Hairspring

[Murks]

hi can someone help what can I do if a can't find a hairspring for my watch movement can a i make one myself or purchase one on ebay how about the stud and collet does the hairspring need to be a particular size ?

[grsnovi]

Hi Murks,

Obviously watchmakers have made hairsprings from scratch for many, many years. I doubt that you have the tools or skill to make one yourself.

Depending on the watch of interest you may be able to find an entire balance complete to fit the watch. It is also possible that (depending on the specific watch movement) you may be able to source the needed hairspring.

Yes, the hairspring needs to meet the needs of the power passing through the train and facilitate the balance oscillation managing the pallet fork.

I recently had a situation where the balance staff was damaged in a 110 year old Elgin. I was able to find an identical movement which had a good staff and during my attempt at replacing the balance after lubricating the top jewel I managed to completely destroy the hairspring. In the photo below, the balance staff on the left balance has a broken top pivot while the one on the right has a destroyed spring. I don't feel comfortable attempting to remove that hairspring and installing it on the good balance staff with the matching balance wheel.

There are things that I'm just not ready to do.

Edited October 4, 2022 by grsnovi

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, Murks said:

hi can someone help what can I do if a can't find a hairspring for my watch movement can a i make one myself or purchase one on ebay how about the stud and collet does the hairspring need to be a particular size ?

You want to try make a hairspring yourself ? . Murks bless you, your enthusiasm is out of this world. I always try to think that nothing is impossible, being positive in life is super important.  But mate i have to say that making a hairspring without the machinery , knowledge and skill it is impossible. Possible you could buy one  but again the skill to match it up to a balance wheel is not a task for a beginner. Coincidentally i reading about doing just that at the moment. As far as know uncolleted and non vibrated hairsprings are not available as new anymore, to us mere mortals anyways. But to answer your final question yes the hairspring has to be matched in size and strength to a balance wheel, not so much the collet and stud as long as these fit the balance staff and balance cock. The diameter has to be correct to fit within the parameters of the stud and regulating pins also retaining a particular number of coils that allow the hairspring to breathe without fouling each other or anything else and enough coils to allow a smooth non violent oscillation . And the hairspring must be strong enough to oscillate a balance wheel's particular weight and torque . Your best and maybe only option at this stage is to buy a balance complete. Ie the whole assembly, possible as new old stock but more likely inside a donor movement.  Good luck matey.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

[Mark]

Moving to correct sub-forum.

----

Why is this happening?

Please don't be offended - from time to time, in an attempt to keep WRT organized, we need to move threads to another area more suited to the subject of that thread. Members can help the forum staff by checking for a suitable sub-forum before posting as this will help to reduce their admin workload.

 

[JohnR725]

5 hours ago, Murks said:

hi can someone help what can I do if a can't find a hairspring for my watch movement can a i make one myself or purchase one on ebay how about the stud and collet does the hairspring need to be a particular size ?

just as a reminder flat hairsprings were always vibrated to the balance wheel they were on. So have flats hairsprings are never available as a separate component. Watches that have over coil hairsprings sometimes they were available. But they're not just a swappable components they require matching to the balance wheel so you'd have to have the additional timing screws they go with the balance wheel to match otherwise the watch will not keep time.

What you really need is a time machine. You need to build all back in time and send your watch to the company and the advertisement below. They would vibrated hairsprings to fit your watch. Unfortunately all these companies are all gone.

the problem for vibrating a hairspring is you need raw hairsprings. That is a problem because the Swiss no longer make raw hairsprings for general use. Swiss like to re-consolidate their companies for maximum productivity so now they hairspring companies only make hairsprings specific for the company so the company can vibrating hairspring with that hairspring or they will fiber eight the hairspring for the balance wheel of a company. This means as I said there are no more raw hairsprings available other than which you can find on eBay that presents a problem.

