This is how I sharpen pegwood

[HectorLooi]

I have never enjoyed sharpening pegwood. I get wood chips all over the bench, floor, clothes and places you never even imagined.

I recently found a mechanical pencil from my secondary school days. These dinosaurs use 2.0mm leads, which set me thinking.... Can I put a toothpick into it and stick it into my pencil sharpener to sharpen it?

This is what I got.

I just discovered that AliExpress still sells these antiques. I ordered a 3.0mm version for my pegwood.

[mikepilk]

I sometimes use an ordinary pencil sharpener to get a rough tip, but then to get the tip fine enough to go through small jewel holes, I have to work under the microscope with a sharp blade. Often it breaks off at the first use, then I have to do it again, and again. I hate pegging holes 

[VWatchie]

On 5/1/2023 at 3:41 AM, HectorLooi said:

I have never enjoyed sharpening pegwood.

On 5/1/2023 at 10:56 AM, mikepilk said:

hate pegging holes 

Amen to that!

If someone could come up with a device or a method that could sharpen peg wood quickly and easily to the point it could be used to peg pallet fork bridge jewels I'd be willing to pay good money for it. It's such a PITA 

[mikepilk]

23 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Amen to that!

If someone could come up with a device or a method that could sharpen peg wood quickly and easily to the point it could be used to peg pallet fork bridge jewels I'd be willing to pay good money for it. It's such a PITA 

I've just been doing that exact job this morning - pegging pallet and escape wheel holes 

Just getting the tip sharp enough to go in the pallet hole is difficult, then it immediately breaks, and start again  argghh

[Waggy]

OK this may be a crazzzzzzy idea.... but what about if you used a fiber to 'peg' the jewel hole instead of wood, a scaled down version of something like this:

 

Obviously the fiber would have to be selected not to leave behind fibers, and the 'needle' small enough to pass through the jewel hole (not sure how feasible this bit is), but I bet it would do a better job of cleaning? Just run it through then use it like flossing your teeth.... hey there's a thought dental floss!!!

Thoughts?

Could use something like a sim changer below tool to poke through the 'dental floss' the floss the hole ???

WatchFloss©

haha

Edited May 4, 2023 by Waggy

[HectorLooi]

Waxed dental floss a definite no no.

I've been thinking of using a needle threader like this to get a thread through the jewel hole, then douse it with benzine and floss away.

[Neverenoughwatches]

15 minutes ago, Waggy said:

OK this may be a crazzzzzzy idea....

People's crazy ideas have made them millions over the years. Watchfoss might have you flogging a dead os, annnywaay must go i have an email to send to the UK patent office. 

[Waggy]

13 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

Waxed dental floss a definite no no

WatchFlossPro© - Now wax free

[markr]

Wait. Now I have to lie to two people when they ask if I floss regularly.

[mikepilk]

2 hours ago, Waggy said:

and the 'needle' small enough to pass through the jewel hole (not sure how feasible this bit is), 

Thoughts?

Escape wheel, pallet pivots must be about 0.1-0.2 mm?  What could you find small enough to go though that ?

[HectorLooi]

56 minutes ago, markr said:

Wait. Now I have to lie to two people when they ask if I floss regularly.

You can lie all you want but as a dentist, we can tell whether you floss or not. When we ask whether you floss regularly, it's rhetorical. 

[nickelsilver]

26 minutes ago, mikepilk said:

Escape wheel, pallet pivots must be about 0.1-0.2 mm?  What could you find small enough to go though that ?

Typical wristwatch escape wheel pivot is around 0.1mm, similar or smaller for pallet fork. Definitely too small for a needle and thread, and too small for machine sharpened peg wood. I use a standard snap-off cutter, but use the extra sharp NT Black blades- really makes a difference on peg wood. Also, different pieces of peg wood even from the same batch sharpen up differently. I have old stock peg wood and new stuff from Horotec, some pieces are great, some so-so, no real difference between the 30yo stuff or new.

 

 

[LittleWatchShop]

I use surgical scalpel #11. Blades are cheap.

[Neverenoughwatches]

7 hours ago, mikepilk said:

Escape wheel, pallet pivots must be about 0.1-0.2 mm?  What could you find small enough to go though that ?

The smallest needles i use and can find are acupuncture needles at 0.18mm thats going to be around double the diameter of an average WW balance or escape wheel pivot with a jewel bearing hole a hundredth maybe 2 bigger. Possibly go through a big pocket watch pivot hole but there is no eye for threading. Yep definitely flogging a dead os, good thinking outside of the box though.

