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Spring Regulation Tool


ziggy18

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I should probably preface this question by saying I am not a watch enthusiast. My father however is really deep into the world of watch repair and so I figured this would be a good place to ask this. I am trying to find a birthday present for him and I haven't had any luck with finding it so maybe somebody here can help. I am interested in buying him a watch spring regulator, not sure if this is the correct name of the device. I am just guessing based on what he has told me he is trying to do. He says he has a bunch of springs he received from an estate sale that are not labeled with respect to their frequency operators and apparently their is a tool that can measure these frequencies. I have looked everywhere and can't seem to find anybody who has one to sell.  Is this hard to find because it is considered a vintage piece of equipment or do you guys just not use these anymore? I tried to make a device that would accomplish this using an Arduino but it wasn't working as intended. Thanks for any help with this.

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12 minutes ago, ziggy18 said:

Edit, I think it is called a watchmakers vibrating tool, sorry...

If you are referring to hairsprings and finding the vibration point then I expect the tool you are looking for is a Luthy/Vibrating tool see below;  If you have very deep pockets there are electronic tools that achieve the same.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/E-LUTHY-HIRT-Hairspring-Vibrating-Balance-Tool-Watchmaker-Watchmaking-Tools-/152729936026

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25 minutes ago, Chopin said:

Just out of curiosity what do these do and how do they work ?

A hairspring is mounted to a balance and suspended above a glass plate covering another balance of known and calibrated rate, normally 18000bph but there are others. The unknown balance is held by the end of the hairspring where you believe the regulator pins will reside, the tip of the staff rests lightly on the glass, and the whole tool is rotated sharply to put both balances in motion. The oscillations are observed referencing the unknown to the known, and the pinning point on the new hairspring is moved to bring both balances into sync. The new spring is marked and cut slightly long to allow for the distance from the average position of the regulator pins to the stud, then the stud is pinned on and the new balance is placed in the movement and viola, new vibrated hairspring.

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55 minutes ago, clockboy said:

If you are referring to hairsprings and finding the vibration point then I expect the tool you are looking for is a Luthy/Vibrating tool see below;  If you have very deep pockets there are electronic tools that achieve the same.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/E-LUTHY-HIRT-Hairspring-Vibrating-Balance-Tool-Watchmaker-Watchmaking-Tools-/152729936026

Well, that price is a little disheartening, thanks for the help though.

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I'm sure someone will post a link to the thread soon that shows someone making one of these, but if you know a bit about programming and electronics you can make something that will work the same for $100 to $200 using a Raspberry Pi credit card computer with a display, a laser diode and a laser detector.

It wont look nearly as pretty as the item in the link above, but will work just as good.

But I must admit I love the look of the traditional hairspring vibrator.

 

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I believe there was a discussion recently about how this kind of tool and work is obsolete (its a little over my head so i could be wrong) but apparently you don't really buy generic hairsprings and vibrate them yourself anymore. He may appreciate it anyway for whatever practical value it has its probably a very nice piece of watchmaking equipment. 

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The Luthy/Vibrating tool is a really great tool for finding the vibration point of a new hairspring being fitted. However for me the price of a good quality one is way above my budget. It is possible to find the approx.vibration point of a hairspring using a watch with a second hand & vibrating the hairspring & then counting the amount of vibrations for 30 secs. Not easy but I can not justify spending £800/£1000 for a tool that I will use once in a blue moon. 

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Raw hairsprings show up for sale now and then, mostly I've seen them on ebay but there may be other sources. I'd say it's not an obsolete task, but not an overly common one. If you have an old watch you just have to get running and the hairspring is damaged or missing this is the way to go.

Well why don't you just replace the whole balance as an assembly? Because it's about originality with a lot of the old watches, and good luck finding a suitable replacement anyway, they're not made anymore. Plus a lot of old pocket watches had the serial number scribed on the underneath side of the balance arm, which again relates back to originality, kind of like matching VIN numbers on a classic car. I would imagine the biggest draw for tools like this is that they are just beautiful. Elegant craftsmanship from a bygone era, that might be fun to tinker with and take a couple steps in the path of the true craftsmen of old....

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The problem is many complete balances are no longer available so you have to fit a new hairspring to the balance. I have a large stash of hairsprings for this purpose but it is always surprising despite this I very often have not got the correct replacement spring. 

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