The biggest problem is if you've never vibrated hairspring to learn how to do it takes quite a bit of time and you go through a heck of a lot of hairsprings learning how to do it. That's because the used to teach hairspring vibrating in schools typically wostep schools would torture their students and teach them how to vibrated hairsprings. Or the Bulova school of watchmaking that's no longer in existence they would teach their students how to vibrated hairsprings but their school was associated with a factory where they had infinite supply of hairsprings.

the problem and watch repair is it's a very precise field. When you're talking about the balance wheel and hairspring they have to be very very exact and precise otherwise the watch does not keep time and very likely will not run at all. So everything has to be sized exactly right. If you are replacing then you'd ideally use the existing collet and stud. Although at one time they did make assortments of the horse just like they hairspring as they once made but don't make any more.

simplistic answer to your question is you're going to have to find another watch the steel a balance from

but at the link below scroll down to the section titled Joseph School of Watch Making

then ideally download the entire book but you need units 67 and eight. This will give you a clue of how to vibrated hairspring. But just having a knowledge doesn't help because it still requires a heck of a lot of skill and hairspring is that you can't get anymore

https://www.mybulova.com/vintage-bulova-catalogs

 

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, JohnR725 said:

just as a reminder flat hairsprings were always vibrated to the balance wheel they were on. So have flats hairsprings are never available as a separate component. Watches that have over coil hairsprings sometimes they were available. But they're not just a swappable components they require matching to the balance wheel so you'd have to have the additional timing screws they go with the balance wheel to match otherwise the watch will not keep time.

What you really need is a time machine. You need to build all back in time and send your watch to the company and the advertisement below. They would vibrated hairsprings to fit your watch. Unfortunately all these companies are all gone.

the problem for vibrating a hairspring is you need raw hairsprings. That is a problem because the Swiss no longer make raw hairsprings for general use. Swiss like to re-consolidate their companies for maximum productivity so now they hairspring companies only make hairsprings specific for the company so the company can vibrating hairspring with that hairspring or they will fiber eight the hairspring for the balance wheel of a company. This means as I said there are no more raw hairsprings available other than which you can find on eBay that presents a problem.

The biggest problem is if you've never vibrated hairspring to learn how to do it takes quite a bit of time and you go through a heck of a lot of hairsprings learning how to do it. That's because the used to teach hairspring vibrating in schools typically wostep schools would torture their students and teach them how to vibrated hairsprings. Or the Bulova school of watchmaking that's no longer in existence they would teach their students how to vibrated hairsprings but their school was associated with a factory where they had infinite supply of hairsprings.

the problem and watch repair is it's a very precise field. When you're talking about the balance wheel and hairspring they have to be very very exact and precise otherwise the watch does not keep time and very likely will not run at all. So everything has to be sized exactly right. If you are replacing then you'd ideally use the existing collet and stud. Although at one time they did make assortments of the horse just like they hairspring as they once made but don't make any more.

simplistic answer to your question is you're going to have to find another watch the steel a balance from

but at the link below scroll down to the section titled Joseph School of Watch Making

then ideally download the entire book but you need units 67 and eight. This will give you a clue of how to vibrated hairspring. But just having a knowledge doesn't help because it still requires a heck of a lot of skill and hairspring is that you can't get anymore

https://www.mybulova.com/vintage-bulova-catalogs

 

 

 

Thanks John. Reknowing all that info made me sad .  I have money to invest, with your brain we could start a hairspring manufacturing factory. What do you think ?

[JohnR725]

6 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I have money to invest, with your brain we could start a hairspring manufacturing factory. What do you think ?

well you have several problems. First we need the raw hairsprings that are no longer made that means either you have to contract with the hairspring company to make generic hairsprings or we could make our own hairsprings. How hard would that be and in case you're curious here's a video of making hairsprings. A lot of the beginning is showing drawing the wire out how much would all that machinery cost I wonder? then in case you're really paying attention yes they skipped over a whole bunch of steps.

https://youtu.be/W7r-lxpSv2M

so once you work out the raw hairspring part oh and how many raw hairsprings do you need? Well first you need them in sizes CGS sizes to be exact and I've attached the table to give you a clue of how many sizes you need. To grant any at a lot of different sizes and hairsprings to vibrated hairsprings.

