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Lépine Calibre V pocket watch movement.

Slartibartfast
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Slartibartfast New Member

Slartibartfast

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I am working on a Lépine Calibre V pocket watch movement at the moment. In most respects it is in good condition despite it not being a high quality watch. My problem is with the spring barrel. The spring has 'hole' ends. The centre arbor is steel with small steel pin acting as the spring anchor. On the inside of the spring barrel the outer end of the spring was anchored by a small brass pin which due to decades of pressure from the carbon steel spring had worn away on the side where the spring made contact so that even slight tension on the spring caused the end of the spring to slip over the brass pin. De Carle says simply to replace the pin but gives no instructions on how to do it only saying to angle the new pin slightly backwards. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this? The spring itself is in poor condition and I am going to have to replace it but I am toying with the idea of replacing it with one that is of the same length, width and strength but with "T" ends instead of just a hole. This will mean drilling holes in the spring barrel and probably the barrel cover too for the anchoring to take effect. Does anyone have any suggestions firstly about replacing a pin or failing that the wisdom of modifying the spring barrel to take a spring with different ends to the original.  Thanks in advance. Harry   

Lépine Movement.jpg

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Neverenoughwatches Distinguished Member

Neverenoughwatches

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4 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

I am working on a Lépine Calibre V pocket watch movement at the moment. In most respects it is in good condition despite it not being a high quality watch. My problem is with the spring barrel. The spring has 'hole' ends. The centre arbor is steel with small steel pin acting as the spring anchor. On the inside of the spring barrel the outer end of the spring was anchored by a small brass pin which due to decades of pressure from the carbon steel spring had worn away on the side where the spring made contact so that even slight tension on the spring caused the end of the spring to slip over the brass pin. De Carle says simply to replace the pin but gives no instructions on how to do it only saying to angle the new pin slightly backwards. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this? The spring itself is in poor condition and I am going to have to replace it but I am toying with the idea of replacing it with one that is of the same length, width and strength but with "T" ends instead of just a hole. This will mean drilling holes in the spring barrel and probably the barrel cover too for the anchoring to take effect. Does anyone have any suggestions firstly about replacing a pin or failing that the wisdom of modifying the spring barrel to take a spring with different ends to the original.  Thanks in advance. Harry   

Lépine Movement.jpg

Welcome Harry. I have to get over your profile name first before i even start to read your post haha.  Just call me Zaphod 😄

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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3 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

Often a tongue end spring will hold on a hook that's too worn for a hole end. It would be worth a try before starting to machine things. And the tongue end is far superior anyway.

I would definitely agree with trying this first. Trying to machine things to hold In a barrel barrels can be quite a pain times.  Although it still would be nice to have a photograph

7 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

"T" ends

The problem with this is you have a very visible watch and now you're going to see a hole In the barrel visible in plain sight.

8 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

De Carle says simply to replace the pin but gives no instructions on how to do it only saying to angle the new pin slightly backwards

Which one of his books are you looking at?

 

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Slartibartfast New Member

Slartibartfast

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8 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

I would definitely agree with trying this first. Trying to machine things to hold In a barrel barrels can be quite a pain times.  Although it still would be nice to have a photograph

The problem with this is you have a very visible watch and now you're going to see a hole In the barrel visible in plain sight.

Which one of his books are you looking at?

 

Practical Watch Repairing. 

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Slartibartfast New Member

Slartibartfast

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Having mulled over the problem and taken on board what members have said, I had another look at it tonight with a clearer mind and have drilled and tapped a 0.4mm hole  through the barrel wall at a slight angle and threaded a piece of steel wire to 0.4mm and screwed that in with a slight protrusion to act as a hook. It seems to hold. I will need to file the end of the steel wire so that it fits into the hole of a new spring then cut off the excess on the outside of the barrel and smooth it down to the level of the barrel wall. I am thinking I might use a tiny amount of loctite on the threads to ensure it doesn't unscrew but maybe this is going too far? Thank you to all that made suggestions. I am finding my way through all the forums here and there is so much information and I hope I can contribute as well as learn from everyone. Cheers, Harry 

 

20 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

Thank you for the welcome.

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