Hand Winding Mainsprings...

[diamondslayer]

I am saving money for mainspring winders, but I'm having trouble winding with finger cots. I wind them with cots and they always end up with bits of rubber stuck in them.

Should I forget the cots, wash my hands, and use them with bare fingers?

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[rogart63]

Yepp .Do as the surgeons do .Wash your hand for 5 minutes :) I think that will do nice . I do most of my  tinkering without finger condoms .  

[diamondslayer]

I had a watch maker sneaking through my bench and he said, "Man, I'm so sorry!" I said, "I know my tools are used and limited!" He said, "No, those condoms are really small!" I don't think he uses them at all, but I didn't ask because he caught me off guard. Lol

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[Ishima]

I don't know about this, you can clean your hands all you want, they're still going to sweat and excrete oil just as much. Finger cots are great but I can see your point about hand winding with them, can be problematic. Not sure what to suggest.

(and yes, with finger cots, many a time with colleagues and customers I've had to smile and say 'it's not what it looks like', I try to make light of it, because I just wouldn't want to work without them)

Edited May 2, 2015 by Ishima

[Maurice]

I only have a small set of right handed winders ,so often hand wind. I give my hands a thorough clean and scrub with a nail brush then once dried off roll rodico around the tips. Once the spring is in I roll rodico over the open barrel end and clean the closed barrel with rodico with cots on. As I suffer from springlexia I always photograph the spring in the barrel before I remove it as I have been known to refit them upside down. :thumbsd:  

[canthus]

My friend uses spray on plaster dressing (it forms a thin skin over the area applied) for cracked skin.  I am going to do trials on how well this stays in place and how soluble it is in oil, water etc.  I have tried it on a wound in the past it it was quite difficult to remove so maybe worth a punt.

[anilv]

Hi Canthus,

Dry your hands off ...meaning no moisture. Wind your spring in. Rinse in zippo fluid. Oil as you would normally but use your oiler to spread the oil over all the visible edges of the spring.

If you're replacing with a new spring, its even less as a problem as they are are made of an alloy which resists rust well. If you are reusing a blue steel mainspring then moisture is not really your problem as these springs lose their 'springiness' over time and will need to be replaced.

Anil

[diamondslayer]

What if I washed my hands and then proceeded to wind and lube the mainspring by hand, but instead, once the barrel is closed I use a q-tip with one dip on it and give the outside barrel a gentle bath with the q-tip and dip?

I have to take a picture too!

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Edited May 4, 2015 by diamondslayer

[Don]

I wear nitrile gloves. It's still a bit awkward, but way better than finger cots.

[anilv]

Outside of the barrel is the least of your problems... You can use a qtip/dip but even a wipe with a clean dry cloth will work if you use rodico to get the fibers out of the barrel teeth.

The main thing is to avoid moisture and other contaminants inside the barrel itself.

Anil