Oh and then there is the other little problem. I was in a school I learned how to vibrated hairsprings I thought school was fun 11 hours a day six days a week roughly time spent in the classroom. We had a key so we can come back when the instructor went home. So we literally lived in the classroom.

But when it came time to work with hairsprings vibrated hairsprings perhaps the kindest word I could use would be torture I absolutely despise vibrating hairsprings. Even the simple step of breaking out the center of the hairspring temporarily pinning it in the collet and making sure it's flat would you have to do before you can vibrate was something I had a hard time seeing and it seemed like it took me hours to do that simple. There isn't enough money on the planet to pay me to vibrated hairsprings for anybody.

Oh and even if you look at and I can find a video of a modern school they don't even vibrated hairsprings they cheat in the user machine. I have a suspicion because if you learn how to vibrated hairsprings you go through a heck of a lot of them it's not just a simple just to a few steps and you're often vibrating it takes a lot of time and practice to learn how to do this so you need a lot of raw hairsprings to learn which is why if schools are still teaching at they usually limit the student to one hairspring or one size of a watch and I think the only get a couple of hairsprings is a just hard enough hairsprings left to let students properly learn how to do this.

so if you made it this far and you're still really obsessed with wanting to vibrated hairsprings  but skull googling or whatever your favorite search engine is

here's an interesting link pictures of hairsprings. No notice to come a little packets no price unfortunately probably on the website somewhere little packets there are some raw hairsprings with no collets others have a call it attached's now they would've been made for specific watch who knows they might fit yours. But you still need to know the CGS of the watch your vibrating hairspring for. Otherwise you get the vibrate with whatever you have and then run some mathematical calculations the figure out what you're supposed to have and then get that the vibrate again.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings100pc.html

how does look like there's pricing and he has the collets they hairspring pins so everything  to get you started.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings.html

oh and because we can't afford the nice Swiss machine for vibrating hairsprings I suppose you could do like this person did make your own. Then the video is very misleading as you'll notice there's a start on that hairspring. In other words hairsprings all there been vibrated and he knows exactly where to put his tweezers versus if your raw hairspring where you have to sit to keep feeding it through until you finally get to where you're supposed to me which takes a lot of time but something like this would speed things up considerably. Then in case you're curious the best I can tell last time I looked he does not have plans for this I think he actually wants to sell ways to crazy people one of vibrated hairsprings

https://youtu.be/htckrH3ae54

 

 

 

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

13 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

well you have several problems. First we need the raw hairsprings that are no longer made that means either you have to contract with the hairspring company to make generic hairsprings or we could make our own hairsprings. How hard would that be and in case you're curious here's a video of making hairsprings. A lot of the beginning is showing drawing the wire out how much would all that machinery cost I wonder? then in case you're really paying attention yes they skipped over a whole bunch of steps.

https://youtu.be/W7r-lxpSv2M

so once you work out the raw hairspring part oh and how many raw hairsprings do you need? Well first you need them in sizes CGS sizes to be exact and I've attached the table to give you a clue of how many sizes you need. To grant any at a lot of different sizes and hairsprings to vibrated hairsprings.

Oh and then there is the other little problem. I was in a school I learned how to vibrated hairsprings I thought school was fun 11 hours a day six days a week roughly time spent in the classroom. We had a key so we can come back when the instructor went home. So we literally lived in the classroom.

But when it came time to work with hairsprings vibrated hairsprings perhaps the kindest word I could use would be torture I absolutely despise vibrating hairsprings. Even the simple step of breaking out the center of the hairspring temporarily pinning it in the collet and making sure it's flat would you have to do before you can vibrate was something I had a hard time seeing and it seemed like it took me hours to do that simple. There isn't enough money on the planet to pay me to vibrated hairsprings for anybody.

