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Pin lever Heli-coil spring question..
- Thread starter Chris.K
- Start date
Sorry for not showing pics as I was busy cussing myself and thank you for the response. In the mean time I remembered a technique for rejoining the spring to the collet. In the pic you will see a heavy side to the collet which I pre-soldered and then filed and formed. Once I get the final tweeking done on the spring all I should have to do is run the iron over it and should be good but I haven't done this in 35 years so it may take a bit...
I have reattached the spring to the collet and installed it back in and it ran very fast as it would strike the hour every 46 minutes. So I will tighten up and even out the coils on the spring. I bought this as a learning tool and it has lived up to that purpose as the movement is stamped "Double Wheel Escapement" made by Aichiken. But to me after reading up it looks like more of a hybrid. I had to make a new dog for the spring and please excuse the solder job as I will shore it up at a later date. Any input is appreciated. Chris..I was thinking of a whole different kind of balance. What you propose should work. Keep us posted
How you re-attached it?
If you look closely with high enough magnification, there is/was a tiny brass pin that is used to stake the inner coil to the collet. You might be able to see a remnant of spring in the same hole with the pin.
You can push the pointed end out using a fine sewing needle. Be careful not to lose that tiny tapered brass pin (super small) as those taper pins are hard to acquire anymore.
The center of hairspring coil juts in at an angle to be fitted into that hole. Generally a gap of 2 or 3 inner coil thickness is where inner coils begin.
If the body of the coils lays flat and no loop touches one another then you don't have to worry about hs body. Else for corrections with coils that touch bend 90 degrees before the error. If the body doesn't lie flat it's 180degrees before and requires 2 tweezers. One to hold stationary the other to effect bend.
I know people here frown on super glue but it can help sometimes with attachment and lengthening.
A balance wheel and spring are a mated pair, referred to as vibrated. The problem is once you break off a portion (shorten length) it has no choice but to oscillate too fast. That is unless there was spare hs length after the termination. Which case you could do termination further back.
Finding replacement hs is difficult. The OE hs's are much softer compliant metal. The modern are too stiff.
So you might have luck with super gluing on a piece of donar spring. With tweezers hold both springs together on flat glass. Drop a tiny drop on glass. Use small screwdriver to scoop super glue to spread on the lap of the two. Make lap small. Unstick from glass quickly. Cross fingers.
If you look closely with high enough magnification, there is/was a tiny brass pin that is used to stake the inner coil to the collet. You might be able to see a remnant of spring in the same hole with the pin.
You can push the pointed end out using a fine sewing needle. Be careful not to lose that tiny tapered brass pin (super small) as those taper pins are hard to acquire anymore.
The center of hairspring coil juts in at an angle to be fitted into that hole. Generally a gap of 2 or 3 inner coil thickness is where inner coils begin.
If the body of the coils lays flat and no loop touches one another then you don't have to worry about hs body. Else for corrections with coils that touch bend 90 degrees before the error. If the body doesn't lie flat it's 180degrees before and requires 2 tweezers. One to hold stationary the other to effect bend.
I know people here frown on super glue but it can help sometimes with attachment and lengthening.
A balance wheel and spring are a mated pair, referred to as vibrated. The problem is once you break off a portion (shorten length) it has no choice but to oscillate too fast. That is unless there was spare hs length after the termination. Which case you could do termination further back.
Finding replacement hs is difficult. The OE hs's are much softer compliant metal. The modern are too stiff.
So you might have luck with super gluing on a piece of donar spring. With tweezers hold both springs together on flat glass. Drop a tiny drop on glass. Use small screwdriver to scoop super glue to spread on the lap of the two. Make lap small. Unstick from glass quickly. Cross fingers.
Another way to slow down a balance-wheel movement is to add some mass to the rim of said wheel. Glue tiny bits of, say, brass thereupon.
