KIF shock springs

[ifibrin]

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.

[WatchMaker]

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.

[ifibrin]

I purchased all the different 1-X KIF trior springs, and will report back when the shock springs arrive. I also asked cousinsuk, and they are asking their supplier about what the difference is.

[ifibrin]

I don’t have the KIF 1-3 shock springs, but I have all the others in the 1-X series.

[jdm]

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

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?

[ifibrin]

20 minutes ago, jdm said:

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

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.

[jdm]

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.

[Plato]

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.

[jdm]

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.

[Plato]

5 minutes ago, jdm said:

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

I'll see what I can do with my scanner over the weekend 

[Plato]

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.

KIF Spare Material Catalogue P1-17.pdf

[Plato]

2nd installment, that's me done for today. I should be able to copy the rest of it tomorrow.

KIF Spare Material Catalogue P18-53.pdf

[watchweasol]

Thank you for your effort and making it available to all.  commendable.

[Plato]

No worries, technical info like this should be free for all to access.

[Plato]

And finally...

KIF Spare Material Catalogue Cover.pdfKIF Spare Material Catalogue P54-103.pdf

KIF Spare Material Catalogue P104-135.pdf

[ifibrin]

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:

 

 

As compared with KIF 1-4, you can see that they all share the same cap jewel:

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by ifibrin

[JohnR725]

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.