Oh and even if you look at and I can find a video of a modern school they don't even vibrated hairsprings they cheat in the user machine. I have a suspicion because if you learn how to vibrated hairsprings you go through a heck of a lot of them it's not just a simple just to a few steps and you're often vibrating it takes a lot of time and practice to learn how to do this so you need a lot of raw hairsprings to learn which is why if schools are still teaching at they usually limit the student to one hairspring or one size of a watch and I think the only get a couple of hairsprings is a just hard enough hairsprings left to let students properly learn how to do this.

so if you made it this far and you're still really obsessed with wanting to vibrated hairsprings  but skull googling or whatever your favorite search engine is

here's an interesting link pictures of hairsprings. No notice to come a little packets no price unfortunately probably on the website somewhere little packets there are some raw hairsprings with no collets others have a call it attached's now they would've been made for specific watch who knows they might fit yours. But you still need to know the CGS of the watch your vibrating hairspring for. Otherwise you get the vibrate with whatever you have and then run some mathematical calculations the figure out what you're supposed to have and then get that the vibrate again.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings100pc.html

how does look like there's pricing and he has the collets they hairspring pins so everything  to get you started.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings.html

oh and because we can't afford the nice Swiss machine for vibrating hairsprings I suppose you could do like this person did make your own. Then the video is very misleading as you'll notice there's a start on that hairspring. In other words hairsprings all there been vibrated and he knows exactly where to put his tweezers versus if your raw hairspring where you have to sit to keep feeding it through until you finally get to where you're supposed to me which takes a lot of time but something like this would speed things up considerably. Then in case you're curious the best I can tell last time I looked he does not have plans for this I think he actually wants to sell ways to crazy people one of vibrated hairsprings

https://youtu.be/htckrH3ae54

 

 

 

 

 

Haha i think a simple " no I'm not interested but thank you for the offer Richard " would have sufficed. I appreciate all that and the video links thank you John . The chart looks interesting. 

[JohnR725]

11 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Haha i think a simple " no I'm not interested

I suppose ES a simple hell no would've been corrected but there will always be people obsessed with thinking they want to vibrated hairsprings so might as well give them the options like the page that has the hairsprings they have everything else so if you are really felt you had to do it at least their supplies there

but a little white reading wouldn't hurt he describes the book if you want to vibrated hairsprings you really need the book. It's where the hairspring table came from and it talks about all sorts of other things that affect timekeeping.

https://youtu.be/op68gwVvsCo

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

35 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

I suppose ES a simple hell no would've been corrected but there will always be people obsessed with thinking they want to vibrated hairsprings so might as well give them the options like the page that has the hairsprings they have everything else so if you are really felt you had to do it at least their supplies there

but a little white reading wouldn't hurt he describes the book if you want to vibrated hairsprings you really need the book. It's where the hairspring table came from and it talks about all sorts of other things that affect timekeeping.

https://youtu.be/op68gwVvsCo

 

 

I did appreciate it John. I've been reading Fried's bench practises. I guess an old school way of doing it. Checking the hairspring's strength by hanging the balance wheel from it and measuring its hanging length. Choosing the number of coils, matching the diameter of the spring to the balance wheel. Making sure it fits to the stud and in line with the regulator pins. Creating the end curve and giving space  for the second coil for adequate breathing but not so many coils that its tight. Manully vibrating.  Fascinating reading making it sound relatively easy but probably not. 

[grsnovi]

Interesting that Daniels says (on page 345 of his 2011 updated "Watchmaking"):

"Whenever possible the springs should be purchased ready for fitting."

I guess he decided that others were better equipped to the task.

[HectorLooi]

Wow! If both @JohnR725 and @nickelsilver won't vibrate a hairspring, then it must be a real PITA.

Maybe the Luthy hairspring vibrating tool is the problem. While it might be effective, it doesn't look like a very efficient way of doing it.

