Re: how do the Chinese do it

On Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:08:06 +1000, dAz wrote:

On 15/07/11 21:13, Alex W. wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:53:15 +1000, dAz wrote:

On 14/07/11 10:12, Alex W. wrote:

Stop whinging.
You have it easy.

:)


Walthams -- vintage or not -- are mass-produced and standardised.

yes they are, but parts are getting harder to find, I do have some old
parts and old movements, that helps

Cannibalising old watches is a time-honoured tradition.
It probably also helps to explain the enduring popularity or
American pocket watches.



Try finding a mainspring for an English watch from that same
period. Then it becomes a matter of knowing the right retired
engineer working in a garden shed somewhere who might run you up
a one-off proper blued-steel mainspring for the love of horology
and challenge of the job.

one, I don't like blue steel mainsprings, I always try to fit the
stainless unbreakable, I have boxes of blue springs, most now are
useless, they have rusted, or set or stress cracked into multiple
segments, I did have one blue spring that was close for the waltham, but
it was in 20 pieces, brand new old stock, still in the original packet,
always been stored in a clean dry area, I see them on eBay, but the
seller will not take them out of the packet to show, preserving
originality is the usual BS, so will not buy them, I don't how many
times over the years in fitting a new blue spring in a watch just to
have it come back with broken spring, sometimes they don't even get out
of the workshop before it snaps.

Must be shoddy second-rate American gear -- I have had and
handled blued mainsprings that have happily powered watches and
marine chronometers for two hundred years or longer without
complaint.

clocks are different, very rare that I have to replace a spring in a
fuzee driven clock and watches.

the springs in question, some are american, some are swiss, if I take
the blue steel spring of the holder they are generally set, some are so
bad they just fall out of the holder, the others well stress fractures
is quite common, I simply cannot trust an old stock blue spring anymore,
specially if you have to replace one in a complex watch like a chrono or
repeater.

You don't find them different? Old blued springs are not as
"springy", IYKWIM. Isn't there a risk of having too strong a
spring?







as for english fuzee watches, I find the mainspring is normally pretty
good because it is not stressed as much as in a normal going barrel
watch, it's never allowed to full run down or be fully wound up, I don't
mind the odd english watch, rehooking fuzees, turning staffs,

That my help to explain why I do not see as many dodgy
mainsprings as you do.

As for rehooking a fusee or turning a staff, at a guess I'd say
that eight out of ten people mislabelling themselves as
"watchmakers" wouldn't know a pinion if you hammered one up their
nostril with a mallet.

But then, ignorance is still preferable to partial knowledge --
plonkers who think they are being clever when they slap jewelled
pallets into an early 18th-century verge, for instance.

sounds like a lot of work for little gain, verges are not that hard to make.

They're not; it's idiots playing around, not really knowing what
they are doing.







For that matter, mainsprings are *easy*. Glass is harder to
source, and enamel dials are next to impossible.

I just use the thin plastic for the hunters, ran out of the popular
sized crystals ages ago, dials, got a box full of the things, no idea
what they fit, also have a large assortment of shaped glass for ladies
watches the type from the 20s and 30s, ovals, square, rectangles, curved
you name it, and another box of oval slightly domed glasses that look to
be used in those broaches from the victorian era for placing locks of
hair or dried flowers under.

Plastic instead of glass? Remind me to never buy an antique
watch from you!
;-)

Seriously, though: I do hope you inform the proud owners that
plastic "glass" or plastic dials can significantly reduce the
value of their piece.

well they do know, plus I simply cannot buy the thin hunter crystals in
the diameter or heights needed, provided the bezel is in good condition
you can fit the very thin plexi and adjust the height by fitting a
slightly larger or smaller diameter plexi, this is where the Robur glass
tool comes into it's own.

I guess we're lucky over here; I can still find old glass for
most any watch.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: how do the Chinese do it
    ... Cannibalising old watches is a time-honoured tradition. ... one, I don't like blue steel mainsprings, I always try to fit the ... watch, it's never allowed to full run down or be fully wound up, I don't ... Glass is harder to ...
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  • Re: how do the Chinese do it
    ... the blue steel spring of the holder they are generally set, ... yes they can be a bit stronger, but I just fit a slightly weaker spring ... Plastic instead of glass? ... watch from you! ...
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  • Re: how do the Chinese do it
    ... American pocket watches. ... times over the years in fitting a new blue spring in a watch just to ... well they do know, plus I simply cannot buy the thin hunter crystals in the diameter or heights needed, provided the bezel is in good condition you can fit the very thin plexi and adjust the height by fitting a slightly larger or smaller diameter plexi, this is where the Robur glass tool comes into it's own. ...
    (alt.horology)
  • Re: how do the Chinese do it
    ... one, I don't like blue steel mainsprings, I always try to fit the stainless unbreakable, I have boxes of blue springs, most now are useless, they have rusted, or set or stress cracked into multiple segments, I did have one blue spring that was close for the waltham, but it was in 20 pieces, brand new old stock, still in the original packet, always been stored in a clean dry area, I see them on eBay, but the seller will not take them out of the packet to show, preserving originality is the usual BS, so will not buy them, I don't how many times over the years in fitting a new blue spring in a watch just to have it come back with broken spring, sometimes they don't even get out of the workshop before it snaps. ... as for english fuzee watches, I find the mainspring is normally pretty good because it is not stressed as much as in a normal going barrel watch, it's never allowed to full run down or be fully wound up, I don't mind the odd english watch, rehooking fuzees, turning staffs, ... and enamel dials are next to impossible. ...
    (alt.horology)