders.

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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2 hours ago, familyguy said:

The first one I printed shrank about 0.5mm and the movement wouldn't fit

LOL, ain't it the truth?  I have a box which I call my "box of shame" where all of my misfit prints go.  It is hard to know from one print to the next, how accurate the result will be.  Hey...but I love my printer!!! Fixed so many things, improved so many others.

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utzelu Member

utzelu

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On 9/5/2021 at 3:56 AM, familyguy said:

Oh well at least I'm not the only one with the same issue - 3D printing is great but I wouldn't call it precision engineering.

It can be. I just 3d printed in resin a movement holder for a 6498 and it was a perfect fit, with no shrinkage. No post finishing required. Another option is to print it slightly oversized and then, if you have a lathe or mill, machine it to final dimensions. Much less work than machine everything in metal. And with the advances in metal printing, you can 3d print things directly in 316L stainless steel. I am looking for this service but it is still expensive for printing watch cases.

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      Stem removal after fitting hands

      By PeterS · Posted

      I see what you mean. I must admit I’m not entirely comfortable with that but I can’t see a better method than what you suggest. I’d like to see something like this mirror with a short spike: https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/mirror-for-observing-movements Place it on, push the spike on the post with one hand and release the stem with the other hand. Minor problem, it doesn’t exist.
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