7 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

You can lie all you want but as a dentist, we can tell whether you floss or not. When we ask whether you floss regularly, it's rhetorical. 

My dentist once asked if I'd be ok to have some work done without any  anesthetic to which i agreed. He said if i started to feel any pain just to raise my hand, i said no problem i shall raise it to just underneath your throat.

[HectorLooi]

I have another crazzzzzzy idea.

What about using cactus thorns?

I've been going to garden supplies and looking at cacti. But I guess we don't get many varieties here in Singapore. Any one living near a desert? 

[LittleWatchShop]

56 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

I have another crazzzzzzy idea.

What about using cactus thorns?

I've been going to garden supplies and looking at cacti. But I guess we don't get many varieties here in Singapore. Any one living near a desert? 

We have cacti in Texas

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

I have another crazzzzzzy idea.

What about using cactus thorns?

I've been going to garden supplies and looking at cacti. But I guess we don't get many varieties here in Singapore. Any one living near a desert? 

A beard whisker is about the right size to poke through a jewel hole. Organic and low carbon footprint. 

[Waggy]

Was thinking about fishing 2 lb mono-filament or copper winding wire 0.1mm

I did look at guitar wire, but the thinnest I could fine was high E of 0.008" = 0.203 mm, so not a good candidate

[VWatchie]

On 5/4/2023 at 3:04 PM, nickelsilver said:

I use a standard snap-off cutter, but use the extra sharp NT Black blades- really makes a difference on peg wood.

I think we'll just have to accept that a really sharp blade is the quickest and easiest way to sharpen peg wood for those < 0.1mm pallet staff jewel holes and chaton holes.

So, I just ordered these blades (same as in the picture) and a cutter for them on eBay from Japan. I'll try to remember to report back to this thread once I've tried it (delivery is 1 to 2 months)...

eBay item numbers: 254266416996 and 254262491217

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by VWatchie

[kd8tzc]

On 5/4/2023 at 8:15 PM, HectorLooi said:

I have another crazzzzzzy idea.

@HectorLooi, being that you are a dentist, I'm actually shocked you haven't thought of this already... a WaterPik!  What could possibly go wrong? 

 

In all seriousness though, I thought the whole point (pardon the pun) of pegwood was to have something uneven to help clean out the holes.  If you used a pencil sharpener and it was all uniform in shape, you sort of take that away.  I think using a knife, scalpel, switchblade, machete,  etc is really the only way that you will get that.

 

[HectorLooi]

I did try using a pressure jetting method of cleaning. I used a vintage glass syringe, as I didn't want to put any cleaning solution in my waterpik. But the results were not good. It cannot remove dried up oils.

And for those who think the waterpik is the answer to flossing, it isn't. The waterpik can only remove loose food particles. It can't remove plaque, it can't remove food particles pinched in the contact area of the teeth

4 hours ago, kd8tzc said:

I thought the whole point (pardon the pun) of pegwood was to have something uneven to help clean out the holes.  If you used a pencil sharpener and it was all uniform in shape, you sort of take that away.

I was taught that too. But when I thought about it, with the pressure applied when the pegwood is rammed into a hole, whatever facets on the tip would be crushed until it ends up smooth and round. Just look at the pegwood when it is removed from the hole.

We were all taught things that have no scientific basis. We need to sit down and distill fact from fiction.

Edited May 17, 2023 by HectorLooi
Typo

[LittleWatchShop]

26 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

And for those who think the waterpik is the answer to flossing, it isn't. The waterpik can only remove loose food particles. It can't remove plaque, it can't remove food particles pinched in the contact area of the teeth

Damn! You went from preach'n to medl'n

[VWatchie]

6 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

But when I thought about it, with the pressure applied when the pegwood is rammed into a hole, whatever facets on the tip would be crushed until it ends up smooth and round. Just look at the pegwood when it is removed from the hole.

You're 100 per cent right about that! The only exception is large jewel holes like those for centre wheel pivots. Still crushed, depending on the pressure applied, but not as much as for small jewel bearings.

[Neverenoughwatches]

15 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

You're 100 per cent right about that! The only exception is large jewel holes like those for centre wheel pivots. Still crushed, depending on the pressure applied, but not as much as for small jewel bearings.

The multi angle aspect of pegwood has been mentioned many times by professionals on the internet. Maybe its just that initial extra edge when starting to peg out before it takes a uniform shape. Some pegwood is harder than others and take longer to lose the cut angles.

[Waggy]

Anyone tried steam to preclean the main plate and jewels? Something similar to the below? Maybe there is a smaller version or an attachment that would allow you to get into the nooks and crannies of the movement (pre-roving or avoiding anything with shellac of course).