SCIENCE

 We’ll start off strong with Gui doing some serious science experiments. Like Tony Stark he is trying to forge his suit out of titanium. After a lot of labour he managed to part a slice of grade 2 titanium, not an easy task. He then bought some equipment and formulated a contraption for anodizing.

At work 

Contraption 

Lovely titanium

Meanwhile Louis and I took our practice test for the final exam. 5 days of examination, a very tiring week. Afterwards I started some work on a lovely vintage Omega watch with a 267 caliber. They just don’t make it like they use to.

Our newest addition David is making good headway on his brass tools. 

Balance bridge holder

Press fit plate 

Henrik used this week to give Nick and David a comprehensive lesson on using the jig borer and milling machine. Very dangerous and expensive machinery, so it is crucial they are well introduced to its uses, keeping themselves and the machines safe.

Much machining

Last but not least we have Jaewon. Using the profile projector to make some drawings and designs on the 6498.

That’s it for this week. Until next time!

Stripes & Dials

Gui experimented a lot with finishing bridges. David was learning the lathe and also how to grind gravers, Gary was continuing his experients with different colored enamel for dials.

Gui made some nice circular stripes.

Gary made a copper sink for enamel filling.

Filled with enamel powder ready for melting.

Molten enamel on copper sink ready for further machining.

David turned a male cone.

Lesson time

 Both Michael and Henrik have their hands full throughout these days. Teaching new content and preparing material for the coming weeks as students start a new stage of their education. 

Showing us how it’s done

Here we see Henrik explaining the five individual noises that occur in a single beat of the escapement. 

Real life example

Michael is giving us an example where we can observe the effects of the escapement in real time.

While us students are busy with projects and other shenanigans. Chris is restoring an old pallet fork adjusting tool, giving it a full service.

Fully disassembled 

Gary is doing more work on his dials, here experimenting with new colors of mild enamel. Some lovely results.

😍

Just today some of us went to Geneva for Geneva watch days, one of the many watch related events in Geneva. 

The boys 

That’s it for this week. Until next time!

Storm clouds gather

 Rainy week here in Le Locle, dark skies and thunders fill our evenings. Signs of the end of summer. Soon the days will get shorter and the nights colder. In our workshop Caio and Gui have started work on the hour wheel. A fun project were we learn how to cut teeth on the lathe using the milling attachment and teeth cutters. The process is not too long, most the time is concentrated on centering the teeth cutters with a microscope.

Caio’s first hour wheel.

Joan took his hairspring exam this week and successfully passed it, congratulations!

Nick over here is getting a lesson on the Agathon. A grinding machine used to sharper hard metal gravers.

Nick at work

While Chris, Gary, Phillip and Jaewon are still going through the theory of the escapement, the beating heart of the watch. Taking their time to learn all the different methods to restore and fix a damaged pallet fork. Here Gary is doing a guard pin replacement. A rare skill, where nowadays most would just get a new pallet fork.

Here we see a neat little tool made by Chris. Is a brass anvil to be used with the Horia pusher for guard pin replacement.

Crafty

That’s it for this week!

Until next time.

Time to learn

 The students at workshop two have started the escapement course. A lengthy course which teaches the full theory of how the Swiss lever works and why it works. Along with the theory we learn how to restore and diagnose an escapement, as well as adjust the escapement.

Changing the pallet staff

Examining English lever

David the new student is here for his second week. Still working on filing, the basis of all watchmaking.

Many of us have also taken this week to melt our tin to make polishing plates. We melt the tin by a touch then pour the molten tin into a mold. This is then turned on the lathe to mark a smooth surface. 

Until next time!

We’re back baby

Everyone is back from the summer break, some never left. But we go straight into it, Michael is teaching us all some new decoration techniques. We’re all learning polishing counter sinks and bevels, different nailing methods on ratchet wheels, as well as Geneva stripes and frosting. Everyone is going out and trying their own individual way. Let’s see what they’ve done!

Starting off strong with a ratchet wheels by Jaewon. Using the milling attachment with a brass bar attached with some diamond paste. Choosing the speed for the lathe and the milling attachment will drastically affect the final look. Then afterwards he heated the wheel to a straw yellow.

Here is a practice piece for the counter sink and bevel polishing, with the surface frosted. After which it was plated with white rhodium.

Let’s follow Guillerme as he decorates this movement. Here setting it up for Geneva stripes 

Lovely done Geneva stripes. Came out look very nice.

 Finally he finished it off by electro plating it in white rhodium.

Trying some double snailing, a classic finish. How does it compare to single snailing?

We will have more next week! 

Until then

Finishing Techniques Course

 The first one week finishing course just ended and it was a really great experience! with six students participating we covered many of the classical finishing techniques such as frosting, straight graining, black polishing, various different types of snailing, polishing of counter sinks etc.