Make groove Case steel 316L - without lathe

[SAMyMAS]

Hello All,

I need to cut 316L stainless steel to 0.5 millimetre depth/hight (make groove) with a diameter 27.5mm. The problem is that I do not have a lathe and I couldn’t find anyone nearby with one (CNC, laser) so far. 

I wonder if it can be done with Dremel, drill or any other tool that is easy to find.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

[RichardHarris123]

What part are you trying to make? 

[SAMyMAS]

The watch case consists of three parts: the upper part with crystal, the middle part (depicts in photos) needs cutting (make current groove deeper to 0.5mm, see arrow) to install the movement and the third/bottom part of screw-down.

41 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

What part are you trying to make? 

Thank you for your response.

[AndyGSi]

So I presume you're needing to increase the diameter because of the movement?

What movement are you using and are there no other options?

[RichardHarris123]

So the movement and the case are from different watches? 

[SAMyMAS]

3 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Yes, I’m building my first watch from different parts.

[RichardHarris123]

A lathe would be ideal but I have an idea.  Tomorrow, I'll do one of my famously brilliant drawings, hehe. 

[SAMyMAS]

9 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

So I presume you're needing to increase the diameter because of the movement?

What movement are you using and are there no other options?

Thank you Andy for your response. That’s right, but I need to increase the hight/depth (the diameter is fine) to get the ETA 2892 movement stem align with the case tube. 

I just build my watch from parts I have  already bought. If the cutting the case is too much trouble, I can always buy the right one.

1 minute ago, RichardHarris123 said:

A lathe would be ideal but I have an idea.  Tomorrow, I'll do one of my famously brilliant drawings, hehe. 

Thank you Richard. I like your spirit

[AndyGSi]

I went for the diameter as that's what you'd shown the measurement for and would be easier than the depth.

As the 2892 is 25.6mm does it go through the internal hole?

My thought are can you not just space the dial the 0.5mm to align the stem?

[RichardHarris123]

My idea, is to stick various grades of sandpaper, wet and dry to the ends of these.  Low to high grit.

[AndyGSi]

I'd had a similar thought to @RichardHarris123 using something like this, but ideally the same ID as the case.

[RichardHarris123]

@AndyGSi, I thought about running it around the case, but the same diameter of the inside of the case, would be better .

[SAMyMAS]

Thank you @RichardHarris123, @AndyGSi for your ideas.

47 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

I went for the diameter as that's what you'd shown the measurement for and would be easier than the depth.

You’re right, sorry for confusion

47 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

As the 2892 is 25.6mm does it go through the internal hole?

That’s a good point, I forgot mention that the internal hole has three different diameters: 27.5, 25.7 (middle ridge that I’m trying to cut) and 26.1

It doesn’t go through the hole because of 25.7.

47 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

My thought are can you not just space the dial the 0.5mm to align the stem?

I think I can align and fix with clamps once the ridge is removed 25.7  

 

[AndyGSi]

As it's so close to the 25.6 stated you should be able to run a fairly smooth sanding drum around it.

[Neverenoughwatches]

I understood it that the op wants to reduce the lip height, in order to lower the movement in the case, nothing to do with the diameter. 

[SAMyMAS]

Thank you @AndyGSi for following up. I will update once it’s done.

 

Thank you @Neverenoughwatches for your response. You’re right the original plan was to cut off the ‘lip’ lowering the movement down. However after@AndyGSiwise observations I realised that this would cause the movement slipping through the hole after the lip/ridge was removed, and widening the diameter of the lip/ridge would achieve the same result.