Horology hammer

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Returning back to class for day 2 I was now facing that fact that my mainspring was broken. This was job 1.

I asked Dave the watchmaker if I have to replace it or could I repair it. He says "no harm trying and it might work."

What was required was me staking (you'll see) a new hole in the very end of the mainspring. The fact is that 99% of the mainspring's length was fine and making is 1% shorter has virtually no impact on it's ability to drive the watch. 

But the hole has to be just right... 

And, of course, Dave has a staking tool.


A staking tool allows the user to drive a stake down onto something in a very precise way.

You select the appropriate (you'll see) stake from here:


The take is a steel rod with a very specific sized/shaped end. You slide it in the tool here:


And given that you measured the diameter that you need to punch your hole (I did)...


With some very careful alignment...


You can tap a hole (or two taps to make a larger, more oval shaped hole).


Nice, neat, original hole on top. Ugly-but-maybe-it-will-work hole there in the middle.

And I get the spring back in its barrel. I did this manually which is a no-no. It tends to bend the spring up a bit. So you get a spring in a barrel but it doesn't lay flat.


Well I remedied that too.

And completed a basic disassembly of the rest of the movement.


Suffice it to say these parts are small. That escape wheel removed in the picture above is about 6mm across.


I did not disassemble 100% of the movement. This is an intro class. But did enough to do some basic cleaning and oiling.

Reassembly was greatly aided by patience, a steady hand and the scores of photos I took.




And...

It wouldn't wind.

The mainspring hole that I punched refused to catch on the barrel arbor. Without it catching the mainspring will just spin in the barrel endlessly. I suspected it might not catch. The "hole" I punched was jagged at best.

I did a quick disassembly to get just the barrel out and tweaked and tugged and pulled on that mainspring hole.

Nada.

Speaking to Dave I noted that perhaps a watchmaker's file (think super small) might be the thing for smoothing out those rough edges. He agreed that might work but had none on hand. I noted that I had them at home and would try there.

I tested several more things, tried other tools and generally learned and learned for the rest of the afternoon. 

I was actually pretty spent by the end of the day but also inspired.

Kathleen picked me up and we headed northeast towards New York but there was one more thing...

As we departed, mere blocks from the classroom:



I simply couldn't imagine my little hobby having such a big and wonderful representation.

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