M Kinsler
M Kinsler
I actually like the idea of gluing on additional weight onto balance wheel. Simpler easier, also since a clock no worries about positional error. Errors watches undergo in relation to gravity. Ex. horizontal balance is unaffected by gravity. Vertical is.
Poising a balance wheel in the watch world, is accomplishing even distributed weight on the balance wheel by adding or removing weight.
The balance wheels in this case often have screws in the rim so that not only can weights be added or subtracted, the screws themselves can be screwed in or out to adjust time keeping, effecting the centrifugal motion. In = faster, out = slower.
The watch balance being more critical due to varying relationship with different angles to gravity has these screw system as more precise means of control. Rims of watch balances are also split, the ends are designed to spread out or curl in depending on weather conditions. The rims are bi-metalic strips, differing metal has different cold/heat reaction. Joining the two causes a curl when temperatures change. The reason was because temperature changes effect the hairspring as well.
An amazing race to perfection, stuck in the physical world.
The poising tool is like a tiny bench vice with two thin jeweled edges. Most have a float bubble and legs that adjust so that the two jewel edges are adjusted perfectly horizontal.
The poising tool jewel blades are then adjusted to the correct width so that both balance wheel pivot ride one on each jewel edge. The edges about inch long. Perfectly parallel to each other.
So, now the trick is to slightly touch the balance wheel so it begins to roll on those jeweled edges If there is a heavy side on the balance it is noted and adjustment is made by either adding weight or subtracting. The balance rim itself can be drilled to remove weight if desired. A special tool takes weight out of screws by drilling center of screws. However more difficult to use.
So the balance, out of movement, hairspring removed, rolls on these two jewelled edges. If it slowly rolls to a stop then the wheel is correct, no heavy spot detected. However, a heavy spot will rock back and forth, heavy side down.
The fine jewelled edges are required because they provide the least resistance. The weight differences are very small.
As time progressed the hairspring issues where more thoroughly addressed. The advance of the overcoil and later more temperature resistant alloys where steps that got rid of the split rim with balance weights and screws.
Amazing how much simpler things become when the correct issues are addressed.
Poising a balance wheel in the watch world, is accomplishing even distributed weight on the balance wheel by adding or removing weight.
The balance wheels in this case often have screws in the rim so that not only can weights be added or subtracted, the screws themselves can be screwed in or out to adjust time keeping, effecting the centrifugal motion. In = faster, out = slower.
The watch balance being more critical due to varying relationship with different angles to gravity has these screw system as more precise means of control. Rims of watch balances are also split, the ends are designed to spread out or curl in depending on weather conditions. The rims are bi-metalic strips, differing metal has different cold/heat reaction. Joining the two causes a curl when temperatures change. The reason was because temperature changes effect the hairspring as well.
An amazing race to perfection, stuck in the physical world.
The poising tool is like a tiny bench vice with two thin jeweled edges. Most have a float bubble and legs that adjust so that the two jewel edges are adjusted perfectly horizontal.
The poising tool jewel blades are then adjusted to the correct width so that both balance wheel pivot ride one on each jewel edge. The edges about inch long. Perfectly parallel to each other.
So, now the trick is to slightly touch the balance wheel so it begins to roll on those jeweled edges If there is a heavy side on the balance it is noted and adjustment is made by either adding weight or subtracting. The balance rim itself can be drilled to remove weight if desired. A special tool takes weight out of screws by drilling center of screws. However more difficult to use.
So the balance, out of movement, hairspring removed, rolls on these two jewelled edges. If it slowly rolls to a stop then the wheel is correct, no heavy spot detected. However, a heavy spot will rock back and forth, heavy side down.
The fine jewelled edges are required because they provide the least resistance. The weight differences are very small.
As time progressed the hairspring issues where more thoroughly addressed. The advance of the overcoil and later more temperature resistant alloys where steps that got rid of the split rim with balance weights and screws.
Amazing how much simpler things become when the correct issues are addressed.
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