Jump to content

KIF shock springs


ifibrin

Recommended Posts

I was going to buy some KIF shock springs to add to my inventory, but I realized that there are some additional KIF shock springs listed that are available on cousinsuk that don’t appear in their guide, or on other material houses, such as KIF 1-5 and KIF 1-7. Does anyone have any idea what they are? As far as I can tell KIF 1-X are the Trior types.

E82EE647-C17C-4F58-9AD7-5939099CEDC4.jpeg

E43588FC-542F-4C61-BFE6-97B7C24CB235.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've bemoaned on another KIF related thread the fact that the documentation available on the company's website (https://kif-parechoc.ch) is lamentable.

I can tell you a 1-7 was commonly used by Hanhart though.

In that regard you'll probably have more luck in rounding out your KIF knowledge by looking at the movement manufacturer specific documentation on Cousins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The Kif table shows the Trior springs as having narrow, formed lugs.

Cattura.PNG.011b6510fd4918d0ebafbadb9b95ac40.PNG

Bun in the OP pictures these are shaped differently, being a wider tab with the inner contour following the outer one.
Looks like the wider tab could not fit a setting block machined for the first. Does anyone know what is the full story here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, jdm said:

The Kif table shows the Trior springs as having narrow, formed lugs.

Cattura.PNG.011b6510fd4918d0ebafbadb9b95ac40.PNG

Bun in the OP pictures these are shaped differently, being a wider tab with the inner contour following the outer one.
Looks like the wider tab could not fit a setting block machined for the first. Does anyone know what is the full story here?

I think only in the 1-2 are there narrow and formed lugs. In the 1-4 onwards, theres a wider tab with an inner contour.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I asked Cousins for better documentation and after much insistence with their supplier (which clearly isn't the manufacturer) that is the answer they got and shared with me:

I just learned that the last paper catalogue was 1978 and this one is no more available. I have tried to look for more details on the Web, without success. Just note that 99.99% and even more of the production goes to Swiss watch manufactures.

In my opinion this lack of care for anyone except their local and consolidated customers is another demonstration of ottusity and contempt by the Swiss industry. At least in this case we are able to figure out things ourselves anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jdm said:

I asked Cousins for better documentation and after much insistence with their supplier that is the answer they got and shared with me:

I just learned that the last paper catalogue was 1978 and this one is no more available. I have tried to look for more details on the Web, without success. Just note that 99.99% and even more of the production goes to Swiss watch manufactures.

In my opinion this lack of care for anyone except their local and consolidated customers is another demonstration of ottusity and contempt by the Swiss industry. At least in this case we are able to figure out things ourselves anyway.

Is this 1972 book of any use? It's similar to the Incabloc one where it cross references calibers to the relevant settings.

IMG_20211014_165904.thumb.jpg.b475af0fe80fba5e9f8b5c0ee3305450.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Plato said:

Is this 1972 book of any use? It's similar to the Incabloc one where it cross references calibers to the relevant settings.

That's great of course. If isn't available already some saint should take the time to digitize and share it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to @Plato for digitizing the KIF catalogue! After looking through the catalogue, I have come to the conclusion that KIF 1-7 is very similar in size to KIF 1-4, and may different only in thickness, or slightly in radius. There is no mention of KIF 1-5 in the catalogue, and it may just be a different color variant of KIF 1-4 or KIF 1-5, but I have no way of confirming this. The best way to identify the different KIF 1-X variants is to sort them by the cap jewel size (contre-pivot); the sizes of the shock block, or the hole jewels as indicated by Φ doesn’t seem very reliable as it seems the same shock spring can use a variety of shock blocks and hole jewels of different size. The only consistent measure of the shock spring is which cap jewel it is paired with, which makes sense as the shock spring directly contacts the cap jewel.

In the case of KIF 1-4 and KIF 1-7, they are all paired with cap jewel 517, the largest size cap jewel. KIF 1-2 is paired with 515, and KIF 1-3 is paired with 516.