I've replaced a couple of hairsprings in clocks but not watches and I didn't vibrate it on a Luthy tool.

I just pinned the hairspring to the stud, removed the regulator completely, centred the collet, then fit the balance back in and let the clock run. An hour later I'll checked if it runs fast or slow. Then I'll unpin the hairspring and adjust accordingly. It took me a couple of days. If I had a clock timer, it would probably be much faster. 

But replicating this process on a watch would be worse than torture. 

[LittleWatchShop]

18 hours ago, grsnovi said:

Hi Murks,

Obviously watchmakers have made hairsprings from scratch for many, many years. I doubt that you have the tools or skill to make one yourself.

Depending on the watch of interest you may be able to find an entire balance complete to fit the watch. It is also possible that (depending on the specific watch movement) you may be able to source the needed hairspring.

Yes, the hairspring needs to meet the needs of the power passing through the train and facilitate the balance oscillation managing the pallet fork.

I recently had a situation where the balance staff was damaged in a 110 year old Elgin. I was able to find an identical movement which had a good staff and during my attempt at replacing the balance after lubricating the top jewel I managed to completely destroy the hairspring. In the photo below, the balance staff on the left balance has a broken top pivot while the one on the right has a destroyed spring. I don't feel comfortable attempting to remove that hairspring and installing it on the good balance staff with the matching balance wheel.

There are things that I'm just not ready to do.

I have become more and more comfortable with hairsprings.  As a result, I have been able to clean up a badly bent up hairspring.  It is painstaking and time consuming and the result was good but not great.  But, when that is all you have...you make do.  I think your example above is not impossible.  Again...I am an amateur!

[markr]

I have a bunch of raw hairsprings and I have no idea what to do with them.

[grsnovi]

48 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I think your example above is not impossible.

I didn't say it was impossible, only that I have other more interesting/important things to do with my time than wrestle with a 110 year-old spring when I have a perfectly fine example of the same spring right next to it. I also understand that moving the good one to the good balance staff is probably within my capabilities. It's just not a priority for me at this time.

I think it's important to understand one's limitations and not to get wrapped up in tangential areas - even if they are part of the whole "watchmaking" thing. Remember: I'm not ever planning on making a living with my watchmaking abilities.

[LittleWatchShop]

22 minutes ago, grsnovi said:

I didn't say it was impossible, only that I have other more interesting/important things to do with my time than wrestle with a 110 year-old spring when I have a perfectly fine example of the same spring right next to it. I also understand that moving the good one to the good balance staff is probably within my capabilities. It's just not a priority for me at this time.

I think it's important to understand one's limitations and not to get wrapped up in tangential areas - even if they are part of the whole "watchmaking" thing. Remember: I'm not ever planning on making a living with my watchmaking abilities.

At our age, we have to optimize where the time goes!

[Nucejoe]

What caliber are you working on ?  

3 hours ago, markr said:

I have a bunch of raw hairsprings and I have no idea what to do with them.

mark,

Their CGS No is surely printed on the package they came in, otherwise they must be identified which is very time consuming at the least. 

What caliber are you working on Murks?

[Neverenoughwatches]

10 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

I suppose ES a simple hell no would've been corrected but there will always be people obsessed with thinking they want to vibrated hairsprings so might as well give them the options like the page that has the hairsprings they have everything else so if you are really felt you had to do it at least their supplies there

but a little white reading wouldn't hurt he describes the book if you want to vibrated hairsprings you really need the book. It's where the hairspring table came from and it talks about all sorts of other things that affect timekeeping.

https://youtu.be/op68gwVvsCo

 

 

Jendritski . Thanks john . Looks like a good read. As its said, with knowledge comes understanding and power then responsibility.  My what have you done ?

5 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

Wow! If both @JohnR725 and @nickelsilver won't vibrate a hairspring, then it must be a real PITA.

Maybe the Luthy hairspring vibrating tool is the problem. While it might be effective, it doesn't look like a very efficient way of doing it.

