The watcmaker bench - Tools

We were forgetting a very important piece in the activity watchmaker: the bench. At the left you can see what is found in our laboratory, along with a vise which if necessary can be fixed to the bench by means of a guide and which enables various operations. This bank is carrying out work on wristwatches, pocket or small table clocks. For big jobs pendoleria instead, we use another bank bigger and without the coverage that would be in the way.

Sometimes it happens that the teeth of one wheel of pocket watch or small clock is slightly consumed. And 'possible to intervene by hitting the teeth with a hammer in order to expand the profile and giving them back the appropriate form with the cutters mounted on un'arronditrice as the nineteenth century you see here. In its action reminds the machine for cutting wheels seen in the preceding pages. The substantial difference lies in the fact that with un'arronditrice you can not create wheels (sprockets and even less) ex novo because it lacks the capacity to "divide" the wheel into many equal parts as there are teeth to obtain. These must be at least already sketched.

Here as in '"Encyclopaedia" has dealt with the problem of meshing:

A selection of measuring instruments: two 1/100 mm. micrometers and a common gauge caliper used by every toolmaker. While the latter type can usually show the 1/20 mm. (2/1,000"), the former can show the 1/100 mm. (4/10,000"). If accurately made like the JKA with dial indicator and used by a skilled operator they arrive to show the 1/400 mm. (1/10,000"). These performances are useful for example in balance staff making when spare parts are no more available.

A very old tool that still use some work on the lathe. The graduated scale brass is divided into hundredths of a millimeter, so it is equipped with a great degree of precision but, above all, it is a fast method to perform the measurements (although not with absolute reliability!) Due to its ingenious construction.

About balance wheels, it's very important that they're properly "poised", in other words, every arc of their circumference must be of the same weight than any other. There is abundant literature on this matter. You can see the tool used for this job, which is called "poising tool"

A tool that is sometimes used for repairs on the balances spring is this: is used to tighten the collets of the springs, and lets you do this with large safety margins

This microscope is used to observe small parts like pivots or balance staffs for wristwatches. Its magnifying power is limited to 20X or 40X, but it offers a "stereo" view, which allows depth of image to be appreciated, so it is possible to work on parts while looking at them. The focal distance is very high, so there's enough room between lenses and the observed part to allow the insertion of tools.