Hair spring problem

[thessler]

Hi

New member here, and new to this hobby.

I am trying to assemble my Hamilton wrist watch and while installing the balance the wheel got hung up on something for a micro second. When it released,  the hair spring returned a little aggressively and a few of the coils over road each other creating a mess. I have stretched out the spring and been able to remove some of the larger problems but in near the collet there is still a few overriding coils. My fear is if I keep fooling with it I'll cause damage. So far the spring looks undamaged but will not sit right.

I was hoping someone has seen this as has a nifty trick to straighten it out.

Thank you for any advise Tom

[oldhippy]

Have a look at Marks videos I believe theirs two about sorting out hairsprings. 

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, thessler said:

My fear is if I keep fooling with it I'll cause damage

Unless you've done lots of practice at straightening out hairsprings your fear will come true. Find yourself some junk watches to practice with. The only way you can really get good at fixing hairsprings is lots and lots of practice.  So practice with other expendable hairsprings before coming back to this watch.

Then the book Bench Practices for Watch and Clockmakers by Henry B Fried  Has a section on straightening out bent hairsprings.

[Cad101]

I agree with JohnR725 hairprings are best left alone until you have the confidence to tackle them and thats only gained by trying to straighten lots of scrapers. I've spent many a hour with a 20x  loupe almost getting there and one wrong move and your hairspring world comes crashing down at your feet thats when you throw your tweezers across the room swear alot and get on the bay for a replacement.

[david]

A few years ago I took the three introductory watch repair courses from the TIME ZONE WATCH REPAIR SCHOOL. When I took my project watch apart the balance wheel flipped around and turned the hairspring into a rats nest. At first I thought it could not be repaired but I made some tools out of fine sewing needles and shish-ka-bob sticks and was able to get the hairspring back into working order. The watch worked when I reassembled everything so I guess I made a successful repair. 

I learned a few things from the experience. One was not to be afraid to jump in and do it and the other was that things can and often do go wrong. Screwing something up is often an undervalued part of the learning experience.

david 

[rogart63]

I guess we all have our bad hair spring days  

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, david said:

I learned a few things from the experience. One was not to be afraid to jump in and do it and the other was that things can and often do go wrong. Screwing something up is often an undervalued part of the learning experience.

So I find the above quoted paragraph interesting. Which is why I was suggesting finding other hairsprings to practice on. All of us have had bad hairspring days if we haven't we probably are really working on watches.

[thessler]

Thanks for the replys. I just picked up some sewing needles and I'm going to jump in. If I mess it up , that's the cost of education.

Tom