Mainspring winders

[TimpanogosSlim]

On 5/18/2021 at 4:57 AM, Zero said:

An ingenious tool from a vanished past. It is amazing how the folk of those days used to think and build tools. I bet with enough practice you could use this for any spring size.

If someone like me made a mistake while winding it, would it hurt? Likely to happen multiple dozens of times. Someone like me as in a person of very poor skill.

I used my L.G. #350 today to wind a spring for an Orient 46941. I'm a n00b and i am pretty sure this was my first successful use of it. 

The thought i had today, after failing to successfully use one of the winders from my Schilling & Sons set of bracelet mainspring winders, was that both tools would be easier to use with some carefully crafted washers. 

The Schilling winders didn't work because they accommodate a spring at least twice as wide as the one i was trying to wind. It was all a jumble in there. 

The LG 350 won't accommodate a spring much wider, but i did have to keep a finger on top of the spring as it wound. 

I have some of the K&D winders as well, and i think they maybe have the same width issues as the schilling winders. 

If i had some washers that could serve as spacers, it would be easier to work with these narrow springs. I might see what i can fabricate but i don't have a lathe. 

I understand the appeal of the bergeon sets, etc. But I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on a set. 

[MattyG]

Hey all, I, and I'm sure a lot of other people getting into the trade are curious about where one can find and buy a good set of mainspring winders. I'm looking for a set that is good all around and will support many of the mainsprings I will be servicing. Varying types. Bang for my buck so to say. The world of mainspring winders is a confusing one considering all of the different sizing's and calibers some do, and don't support. If anyone can help me find a set that will allow me to service many different sizes without needing to buy a new mainspring with every service. I would appreciate it al lot. Thanks.

[LittleWatchShop]

For watches?  Or clocks? 

[HectorLooi]

Do let us know if you do find it!

[LittleWatchShop]

The bottom two are my go-to winders.

 

[HectorLooi]

17 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

The bottom two are my go-to winders.

 

I have all 3 of them but I won't say they'll do every mainspring out there.

The adjustable K&D ones were my favorite for awhile until it broke one of my Seiko automatic mainsprings. The Seiko bridle was so stiff that it went in and then poked out through the gap in the adjustable jaws and kinked the spring. And it broke when I tried to straighten it.

I recently bought a set of the China made ones but again it doesn't work for every size. My mentor told me to either learn to make my own arbors or do it by hand.

It can be a real pain doing it by hand, especially very small barrels from ladies watches. And the risk of damaging them is higher.

[LittleWatchShop]

3 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

I have all 3 of them but I won't say they'll do every mainspring out there

I have two other sets of different style.  One of them came in to use the other day when I was working on a pocket watch.  I have had to modify an arbor because the pin had worn.  It is relatively easy to do.

My next mainspring winder project is for clocks.  Been collecting all of the parts to make one.  Won't be long!

[HectorLooi]

I started building a clock mainspring winder a couple of years ago but a nice Weber winder came up on eBay and I bought it. It works great, so I never finished the winder project.

[LittleWatchShop]

1 hour ago, HectorLooi said:

I started building a clock mainspring winder a couple of years ago but a nice Weber winder came up on eBay and I bought it. It works great, so I never finished the winder project.

Here are the parts for the build.  The winder chucks were from my Dad, the deep well socket, I had.  The extender and the t-bar I recently bought.  The pipe clamp is a new addition.  I am close!  Gonna buy a shorter extender though.

[HectorLooi]

What are you using for the ratchet system?

[HectorLooi]

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=clock+mainspring+winder+&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1313

Just to tempt you. 

[LittleWatchShop]

21 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

What are you using for the ratchet system?

Well, I have printed a gear that will slide on to the socket extender.  But, I don't think I will use that concept.  I am going to start without a rachet system and have a "stop bar" that I can extend (I have seen others do this).  If I don't like that, I will make a rachet system...figure it out as I go.

Edited January 12, 2022 by LittleWatchShop

[MattyG]

Hey guys. Really sorry for not getting back seriously. I'm talking about watch mainspring winders. A good set that will cover many different calibers. 

[jdm]

22 minutes ago, MattyG said:

Hey guys. Really sorry for not getting back seriously. I'm talking about watch mainspring winders. A good set that will cover many different calibers. 

What is your budget? If "reasonable / hobbyst" that pretty much restricts the choice to the Chinese set widely discussed, anything else is way more expensive, including on Ebay.

