Friday, April 26, 2019

We Know the Drill ;)

WEEK 2 & 3
Lathe: We know the drill ;)

Harman Wadhwa
Origin : New Delhi, India
Age : 28
Watchmaking class : 8 month Service & Technician course
Current mood : "Mind just got tapered.."started to use the Schaublin 70, loving the experience with the lathe. On Easter holidays, Henrik suggested to work on a school watch: I'm excited to work on the bridges over the weekends :D"

Pierre Aubert
Origin : Toulouse, France
Age : 22
Watchmaking class : 2Y Fullskill Program
Current mood : « Very exciting times: the lathe is an AMAZING tool!!! The precision is simply out of the world!! The love relationship with filing is getting very serious: I just started designing my school watch and filing the bridges. More on that later, stay tuned. PS: Filing might replace meditation ;) It is the purest form of self expression..!! The hands and the mind. What else? See you next week."


STEP 1 : LEARNING THE DRILLS 






                                                 STEP 2 : FULL CYCLE LEARNING
                   FIXING OUR OWN TOOLS (compound vice for the ACIERA 6T drill press)




STEP 3: TURNING
-
OUR CHAKRAS ARE ALIGNING!



(Trying to explain lathe operations :p)






STEP 4: APPLIED SKILLS
-
SCHOOL WATCH debuts




                                                      
HENRIK's WORDS

3 weeks has already passed as well as Easter!  Students are very efficient and seem to like even the filing! We covered already the drill press, learning on our beloved precision Aciera 6T column drill press, super smooth and most importantly no accidents! The students also started to work on their school watches mainly modifying 6498 bridges to classical shapes to continue practice classical hand filing, we also had time to learn the basics of the lathe on the the Schaublin 70 (watchmakers super lathe). Just before Easter I also met up with Mr. Simonin (former director of WOSTEP) to pick up some restoration projects.  We talked in length about marine chronometers and school watches, coincidentally he had one of my restoration projects that I did in the course on restoration and complications back in 2006, the marine chronometer that I restored, he still had it!! and it was in perfect condition still running strong! It was truly emotional ones again to be with it and hearing its beautiful song so healthy and strong! Anyway next week we will do some more cool stuff stay tuned...


Teaser for next week :) 

The Marine Chronometer Henrik restored back in the complication and restoration course in WOSTEP

Sweet memories.

Friday, April 12, 2019

Filing sets you free


WEEK 1
NEW KHWCC SPECIMENS : IN SEARCH OF FLATNESS

SPECIMEN 1 : Harman Wadhwa
Origin : New Delhi, India
Age : 28
Watchmaking class : 8 month Service & Technician course
Current mood : « Exploring the  technical side of watches »

SPECIMEN 2 : Pierre Aubert
Origin : Toulouse, France
Age : 22
Watchmaking class : 2Y Fullskill Program
Current mood : « Watchmaking addict anonymous- It’s been too damn long since my 2017 bench test..!! I’m just so thrilled to finally be here and embark on this life long journey. The addiction is REAL. »




STEP 1 : WEAPON MAKING, LIKE REAL BOSSES, TAKING DOWN KHWCC





STEP 2 : FILING- THE JOURNEY IS WHAT MATTERS





                                                   STEP 3 :  IN NEED OF CAFFEINE




STEP 4 : VISITING THE WATCHMAKING’s GODFATHER- Mr. Simonin (WOSTEP Founder)




STEP 5 : LEGENDS ARE FROM KHWCC – 3 GENERATIONS REUNION !! Henrik’s recipe for outstanding abilities must lie in KEBAB consumption !! We’ll try to keep up.


                                                          


HENRIK's WORDS

This first week was exhausting as we all were filing and sawing from morning to late evening to develop manual dexterity and to get used to shaping brass and steel, however, the week ended very nicely with much needed Paradise Kebab.