Week 7 & 8 Sep. 6-18, 2010

Sorry to the followers of this blog, I've been a bit slow with the whole process as of late so this is a double post. Been traveling to see the parents a bit so a bit less focused. But nonetheless I did a few things and here they are.

I started making the regulating assembly. It was milled out of a piece of steel. Lots of work to do at this point but I just left it for now.

A lot of regulating assembly's have the two pieces aligned but I didn't like the idea of it blocking the view of the pallet fork so I shifted it. This will also be better for timing as the regulating pins should be less than 90 degrees from the stud.

The rest of the week I spent planning for the power reserve system. But no pictures about that. Trying to figure out the best and easiest way to incorporate it in the movement. I believe I will be making some pinions.... not easy!

At the end of the week I made a new balance staff for my movement. I am changing the whole balance bridge and jewel so the heights are different and I couldn't use the original one. Took about a day and a bit but I was able to make it to the dimensions I wanted in one try so that's ok. No guarantee it will work yet until I get the new jewel and fit it on the bridge... so I might have to make a new one. Plus I will have to make a spare in case it breaks sometime (hopefully not soon...). I'll try to take a picture of it to show. The original one was 3.57mm long and the new one is 3.41mm. It also has a few different dimensions in a few spots.

The second week I attempted to make a new click for the ratchet wheel. It didn't turn out so well so I don't have any pictures of that. I'll have to go back to the drawing board before attempting that again, oops!!

After failing in that venture I decided to spend the rest of the week adjusting watches so no more info or those weeks. But here are a few pics I should've included in the last post.

Here is the stud, the screw that holds it, and the bridge (with the threaded hole on top). Might be hard to see but it has a thread! The little hole at the end of the stud is where the hairspring will be attached to. And I also made a groove in it so the screw would grab in the same place.

This is the partially completed bridge. There's still no undercut for the balance and no hole for the jewel. Also the stud holder with the stud in. I actually might have to make a new stud again cause it will probably be too long. But that's what prototyping is I guess! Trial and error big time!

Cya next week, I promise a speedier update.