Final placement of the balance

[arron]

Good morning,

Don't you just love/hate it when you see the you tubers put the balance assembly in for the first time after a COA and the watch takes off and runs immediately.  I get some vicarious joy out of those first few ticks of the watch.  On the other hand, that seems to work for me in less than half the times i install the balance, even when it's a known runner.  The other times i'm having to fiddle with the balance under my microscope, before tightening down the cock screw, to get both pivots and everything else to line up.  Once i broke a pivot, and on another one i still can get it to go.  Oh the joys and frustration  of this hobby.   

[JohnR725]

16 hours ago, arron said:

first time

the marvels of modern cinema? Unless they're actually doing a live stream they get to practice. I know someone who does a YouTube channel and for the limited time of the video you see they did a whole bunch of background filming. Then of course because they don't want to have a disappointing video not going to show, oh dear the roller jewels on the wrong side of the fork never to see that.

 

 

[Paul80]

Yep the 20 times they failed endsup on the old cutting room floor.  Sometimes it goes in first time but many times it's not quite as easy as it should be.

A question ror the more experienced, how should the pallet fork be positioned when fitting the balance, to the left or right ? Or does it depend which side the balance cock is mounted in relation to the forks position.

[Jon]

 

 

It's easier to turn the movement in the last slide, rather than the balance, to locate the impulse jewel with the horn/notch

It also depends which way the impulse jewel enters the notch to replace the balance, dependent on if it is a clockwise or counter-clockwise balance. A clockwise balance sweeps in a clockwise direction to the movement and vice-versa

Edited May 27, 2023 by Jon

[dadistic]

I usually do it as John has illustrated, although it never occured to me to turn the movement rather than the balance . Next time. 

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, Paul80 said:

A question ror the more experienced, how should the pallet fork be positioned when fitting the balance, to the left or right ? Or does it depend which side the balance cock is mounted in relation to the forks position.

it's a shame I don't have pretty pictures like up above. Usually what I want to do  is I usually put it towards the movement. Then when I come in with the balance wheel I have the roller jewel much farther away from the fork but on that side that I rotate the balance bridge in place and drop it in place. Then the balance wheel can oscillate towards the fork and if you're lucky it takes often runs.

so looking at the pretty pictures I'm guessing it's my dyslexia I do the exact opposite. It doesn't really matter though I think matters is that you get the roller jewel on the same side that the fork is and to put the roller jewel like 45° away from it in not trying to get the roller jewel into the fork yield do that all by itself you just don't want the roller jewel on the other side of fork because that is an irritation. But sometimes ill just do that all by itself especially if you bump into the pallet fork

[rehajm]

4 hours ago, dadistic said:

I usually do it as John has illustrated, although it never occured to me to turn the movement rather than the balance . Next time. 

I try to lift and hold the balance wheel in place and manipulate the movement around it- tilt, turn and rotate. It feels less fiddly than moving around with the dangling balance wheel…

[arron]

Thanks for the tips and i'm heartened to know that it's not always as easy as the YTers make it look.

[Jon]

On 5/27/2023 at 11:37 PM, JohnR725 said:

so looking at the pretty pictures I'm guessing it's my dyslexia I do the exact opposite. It doesn't really matter though I think matters is that you get the roller jewel on the same side that the fork is and to put the roller jewel like 45° away from it in not trying to get the roller jewel into the fork yield do that all by itself you just don't want the roller jewel on the other side of fork because that is an irritation

Exactly! Getting the roller jewel on the same side of the fork, regardless of which banking pin it is against. You obviously do it in the opposite direction, but as long as you know the principle, it works. Having no power on the movement makes it a little more trickier, as the impulse jewel has to locate exactly with the notch as it's flapping about.

On 5/28/2023 at 2:44 AM, rehajm said:

I try to lift and hold the balance wheel in place and manipulate the movement around it- tilt, turn and rotate. It feels less fiddly than moving around with the dangling balance wheel…

Yep, same here...

On 5/28/2023 at 6:24 PM, arron said:

Thanks for the tips and i'm heartened to know that it's not always as easy as the YTers make it look.

When you've had a bit of practice, then it is as easy as the YTers make it look. You'll just make much less mistakes. Every now and then I'll do something really stupid, but still learn something from the experience. Everyone is always learning, no matter what level they are at. It would be arrogant to think otherwise. I've learned some great tips and ways of doing something from some of my students. Collective experience is a growing experience. I remember reading about Jean Claude Biver, who was the CEO of Tag; he rewarded his employees 1000 euros for every time they shared a mistake they had made. His thinking was they could all learn collectively from that mistake, that most people don't want to admit, but as we all know, we learn best through our mistakes.

Obviously that reward scheme didn't last long, as it would have been a little too costly, but the essence of what was trying to be achieved permeated the company, to learn through mistakes.

[kd8tzc]

I've never been able to do it with the fork on the left banking pin as you show it @Jon... not sure why, but I have never been able to figure it out that way.  I should take some time and figure it out.

 

I too struggle sometimes.  I know what I am supposed to do, but I know I get it wrong some times and the balance will not work like it is supposed to because the impulse jewel is not where it should be.