[MattyG]

 

On 1/14/2022 at 12:04 PM, jdm said:

What is your budget? If "reasonable / hobbyst" that pretty much restricts the choice to the Chinese set widely discussed, anything else is way more expensive, including on Ebay.

Right now I'm looking at the Bergeon 5355 set. It's going for around 800 bucks. I'm a hobbyist however I really try to service as many watches as I can. Vintage mostly because they are the easiest to get at a good price on ebay, and other websites like that. It's a massive pain to have to put a project on hold because I need to scour the internet for the mainspring of a particular movement, and then once I find one, I need to wait an additional week or two for it to arrive. I'd just like some input because I'm trying to find a set that will work on many, many calibers. My fear is dropping all of this money on a set of mainspring winders, and having barley touched them because I cant find a use for them. 

P.S: Again I really am terribly sorry for being wildly late on this topic. For some reason I haven't been getting notifications on here, but I fixed it now so I will know when someone responds. I don't mean to be so late and seem disrespectful of your time.

[LittleWatchShop]

39 minutes ago, MattyG said:

Right now I'm looking at the Bergeon 5355 set.

That is a nice set.  I like the way the winding arbor is designed.  It is a lot of money.  There is a larger set that is even more money but is probably guaranteed to address every barrel you might find.  Mark has a video about the larger set...I surmise from his video that he is a fan of these.

[MattyG]

@LittleWatchShop Awesome, I will probably invest in them in the near future. I just wanted to know if they were a worthy investment. Thanks.

Edited January 25, 2022 by MattyG

[jdm]

9 hours ago, MattyG said:

Right now I'm looking at the Bergeon 5355 set. It's going for around 800 bucks.

That is a lot of money for an hobbyst and as mentioned it doesn't even cover all the sizes. A better approach IMHO would be to get the Chinese set, and with the money saved buy lathe that will allow you to make additional drums and arbors for the winder if and when needed, plus of course the many other watchmaking tasks. 

 

9 hours ago, MattyG said:

I need to scour the internet for the mainspring of a particular movement, and then once I find one, I need to wait an additional week or two for it to arrive. 

Having a winder should not be seen as an shortcut or cost saving alternative to replace the mainspring when needed. One needs to make a call on the state of the mainspring based not on its visual appearance but mainly on how it performs In terms of isochronism and power reserve after all other components have been cleaned, checked, and oiled. This is something that requires experience to build up and may require that the barrel is taken apart multiple times.

Also I think that especially for an hobbyst, the time taken to complete a project should not be a concern. These watches have been sitting neglected for decades, and can wait the time needed to do the best possible job.

 

[MattyG]

@WRT I suppose your right. I'm well aware it's not a time saving alternative and I know you should replace a mainspring anyway if the condition shows. However I see all of these other hobbyist getting mainspring winders and I figured they were a good investment so I wanted to make sure. I don't thing I'm going to get the Chinese set though. Mark made a video on them and they seemed like trash.

[jdm]

48 minutes ago, MattyG said:

I don't thing I'm going to get the Chinese set though. Mark made a video on them and they seemed like trash.

Mark can be very direct in calling trash stuff that really is, but it doesn't appear to be the case with that video. We have a summary reviews of various sets including two Chinese one in the post linked below, and even more details are interspersed in more comments in this same topic.

One thing I know is, I wouldn't be happy keeping an expensive tool "investment" sitting idle for the most part since it's made to work on exotic, rare, or expensive mov.ts that I will never work on at all, but can tolerate the same for a reasonably priced item.

 

[MattyG]

interesting. I'll give them a look then.

[ign03]

Hi everyone!

I guess that this is a pretty common issue amongst amateur watchmakers but I’ve been looking for a mainspring winder that I can afford without emptying my bank account. I am leaning towards the cheap eBay knock offs, at least for now, since I am starting with the hobby. Anyway, today I saw these second hand ones online, but I have no idea if they are worth it or not. The seller is not helping much since he has no clue about what it is and can’t guarantee that they work properly. What do you guys think? Can you spot if they are from a quality brand or I would be better off buying some cheap (but new) ones?

Thank you in advance! Cheers!

[LittleWatchShop]

Looks like there is a missing piece...the handle

[ign03]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my idea would then be to buy a separate handle like this one (https://www.ebay.com/itm/273038305989hash=item3f9259eac5:g:S38AAOSwP-5Z3pnk), in case it would fit. Does that make sense?

[Paul80]

They look to be a good make, with steel arbours, rather than brass often used on the cheaper ones, although some of the cheaper ones show steel but turn up as brass.

Don't know about the handle, you might get lucky and find one that will fit.