Punches for bushing in clocks

[Michael1962]

Hi everyone,

Labanda over here have two punch sets that are in their clock tools section. The first they call a closing punch set. I am not sure of what they are for, but if it is what I think, I do not think that I will spend money to get them. The other set are various sizes and end profiles, but all of them are too large for riveting some bushes in clocks that I have. The smallest ID of one of these punches is only 0.25mm smaller than the entire oil sink hole in the old Enfield clock that I got from Darwin. And that hole has already been bushed. The repair is as obvious as. No effort has been made to make the repair invisible.

I can only presume that these punches may be for setting gears on pinions if they are made from scratch or repaired.

So my question is, where do I get punches that will be small enough to rivet some of the bushes that I will need to be making to learn this task? Do I need to get myself a watch staking set to get small enough, or do I need to machine them myself from steel round on my lathe? That may be the easy option as I can then make them only as I need them to whatever size I need at the time. Bit of engraving with the Dremel and eventually make my own set. Custom making my own staking block would not be hard either. I also did a search online and came up with the same set that Labanda has. If anyone wants to have a look, the website is www.labanda.com.au and the SKU for them is T-292.

Here is the sizes that Labanda sent to me after measuring them.

The measurements are as follows

1- ID: 4.85mm OD: 9.5mm

2- ID: 4.6mm OD: 9.5mm

3- ID: 4.9mm OD: 9.5mm

4- ID: 4.5mm OD: 9.5mm

5- ID: 4.25mm OD: 9.5mm

6- ID: 4.2mm OD: 9.5mm

7- ID: 2.9mm OD: 9.5mm

8- ID: 2.8mm OD: 6.35mm

9- ID: 3.3mm OD: 6.35mm

10- ID: 2.6mm OD: 6.35mm

11- ID: 2.35mm OD: 6.35mm

12- ID: 1.9mm OD: 4.25mm

13- ID: 1.7mm OD: 4.15mm

14- ID: 1.5mm OD: 4.2mm

15- ID: 3.6mm OD: 7.6mm with centering tool 

16- ID: 1.7mm OD: 5.05mm with centering tool 

[oldhippy]

Hello my friend. You don't need any of them. If you have  a watch staking set that will do the trick, you can use the punches from that. you should never try to close a hole that is what was done way back in time, riveting a bush is also old practice, we don't do that anymore. You open up the hole by the means of reamers or  broaches. 

[Michael1962]

Hi @oldhippy. So are you just relying on friction between the bush and the movement plate to hold the new bush in place?

That would mean getting the taper between the bush and the reamer or broach used on the hole to be exactly the same angle.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Michael1962

[oldhippy]

Yes that is correct it is not as difficult as it seams. the bush should be able to just fit in the hole and with a few taps of a small hammer it should fit tight in the hole, you might need a flat end punch to make sure it is flush with the plate, using a punch will make sure you do not bruise the plate.  Reamers  broaches   and bushes are all slightly tapered.  

[Michael1962]

I'll be turning the bushes myself. Can't afford to buy the bushes over here. Too expensive.

Hey, that is one of the reasons I bought the Emco.

[oldhippy]

I always turned mine as well. I found you can get a better fit with height and width, it saves reaming out too much brass and as for the height you can get a better oil well so it all matches in. 

[Michael1962]

Am I understanding you correctly @oldhippy, that the bush you put in is essentially a bigger diameter than what the original oil well was? And that it is the same height as the movement plate being bushed is thick?

Hope that makes sense.

[oldhippy]

By making your own bush you can turn and make the oil sink so it is a good fit to the original oil sink by doing so you will find you do not need to make much of an alteration for it to match.  

Edited June 23, 2023 by oldhippy