KIF 1-7 is quite a rare shock spring used, and I have attached all mention of it in the catalogue below:A40EEB06-EE91-49EC-A9EB-D5D24E03BC6E.thumb.jpeg.012445bc5c66ef394eae05e0fdb99e41.jpeg

821C315F-D04B-423F-94FA-F2CF6B87A202.thumb.jpeg.c5d7959791404558c57d073f5817cd7a.jpegE5245A38-4433-4152-984F-D0F79F4904E3.thumb.jpeg.ce47ee8ce195c48198d9505a419f6b4d.jpeg

BA405ED4-6294-4791-BD59-FAFB983B287A.thumb.jpeg.a7c1d158aeb9740b089b65df52b40a70.jpeg D3948FEE-1120-48D5-B304-61C9CD2C5485.thumb.jpeg.b2f68ebc3981f30158b786405e2f30d1.jpeg

 

As compared with KIF 1-4, you can see that they all share the same cap jewel:2C63B011-42A1-46B0-A071-B4F7D9D7AE66.thumb.jpeg.d3c4d197dd7bbe78f3f535e534b8d15f.jpeg1DABFC2D-59EA-48B4-B393-ABBD1E80ECDD.thumb.jpeg.5bd5d9f45aca80dc92b0a3b9f60623ba.jpeg8400AE60-E7D9-4C76-BD0C-4F11E1A83D98.thumb.jpeg.ff5492e1c12e502091474efb3e7669cd.jpegCF7E6933-ABBF-42D1-86B4-93508088B25F.thumb.jpeg.238f7f03b199fd748da5c905a740157c.jpeg240A5F85-9F01-4FCA-A71D-F74F09CA6C55.thumb.jpeg.7314fa830387867214b0801f1fc5abbc.jpegC9DA2243-F27C-4E14-A71B-EDE79CB4CE46.thumb.jpeg.1648f8275b2a5b1e17eeba8503216c6e.jpeg3172F27B-A505-4120-9D9B-9D2D5AD47FB7.thumb.jpeg.a65633ea67ac0cff43972d4ee7a92219.jpeg72F04D6E-7C67-481B-B51B-299E3E86A409.thumb.jpeg.7436a95e8f2748b9123e2919b05c30ce.jpegEEEAEAD4-FAB8-4331-A8C7-66027D88063A.thumb.jpeg.f315f15809ce149cc40cf594355f0bc9.jpeg9424D7BB-F4B6-4DE4-87F7-7663E44AF8E4.thumb.jpeg.937e5e24579df2311edd4cbf6b577b4b.jpeg8945C391-100B-432A-9BDB-937D31F69CCA.thumb.jpeg.fa736ee534a8d96ff9b2c229db83c267.jpeg421E91DD-224F-438B-A533-41E04DC9F783.thumb.jpeg.161dfa93b844322f003492a4fc9a6e28.jpeg7BB8E1BC-30E6-4F70-B742-5BF9EB02C171.thumb.jpeg.e911ebe5325a9ec95541b3b544ac2775.jpeg1263CB7D-EC7B-4D02-A0B3-115243C4B22F.thumb.jpeg.c0b12a300dca086f78bae9c9d19a35e8.jpeg

4DA80B6C-85A0-4FCF-B240-2F2244C6EACC.thumb.jpeg.2ee91824f6d82f9e3e2e12809a9e69cb.jpeg

 

 

 

Edited by ifibrin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
On 10/16/2021 at 6:25 AM, Plato said:

This is the intro, the book is 135 pages long and my scanner's very slow so it's going to take a bit longer than I thought... a Sunday job.

Outstanding job and you have way more patience than I do. If I have to scan anything more than about 20 pages it really gets to be stressful and I usually end up missing a page here and there. Looks like we more or less have the same book Looking at my book is 125 Pages but mine is more than likely older mine says it's in 1978 edition.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • 🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...