I've replaced a couple of hairsprings in clocks but not watches and I didn't vibrate it on a Luthy tool.

I just pinned the hairspring to the stud, removed the regulator completely, centred the collet, then fit the balance back in and let the clock run. An hour later I'll checked if it runs fast or slow. Then I'll unpin the hairspring and adjust accordingly. It took me a couple of days. If I had a clock timer, it would probably be much faster. 

But replicating this process on a watch would be worse than torture. 

I did read somewhere ages ago , a reporter with a passion for watches and repair visited an old lass that used to vibrate and attach hairsprings in a factory when that was the norm. Apparently she demonstrated the proceedure for him while on his visit. By the time she had described what she was doing, the task was practically completed. Within a few minutes, the reporter was left with his jaw hanging apparently . If you believe the story, it did sound genuine as i read it.

4 hours ago, markr said:

I have a bunch of raw hairsprings and I have no idea what to do with them.

Send them to me

[JohnR725]

7 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

My what have you done ?

all I've done is pointed you in a direction now you need to go there. Yes reading the book will be interesting experience for you as it covers more than just vibrating hairsprings. Basically everything you want to know of why your watch doesn't keep time is sort of is in their.

then here's an interesting story the quest to get a few hairsprings and the outcome.

 

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 minute ago, JohnR725 said:

all I've done is pointed you in a direction now you need to go there. 

Haha i was joking matey, but thank you John , i will do.

[nickelsilver]

9 hours ago, grsnovi said:

Interesting that Daniels says (on page 345 of his 2011 updated "Watchmaking"):

"Whenever possible the springs should be purchased ready for fitting."

I guess he decided that others were better equipped to the task.

Daniels is talking about getting a raw spring that has been properly heat treated and such ready to be vibrated.

9 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

Wow! If both @JohnR725 and @nickelsilver won't vibrate a hairspring, then it must be a real PITA.

 

I do vibrate springs, but seldom. It's a price issue mostly (for the customer). I have a stock of dozens of CGS numbers and thousands of springs in different qualities of Nivarox and in steel, the Luthy tool, and an electronic machine for vibrating from Greiner, etc. For all the effort of finding the springs and equipment it's barely worth it for the few I do, not counting the cost of buying up all that stuff, but I like having the capacity. It also comes in handy doing prototyping work for sure.

[praezis]

15 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

how does look like there's pricing and he has the collets they hairspring pins so everything  to get you started.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings.html

Thanks for this link! But if you look closer, you find that the topic stays difficult:

- gaps between his CGS numbers are huge. You cannot be sure you'll find what is needed.
- no mention about the spring metal. Looks like Nivarox or similar? Then it is usable for modern watches, not for vintage pocket-  and wristwatches with cut balance.
- colleted springs are nice, but then there is no more chance to choose the needed pinning angle - what would distinguish serious hairspringing from tinkering.

Frank

[JohnR725]

13 minutes ago, praezis said:

Thanks for this link! But if you look closer, you find that the topic stays difficult:

- gaps between his CGS numbers are huge. You cannot be sure you'll find what is needed.
- no mention about the spring metal. Looks like Nivarox or similar? Then it is usable for modern watches, not for vintage pocket-  and wristwatches with cut balance.
- colleted springs are nice, but then there is no more chance to choose the needed pinning angle - what would distinguish serious hairspringing from tinkering.

well the good news is they have hairspring collets and the pins, Although looking carefully at the pins those don't look like the normal hairspring pins I'm used to but they do have the collets.

