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My First Balance Staff - Need some advive

jdrichard

By jdrichard
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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Before fitting the hairspring, always a good idea to check the balance wheel is running true. Riveting on these split balance wheels can lift an arm sometimes if your unlucky. And some minor adjustment to re-true the balance may be necessary

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Put it in a truing calliper and it looked good.


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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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22 minutes ago, jdrichard said:
23 minutes ago, jdrichard said:


Put it in a truing calliper and it looked good.


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The way to prevent any misalignments is to rotate the punch while you are tapping the balance wheel onto the new staff this will help the balance wheel to be re-seated correctly.   

 

jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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PS: I may have shaved a bit too much material off one of the pivots using my jacott tool, SO, i may have to start all over again. Will know by the days end


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Tim Member

Tim

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BTW, what kind of steel are you using and what type of gravers? You have to be careful with steel selection and avoid any that undergo work hardening. They sell something called "blued steel" at many places that is typically horrible stuff for what we are doing. Best bet is to get annealed O tool steel and do the gardening and tempering yourself. That way you know what you are getting. 

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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BTW, what kind of steel are you using and what type of gravers? You have to be careful with steel selection and avoid any that undergo work hardening. They sell something called "blued steel" at many places that is typically horrible stuff for what we are doing. Best bet is to get annealed O tool steel and do the gardening and tempering yourself. That way you know what you are getting. 

I’ll need to find some annealed O Tool Steel. Do you have a reliable source


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  • 2 weeks later...
jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Update. Had to re-shellac the roller jewel, then i staked in on my new staff. I then aligned the hairspring with the balance cock and the pallet fork. I put the lot together and it started running right away: with exceptional amplitude. However as i completed tightening the balance cock, the balance stopped. Too long a pivot on the top of the screen staff. Tomorrow i shall Jacot the pivot and start the adjustments48aedcffd969c76f3f3b079a503d0bcd.jpg6cbd0acddd3c1b28430e8495cfbf8d42.jpg6651d8d0f452306bdcfb1d5f5bec77ad.jpg04c9128c1ae9763a67c5b950b3a9f258.jpg


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Needed to trim the upper pivot in my Jacot tool. Also cleaned the upper Balance Cock jewel and cap.f380ede84371605d7216922ce49ce97d.jpg0404026166ec377bbba2d75eee8d5e40.jpg4c4dbc2c717cb0cfbfb52f4384f62591.jpgb524162f9b8cd34f4e61c3fcbfce461c.jpgTeated the pivot size again by placing the jewel on it.92b59a52c4104860584af08c2032d76a.jpgd4ee597ed750d856f0a6f0d3db49cea0.jpg


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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What you did ~works~ in an worker kind of way. If you blow a measurement on a staff, only solution is to start again. What you did would work on a clock, but centricity on a watch balance is too critical. By tightening the roller table in a staking set you've mangled the center and I'd be surprised if you got that thing even well poised. Like I said though, it will ~work~ but you've just forfeited precision and introduced positional timing variability. 

Worked and accurate


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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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Congratulations. You have achieved something that many watch repairs would never be able to do. You really do have watchmaker skills.  :Bravo:

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Congratulations. You have achieved something that many watch repairs would never be able to do. You really do have watchmaker skills.  :Bravo:


Big thanks. You have helped me big time over the last few years.


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Congrats!!! [emoji898]


What lathe are you using? Beautiful work.

Cheers.


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G. Boley Lathe. I have some videos on youtube . Look for jdrichard01


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digginstony Super WRT Addict

digginstony

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Honestly, once you've manufactured and fitted your own working hairsprings there's going to be no limit to your possibilities. Very well done indeed

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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Honestly, once you've manufactured and fitted your own working hairsprings there's going to be no limit to your possibilities. Very well done indeed

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Another adventure I’m sure:) I wouldn’t know where to start to manufacture a hair spring.


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jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Honestly, once you've manufactured and fitted your own working hairsprings there's going to be no limit to your possibilities. Very well done indeed

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You said hairspring? Did you mean Balance Staff?


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  • 2 weeks later...
jdrichard Distinguished Member

jdrichard

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Just finished my second balance staff. For a full plate Waltham.1486237953ea8c8185331fba5d0a4c48.jpgOriginal Balance Staff. Used for reference.
33a10cf87d02853e89e6f6e7bcfd48dc.jpg51685d557466be6ff088ff621be13812.jpgbfe1ebcea8d7762ef02276512c94517f.jpg0fdd0e32ef6712e93fca208f1ea66dba.jpg
I also made a youtube video of cutting the roller table staff part and the final pivot.


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