Escapement

Circling back to our Waltham 12s and classroom exercise.  After removing the mainspring from the watch it was time to remove and examine the balance wheel. The balance wheel is the most complex part of the watch.  In his explanation of the function of the balance wheel, Master watchmaker Dave had a huge, electric-motor-powered model of a watch escapement for us to learn from in the classroom. What is an escapement?  I'll try to be brief. A watch has components for several different functions. You pull and twist the crown and stem mechanism to turn the hands to set the time and to wind the watch mainspring. There is a wheel train to transfer the power of the mainspring to the hands and other parts of the watch. And the end of the power train is the heart of the watch, the time regulating components, collectively called the escapement .  Power from the mainspring is passed along the train of the wheels and terminates at the escape wheel. The escape wheel (and whole whe...

In class I was happy to be working on that Waltham and not on a watch I really cared about. I would have been far too nervous. Especially with so many weapons of watch destruction at my fingertips. As I have spent more time with the watch I realize that while it wasn't running, in fact, it was kept in excellent condition overall. The dial is nearly flawless and the case is in really good shape. Very clean for a 116 year old watch. Hold on Mr. Wizard! How are you so confident that this watch was made in 1907? I'm so glad you asked! For us many of us clock guys the NAWCC is the jam. They are a treasure trove of information and their message boards have a deep community of experts who generously share their expertise. I'm perusing their boards many times a week. There is a huge online library available for members but it can still be a lot of work to get anything definitive.  Looking up definitive information on clocks is not infrequently challenging. Records on clock manufac...

A bit of a departure from the typical contents of this blog... I saw a blurb in my clock related activities for a class in pocket watch "disassembly, lubrication and reassembly" with the NAWCC. Two full days, hands on in the classroom at the NAWCC School of Horology .  Regardless of now having a reasonable grasp of horology and clock repair, and being an admirer of pocket watches, I have long been intimidated by the notion of working at the dramatically smaller scale of mechanical watch movements. Well here was certainly a way to test / exorcise those demons. And have some fun! Kathleen and I planned a trip out east and over the weekend of April 22-23 I spent two highly enjoyable days here: More specifically Kathleen and I stayed at the charming Railroad House Inn in nearby Marietta and I was enjoying a 9-5 schedule on a Saturday and Sunday in a NAWCC classroom in Columbia PA. As expected the school has all the right tools for teaching horology. AND well equipped classrooms....