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The first item is a depthing tool - https://www.csparks.com/watchmaking/SmallTools.html. Second is a screw head polishing tool, although there don't seem to be any laps.

I imagine both could/would be used by someone who knows how to use them and has a use for them, but most people probably wouldn't. I have the polishing tool but have never used it as I don't have watches of the quality that need to have the screw heads polished ;). I imagine I could use it for polishing other things if I wanted to though.

Stephen

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The first item is a depthing tool - https://www.csparks.com/watchmaking/SmallTools.html. Second is a screw head polishing tool, although there don't seem to be any laps.

I imagine both could/would be used by someone who knows how to use them and has a use for them, but most people probably wouldn't. I have the polishing tool but have never used it as I don't have watches of the quality that need to have the screw heads polished ;). I imagine I could use it for polishing other things if I wanted to though.

Stephen

unfortunately I'm running out the door when I come back to look at one of my tool books and verify what I think it is. Stephen has made an interesting discovery which I was bothered with. The normal screw head polishing tool comes with three laps in the link to the video below you'll see what it looks like. This one is missing that which was bothering me. Then it dawned on me what it is versus what I was thinking it might be. In the absence of a lap which is used for flat polishing this one would work perfect for polishing round head screws.

then there's another tool that looks similar to this but doesn't come with all the fittings fittings and are different, it's used to hold screws backwards. It's used to polish the small end of the screw not the head. For those applications the screw goes through the watch from the backside or for watchmakers obsessed with polishing everything. Also works nice if you shortening a screw just to get the end to look nice not necessarily polish it though.

Then the depth thing tool you really want to hold one in your hand and verify that everything is lined up. Somewhere I saw the checkout procedure to make sure that all the runners are in alignment if the tool gets dropped things will be out of alignment the tool isn't as useful.

Then the video part way in you can see the screw head polishing tool really is a nice way to polish the screw heads unfortunately the tool is pricey if it's all complete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYamLPIrvr8

 

 

 

 

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If screws have been blued and look poor, they should be polished and re-blued. Most high grade clocks screws need to be polished and in many cases blued. I used to do this type of thing a lot. A very good tip on getting a gloss finish on a screw head is to quench it in oil.

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If screws have been blued and look poor, they should be polished and re-blued. Most high grade clocks screws need to be polished and in many cases blued. I used to do this type of thing a lot. A very good tip on getting a gloss finish on a screw head is to quench it in oil.


Have you ever come across screws that have been browned as opposed to blued. Similar to the old gunmakers did with Damascus gun barrels. Could look nice, blending against a brass background ?

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do you mean "parkerizing" ?

Parkerizing is new to me but from what I've just read , no but similar.
Time to get confused. Browning is a process of rusting, to make something rust resistant.
Old gun barrels could be made of a composite of iron and steel. Strands of steel and iron were twisted then wrapped around an anvil and cold welded together (Hammering) Solutions were applied to the barrels and quenched to form a coating. These solutions by the better gun barrel browners were highly secret and often went to the grave with them.
The solution reacted differently to iron and steel and gave what is called the Damascus effect, not forgetting steel is iron or at least an alloy of iron. When steel became more popular for gun barrels and generally regarded stronger than Damascus barrels, blueing became the norm, which is a form of over Browning or boiling metal after a Browning solution is applied.
Today there are quick fix Browning and blueing solutions but are generally regarded as lack lustre and less resilient even when applied to highly polished surfaces than produced by the old time masters of the their craft. I have found something on the internet that might help to explain a195fd3dd95f2eeb1f2a010281d66a56.jpg

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parkerizing could be well used in clock repair.   as far as i know,  browning was used to hide demaskus  shot gun barrels since the safer "all steel barrels"  became available.  parkerizing was used to prevent rusting in jungle warfare.  its good !  developed by  the U.S. or Brits.  vin

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parkerizing could be well used in clock repair.   as far as i know,  browning was used to hide demaskus  shot gun barrels since the safer "all steel barrels"  became available.  parkerizing was used to prevent rusting in jungle warfare.  its good !  developed by  the U.S. or Brits.  vin

NO ! [emoji16] Browning was used to enhance the appearance of fine quality Damascus gun barrels. Field trials in the UK of I think the 1870s where gun barrels were given ever increasing heavier pressure loads until they burst. English 3 strip Damascus proved superior to there all steel counter parts of the day.
Technology moved on and all steel production became better, largely due to two men..Whitworth and Jessop and the sheer cost of producing quality Damascus, Steel ultimately won the day and by the beginning of the first world war production of Damascus barrels had ceased in the UK.
America's problem was primarily at the time, there inability to produce quality barrels of there own and relied on Europe for supply. Unfortunately a lot of barrels were of cheap manufacture from Belgium and would readily and easily burst normally causing fatally to the user. Thus the bad reputation Damascus has, even to this day, in the United States.
It was blueing that was used to hide Damascus not Browning.

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Deviled by the Brits in the 1910's, basically you hear the metal to a cherry red then plunge it into a mixture of oils and you finish up with a rust resistant black finish.

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Heating metal to cherry red and quenching in oils or even water for that matter, is case hardening. Not desirable in the UK for shotgun barrels which use a mild steel (EN21) which processes great strength but also enjoys a great deal of elasticity, which will then bulge rather than burst, should they become blocked ie.. by a lump of mud or snow, thus saving the users life

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Heating metal to cherry red and quenching in oils or even water for that matter, is case hardening. Not desirable in the UK for shotgun barrels which use a mild steel (EN21) which processes great strength but also enjoys a great deal of elasticity, which will then bulge rather than burst, should they become blocked ie.. by a lump of mud or snow, thus saving the users life

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I never said it was used for shotgun barrels, it wasn't. It was used for screw, bolts, washers etc

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I never said it was used for shotgun barrels, it wasn't. It was used for screw, bolts, washers etc

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Understood. Yep that would be very desirable. Can also be quenched in a cyanide solution which produces an excellent result. Don't think I will be trying it anytime soon [emoji16]

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