Then they do claim the alloy of hairsprings is  Nivarox or Isoval.

then just think of the time-saving? You don't have to break out the center fit it to the collet pin it center and make it flat it's all pre-done definitely a timesaver. Can't see why anyone would want to complain about that who cares that these were made for specific watches and it would've been really helpful someone told us what those watches are. So basically the premade ones unless you're super desperate are I'll be generous and go with almost worthless.

it does look like there's a few that don't have the collet. But I wasn't paying attention to the sizes I just was looking for hairsprings available. now if you want to have a useful link you going to need a time machine as they don't make CGS hairsprings in assorted sizes anymore.

oh and that if you're paying attention there's another amusement not your regular hairspring collet is it. On the other hand doesn't have any hairspring pin

43 minutes ago, praezis said:

- colleted springs are nice, but then there is no more chance to choose the needed pinning angle - what would distinguish serious hairspringing from tinkering.

yes this does bring up an interesting problem they were pre-pinned for somebody must've been right for them. But what about poise of the hairspring?

 

[LittleWatchShop]

18 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

well you have several problems. First we need the raw hairsprings that are no longer made that means either you have to contract with the hairspring company to make generic hairsprings or we could make our own hairsprings. How hard would that be and in case you're curious here's a video of making hairsprings. A lot of the beginning is showing drawing the wire out how much would all that machinery cost I wonder? then in case you're really paying attention yes they skipped over a whole bunch of steps.

https://youtu.be/W7r-lxpSv2M

so once you work out the raw hairspring part oh and how many raw hairsprings do you need? Well first you need them in sizes CGS sizes to be exact and I've attached the table to give you a clue of how many sizes you need. To grant any at a lot of different sizes and hairsprings to vibrated hairsprings.

Oh and then there is the other little problem. I was in a school I learned how to vibrated hairsprings I thought school was fun 11 hours a day six days a week roughly time spent in the classroom. We had a key so we can come back when the instructor went home. So we literally lived in the classroom.

But when it came time to work with hairsprings vibrated hairsprings perhaps the kindest word I could use would be torture I absolutely despise vibrating hairsprings. Even the simple step of breaking out the center of the hairspring temporarily pinning it in the collet and making sure it's flat would you have to do before you can vibrate was something I had a hard time seeing and it seemed like it took me hours to do that simple. There isn't enough money on the planet to pay me to vibrated hairsprings for anybody.

Oh and even if you look at and I can find a video of a modern school they don't even vibrated hairsprings they cheat in the user machine. I have a suspicion because if you learn how to vibrated hairsprings you go through a heck of a lot of them it's not just a simple just to a few steps and you're often vibrating it takes a lot of time and practice to learn how to do this so you need a lot of raw hairsprings to learn which is why if schools are still teaching at they usually limit the student to one hairspring or one size of a watch and I think the only get a couple of hairsprings is a just hard enough hairsprings left to let students properly learn how to do this.

so if you made it this far and you're still really obsessed with wanting to vibrated hairsprings  but skull googling or whatever your favorite search engine is

here's an interesting link pictures of hairsprings. No notice to come a little packets no price unfortunately probably on the website somewhere little packets there are some raw hairsprings with no collets others have a call it attached's now they would've been made for specific watch who knows they might fit yours. But you still need to know the CGS of the watch your vibrating hairspring for. Otherwise you get the vibrate with whatever you have and then run some mathematical calculations the figure out what you're supposed to have and then get that the vibrate again.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings100pc.html

how does look like there's pricing and he has the collets they hairspring pins so everything  to get you started.

http://www.scotchwatch.com/Hairsprings.html

oh and because we can't afford the nice Swiss machine for vibrating hairsprings I suppose you could do like this person did make your own. Then the video is very misleading as you'll notice there's a start on that hairspring. In other words hairsprings all there been vibrated and he knows exactly where to put his tweezers versus if your raw hairspring where you have to sit to keep feeding it through until you finally get to where you're supposed to me which takes a lot of time but something like this would speed things up considerably. Then in case you're curious the best I can tell last time I looked he does not have plans for this I think he actually wants to sell ways to crazy people one of vibrated hairsprings

https://youtu.be/htckrH3ae54

 

 

 

 

 

BTW, sctchwstch is in Central Texas near me. I have bought a few things from him.