Milling machine, Screwdrivers and Tweezers.

WEEK 5:

Harman Wadhwa 

Origin : New Delhi, India

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 8 month Service & Technician course

Current mood : "First week of technician course, introduction to all the bridges, gear trains and their respective function in the watch mechanism. Important lesson learned: never touch watchmaker screwdrivers and tweezers, they have a soul. A lot of effort goes into proper filling of the tools.

Also practiced dissembling & assembling of movements: ETA 6498 & PESEUX 7001, it's good fun." N.B: Be careful while removing the yoke spring, it might jump out and get stuck in your beard. :P

Pierre Aubert

Origin : Toulouse, France

Age : 22

Watchmaking class : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood : "Bridges for my school watch were reasonably easy to design, but designing a new yoke and setting lever spring is quite an adventure!! And a great deal of fun of course!!! I've also had the opportunity to explore the milling machine (Aciera F1): such a fascinating machine!!! It's interesting to note that skills are not at the center of milling operations. In fact, discipline and careful planning are of the essence here to ensure accurate milling..!! I am looking forward to spending more time on it in the upcoming week. Time flies by and I am just amazed by how much there is to learn in watchmaking: I find it reassuring to know that one lifetime won't suffice to even explore 0.1% of it..! Haha ok I'll stop here- see you next week for more watchmaking adventures."  

STEP 1: GETTING THE RIGHT TOOLS

 We had the pleasure to welcome Guillaume Böttger from Bergeon. It is quite nice to see that tools are specifically catered to the watchmakers' needs. In fact, the latter are continually discussed and reviewed by Bergeon to facilitate everyday watchmaking operations. 

STEP 2: 

HARMAN- 6498 ASSEMBLY AND TOOL MAINTENANCE

STEP 3: 

PIERRE - INTRO TO THE ACIERA F1/MILLING OPERATIONS

 Ensuring the flatness accross all the table surface. 

STEP 4:

AFTER SCHOOL HOURS - REDESIGNING THE WINDING SYSTEM

  Used a profile projector to draw the current 6498 winding system. This gave me a good idea of how much space was available for my own design. Next step: CAD (Cardboard Assisted Drawing..! I need to make a 10:1 cardboard sample of my own design to determine if it will work! Stay tuned :)! PS: I have decided to make the spring and yoke spring into one common part. 

HENRIK's WORDS

This week was a diverse one, Pierre started with the Aciera F1 manual watchmakers milling machine, learning to set it up and make his first cuts with it, he also work with his school watch designing the winding and setting mechanism. Harman started with his watch service and repair course module of the technician course, the first things he did was to practice sharpening screwdrivers and tweezers as well as practicing using them on a small and large movement, surprisingly less parts were lost and the ones lost were found, its important to learn the skill of finding lost parts too! I have been super busy myself with the course but also with a side project; I experimented with designing and modifying vintage pocket watch hands for the future school watches to give students ideas, below, some pictures of the case dial and hands, I also received my sapphire case for a custom project I have been working on for some time now, I am very happy with the final product, super clear and perfectly polished! Thank you Bernice at Hong Kong Bright Sapphire Co.,Ltd for the great business and easy communication!

School watch design experiment.

Sapphire case for custom project arrived  this week, made by Hong Kong Bright Sapphire Co., Ltd.