Hands vice/clamp

[arron]

Good morning,

I am working on a 6s waltham PW.   I need to enlarge the hole on one of the hands, so i'd like to buy a hands clamp/vice so i can use a broach to enlarge the hole.  Does anyone know what the smallest size hole is on this type of clamp.  I've found quite a few on ebay.  I don't know if these are standard, to fit the whole range of  hand sizes or if i need one specifically for smaller PWs.  I asked the seller but didn't get a response.  Thanks for any advice.

[oldhippy]

I don't know. This is the tool I used for holding the hands while broach out he hole. Here is a link.

 https://www.cousinsuk.com/sku/details/hand-watch-holding-tools/t1793

 

[mikepilk]

I bought one of these from Cousins 

The largest hole is about 3.1mm

[arron]

Thanks guys.  The new repro models show the smallest size hole as either a .6 or a .8.  I'm going to get a vintage one, so hoping the sizes are standard or similar, but i'll find out soon.     

[mikepilk]

The hole size doesn't really matter, you are not aiming to get the broach size the same as the hole. I'd just get a cheap new one

[Neverenoughwatches]

7 hours ago, arron said:

Thanks guys.  The new repro models show the smallest size hole as either a .6 or a .8.  I'm going to get a vintage one, so hoping the sizes are standard or similar, but i'll find out soon.     

As Mike tells it, the hole size is only to accomodate the holding of the hand not the intended finishing diameter of the hole you are broaching. 

[arron]

Thanks for that important clarification.   I went with the round version like they sell at cousins but it is a vintage clamp. I decided against the plier style but not based on any good information I could find about the differences. I made the mistake of trying to broach the hand using my bench block and some rodico  to hold the hand down.  The pointer instantly broke from the ring part of the hand. Lesson learned.

[LittleWatchShop]

32 minutes ago, arron said:

Thanks for that important clarification.   I went with the round version like they sell at cousins but it is a vintage clamp. I decided against the plier style but not based on any good information I could find about the differences. I made the mistake of trying to broach the hand using my bench block and some rodico  to hold the hand down.  The pointer instantly broke from the ring part of the hand. Lesson learned.

There at least two sizes of this vintage tool.  I have both.  Have you already purchased one?  If not, I can do some measurements for you.

[arron]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I purchased it last night. Hopefully it has some of the smaller size holes that I think will be better support the hands that I work on.  If not I might hit you up on your offer to take measurements of the other one that you have.