Mainspring winders

[Tiny]

Thanks NEW for the nice comment about my workstation 

I'm hopeful some one will come up with a complete mainspring & barrel as the video I'm using for rebuild reference say's they are not a serviceable item but you can service them as he did but he also had a broken spring and had a replacement from a other Seiko 7019a movement

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Eyup Tiny. Hand winding is a little risky, although I do it mostly and I have big joiners hands. But I also have suite good manipulation and a little whirlygig that helps me. I thought Seiko only provided the barrel completes. VWatchie mentioned the other day. I love your workstations mate , nice job

 

I'll keep an eye out for you on ebay mate. Although they don't always fit what you might be working on. 

You doin mate OK? 

[gbyleveldt]

Seiko service sheets state that the whole barrel should be replaced. All fine and well if you can buy one (which you should if you could), but obviously barrels for older movements aren’t readily available. So I do strip and service them, which is a little more finicky than traditional barrels. But it can be done and I’ve done quite a few. I use a Bergeon no 7 arbour and a no 6 winder on “modern” barrels, that seems to work best for me. Just remember that many of them are left hand wind

Edited May 2, 2022 by gbyleveldt

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Tiny said:

Thanks NEW for the nice comment about my workstation 

I'm hopeful some one will come up with a complete mainspring & barrel as the video I'm using for rebuild reference say's they are not a serviceable item but you can service them as he did but he also had a broken spring and had a replacement from a other Seiko 7019a movement

Have a word with Watchey. I think Klassiker is a seiko man. Yes I'm sure I've seen them serviced. 

[HectorLooi]

6 hours ago, Tiny said:

So I've striped down my Seiko BUT not opened my main spring yet. I don't really fancy doing I with out a main spring winder I was going to try and buy a new main spring but I under stand a new spring still needs cleaning and re-greasing.

 

I've seen this main spring winder that looks like a universal tool and was wonder if anyone knows where I might buy one from.

Video at about 7 min shows the winder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbjMpWjGzkM&t=452s 

I have really thick thumbs so I think winding it by hand is out of the question 

 

Seiko mainsprings have an incredibly stiff bridle which makes it really difficult to get into the barrel of the winder. As you can see from the video, the bridle got broken off.

I've broken off Seiko bridles using different winders and also by hand. But I always ended up doing it by hand. It is incredibly painful but maybe it's because I don't have joiner hands. 

If you have never done one by hand before, you might want to standby a replacement just in case.

And a tip is, when getting the last bit of the bridle into the barrel, do not press on the mainspring as it can kink and break it.

[aac58]

11 hours ago, Tiny said:

Thanks NEW for the nice comment about my workstation 

I'm hopeful some one will come up with a complete mainspring & barrel as the video I'm using for rebuild reference say's they are not a serviceable item but you can service them as he did but he also had a broken spring and had a replacement from a other Seiko 7019a movement

New Seiko 7019 barrel complete with mainsprint (common to, at least, to 7005,7009, 7025) are no longer available, and in case you could find one it would also have to be serviced, as the grease inside would be dried too.

So I think your options are:

1. Do not service it.
2. Service your MS and get it into the barrel manually. It's easy to ruin it, and you might even not notice you've damaged it.
3. Service your MS, and use a MS winder to get it into the barrel again. The Bergeon #6 left handed winder works fine for Seiko 7 series barrels.
4. Buy a new compatible MS to install into your barrel. It will come already lubed in a holder to be transferred directly into the barrel.

I've done this path, from 1 to 3, and now I'm very comfortable using the #6 winder. I don't have a handle for it but it's perfectly usable without it (I know with the handle it must by twice as pleasant an experience)

 

[HectorLooi]

1 hour ago, aac58 said:

New Seiko 7019 barrel complete with mainsprint (common to, at least, to 7005,7009, 7025) are no longer available, and in case you could find one it would also have to be serviced, as the grease inside would be dried too.

New ones might not be available, but plenty of questionable ones from India are. So you could get a bunch of them to practice on first before working on your original one.

[Klassiker]

11 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I think Klassiker is a seiko man.

Nope. I think you are confidential me with @jdm (clue in the name). I'm not sure which of us should be more offended!

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, aac58 said:

New Seiko 7019 barrel complete with mainsprint (common to, at least, to 7005,7009, 7025) are no longer available, and in case you could find one it would also have to be serviced, as the grease inside would be dried too.

So I think your options are:

1. Do not service it.
2. Service your MS and get it into the barrel manually. It's easy to ruin it, and you might even not notice you've damaged it.
3. Service your MS, and use a MS winder to get it into the barrel again. The Bergeon #6 left handed winder works fine for Seiko 7 series barrels.
4. Buy a new compatible MS to install into your barrel. It will come already lubed in a holder to be transferred directly into the barrel.

I've done this path, from 1 to 3, and now I'm very comfortable using the #6 winder. I don't have a handle for it but it's perfectly usable without it (I know with the handle it must by twice as pleasant an experience)

 

I'm liking no.4 option 

51 minutes ago, Klassiker said:

Nope. I think you are confidential me with @jdm (clue in the name). I'm not sure which of us should be more offended!

Oops sorry I've got mixed up . Vw did go through a list for me ages ago. I am ever  so sorry Klassiker, I'll maybe just make the one apology

[valleyguy]

I've seen a set of vintage Swiss made Favorite mainspring winders for sale at a second hand/antique shop, they look similar to these but not as in good condition, are these for use on pocket watches or wrist watches.

