Washer spacer for C&E Marshall winder

[mbwatch]

Hi all - I've acquired a vintage set of C&E Marshall mainspring winders for wristwatch work. The first few I've done have been close to 10mm barrels so I'm winding in the 9.6mm tool. The slot which receives the mainspring seems to be about 2.5mm tall while the springs I've worked with are half that. I can make it work without tangling up the spring but I'd like to make it easier. If I were to stick a correctly sized washer in there to bring the slot height closer to the size of the spring I'm winding, can it be a steel washer or do I need to find a brass washer?

 

[watchweasol]

Hi  I would fit a brass spacer to correct the height, Brass is a little more forgiving than steel and if you have access to a lathe easily made

[mbwatch]

I don't have access to a lathe but if steel is risky maybe I'll start by 3D printing some plastic spacers. I might even be able to use nylon filament. It also might be easier to find aluminum washers than brass. Thanks.

[JohnR725]

can we have a picture of the entire set?

[Kalanag]

13 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

I don't have access to a lathe but if steel is risky maybe I'll start by 3D printing some plastic spacers. I might even be able to use nylon filament. It also might be easier to find aluminum washers than brass. Thanks.

A carefully smoothed steel spacer is better than 3D printed PLA. The plastic releases tiny wear particles which stick to the mainspring. A nylon filament might work better than PLA.

[mbwatch]

1 hour ago, JohnR725 said:

can we have a picture of the entire set?

It's the typical Watch-Craft set that seems to be pretty common on eBay. I'm using the 9.6mm, which is the largest of these (down to 4mm)

[JohnR725]

the reason I wanted the picture was they may be standard that may be common but the instant I see the picture I say oh that's. I think I have one alone is somewhere around here. The problem with mainspring winding sets our you seem to always from time to time find a mainspring does not going to fit the set you have. So even if you have several sets you can sometimes find mainsprings that just aren't going to go in with whatever you have.