Lip T15 service

[LittleWatchShop]

I really do not like working on ladies watches, but when a friend has a sentimental attachment...well...I guess I am easy.

This is a French watch (the owner is French) received by the mother of the owner when the owner was born back in 1960.  Never heard of Lip, but they made quite a few watches.

The service was mostly uneventful except for BREAKING THE YOKE SPRING!!!

While removing the yoke, I was pressing the spring away and it just snapped in two.  The spring design is such that if fits in a kerf cut into the main plate.  The spring is flat.  I have tons of springs (shepherds hook, etc.) but nothing like this.  So I took some round spring steel (I have lots in all different gauges) and by repeatedly placing it in a vise, I was able to flatten.  The width had to be about 0.18mm.  If I had a better vise with nice flat faces, this would not have been to hard.  As it was, it took about a half hour.  Got it!! Done.  I show the broken spring with a 50 screwdriver for scale.  Also show the replacement installed in the kerf.

Getting the timing works wheels all aligned under the plate was a little fiddly, but I managed by using a microscope.

As I was working on the spring, it became obvious why it is called "watchmaking."

 

[Jon]

Nice one! As many will already know, watchmaking is about finding a solution to a problem sometimes in not the usual orthodox way. I have found it helps me solve problems by approaching them from a different angle, as you have done, and using what you have in your arsenal. A piece of round steel that needs to be flat, no problem, let's make it flat and fashion it to suit. That's proper watchmaking in my book. Hat off to you!

I have posted recently on a different post: 

This post talks about sheet tool steel to fabricate a part that you can buy from Cousins, which is advertised as 'carbon steel' to make parts and tools https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/sheet-carbon-steel

All steel is technically carbon steel, as it has a small amount of carbon content (up to 0.25% carbon), but 'high carbon steel', or what is known as 'tool steel' that you can harden and temper should have a carbon content of about 1%, give or take 0.4%

Let me tell you that the Cousins 'carbon steel' isn't a 'high carbon steel', which is also known as 'tool steel', or 'silver steel'. This metal, which is mild steel from Cousins can't be hardened and tempered to make it into a spring or tool and frankly is of no use to man nor beast because it is mild steel.  I've now bought some proper tool steel from these guys: https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/materials-maintenance-and-standard-parts/ground-flat-stock/c/160202?tab=&query=tool+steel&pageLimit=10&preventRedirect=true&thickness=1mm