I'd like to get a set of mainspring winders for wrist watches, as a newbie to the hobby will these be a good buy for winding mainsprings into the barrel for wrist watches, They were priced up at £85 but the guy in the shop said he'd take £75, is this a good price.

I was tempted to get them there and then but i'm not knowledgeable enough to know if they are ok, does the price sound ok, if there ok i'll drive back into town and get them. Thanks VG

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by valleyguy

[Tiny]

I would buy it at £75.00 this is a bench winder I think but still A hand winder and one spring holder would cost you £99.00 delivered but I'm a neebee as well

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

7 hours ago, valleyguy said:

I've seen a set of vintage Swiss made Favorite mainspring winders for sale at a second hand/antique shop, they look similar to these but not as in good condition, are these for use on pocket watches or wrist watches.

I'd like to get a set of mainspring winders for wrist watches, as a newbie to the hobby will these be a good buy for winding mainsprings into the barrel for wrist watches, They were priced up at £85 but the guy in the shop said he'd take £75, is this a good price.

I was tempted to get them there and then but i'm not knowledgeable enough to know if they are ok, does the price sound ok, if there ok i'll drive back into town and get them. Thanks VG

 

If they are a full set as these are then that would be a good price. Favorite are a very good make. I assume the incremental sizes are in millimeter steps. A good range but sometimes something inbetween  may be required. These vice mount designs are not something I am familiar with  and I'm curious as to how they deliver the spring to the barrel. Personally I would have them as the sets that I have don't don't always fit and I often have to insert the mainspring by hand.

[RichardHarris123]

4 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

If they are a full set as these are then that would be a good price. Favorite are a very good make. I assume the incremental sizes are in millimeter steps. A good range but sometimes something inbetween  may be required. These vice mount designs are not something I am familiar with  and I'm curious as to how they deliver the spring to the barrel. Personally I would have them as the sets that I have don't don't always fit and I often have to insert the mainspring by hand.

I don't understand how it works either. The sizes can't be mm as a 1 mm barrel doesn't exist. 

[valleyguy]

I'm not sure how these work either, i've watched youtube videos of the bergeon winders and chinese copies in use, that as a plunger tube to push the spring into the barrel once wound.

I can see how they will wind the mainspring but what stops it jumping out of the holder as your winding it in, the bergeons winder key closes the holder so the spring can't jump out, once you've wound it what pushes it into the barrel.

I will call into the shop on the way home from work on Monday to have closer look, i've never done a mainspring so the only knowledge i have is from watching videos and reading the forum.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

I don't understand how it works either. The sizes can't be mm as a 1 mm barrel doesn't exist. 

They do in the land of Lilliput lol. Haha i can be a bit thick sometimes, i wasn't concentrating. I wonder how small a 0  or 00 is then .  A good buy then if smaller increments, but I'm thinking the set is for pockets watches  still very handy and worth the 75 notes. Personally  i would be buying them for the curiosity, plus im a gadget freak and love collecting tools.

2 hours ago, valleyguy said:

I'm not sure how these work either, i've watched youtube videos of the bergeon winders and chinese copies in use, that as a plunger tube to push the spring into the barrel once wound.

I can see how they will wind the mainspring but what stops it jumping out of the holder as your winding it in, the bergeons winder key closes the holder so the spring can't jump out, once you've wound it what pushes it into the barrel.

I will call into the shop on the way home from work on Monday to have closer look, i've never done a mainspring so the only knowledge i have is from watching videos and reading the forum.

 

Same principle as most. I have something similar but not a vice mount . The winder pulls the spring into the holders, the holder inserts into the  barrel then the center of the holder plunges the spring into the barrel. I like the idea of the vice mount. What is important VG is having a good range of sizes to suit many barrel diameters and a good design that makes the spring winding and delivery to the barrel problem free.

Edited June 11, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

[RichardHarris123]

What sizes are they?  It will be interesting to find out.  I  would definitely buy it. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, RichardHarris123 said:

What sizes are they?  It will be interesting to find out.  I  would definitely buy it. 

Try a search on that design rich. I have a few different types totalling around 15. They often dont fit so i end up hand winding, which i dont mind as I’m very careful and have a simple little diy gadget that helps me with that. After a few practices with old springs i managed to get the technique down and it seems to work ok and the amplitude on whatever im working on seems reasonable for my self forced standards. I like things to be running well but try my best not to be pedantic about it, which is something i have to be careful  about as i can be quite obsessive and my ocd will take over and screw my brain up big time, and lets face it i have enough going on in there as it is.

[Clockwatching247]

Hi all , very much a beginner I’m sorry! I have a 26mm barrel that I need to get the mainspring back into. Too small for my clock winder sleeves and too big for watch winders.. what do I use please? Many thanks 

[HectorLooi]

4 hours ago, Clockwatching247 said:

I have a 26mm barrel that I need to get the mainspring back into.

Is this from a clock or pocket watch?

You might need a pocket watch mainspring winder, like the K & D type. It looks like a mini version of a clock mainspring winder.

[Clockwatching247]

Hi-it’s a small Panel Clock, thanks I’ll have a look for one. Thank you

[HectorLooi]

I checked my Webster mainspring winder accessories. The smallest containment ring is 22mm.