CHANGING GEARS!

WEEK 47

Jayne Zhuo, James Punshon, Pierre Aubert

Origin : Singapore. Sydney, Australia. Toulouse, France.

Age : 38

Watchmaking class: Technician Course

Current mood: Pierre here! Busy week for the three of us: time was split between endshakes practice and preparation for the final gear train exam! We took it on Thursday and all passed it with flying colours :)! We are now off to a well deserved weekend!! Also had some time for my school watch- I started to design my click system inspired by a very old Le Locle School pocket watch. I am looking forward to moving ahead with it when I have more free time. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Markus McDonald 

Origin : Stockholm Sweden 

Age : 21

Watchmaking class: 2 years Fullskill Program

Current mood : This week I did my final exam and it went really well as I was able to maintain my pacing throughout the exam and make each section as good as possible. This added up to my exam piece being the best winding stem in terms of dimensions, finishing and squares and even though my square wasn't perfect I was able to achieve a score of very good being 83 and a half. This result was incredibly satisfying as I had been pushing the trial exams too get the best possible result. The rest of the week I worked on my past tools and reading up and developing a measurement system for the winding stem for a potential restoration project.
In conclusion this was a very rewarding week as my exam results where not only satisfying but proof of my work and I made good progress with other tools and overall I am looking forward to starting pivot gauges next week.

Michael

Origin : Malaysia

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 2 years Fullskill Program

Current Mood : I have been dating with Aciera F1 for the whole week. Managed to calculate some of the angles to be mill down for my pointed nose vice. Had the opportunity to make a scribe drill bit. Looking forward to finish all angles and drilling by next week. Slow progress..

Alex

Origin : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Age : 26

Watchmaking : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood: Finished turning all the slots with perfect dimension. I can finally move on to the making of an actual winding stem. It's the sum of all the exercises I have done through out the last few weeks. It should not be that much harder if I manage to grab myself to bed on time and do not drink an excessive amount of Red Bull so my hands are shaking, heart pumping. Anyhow, calling it a week. Might take some time to make a stand for my slots, they are magnificent.

STEP 1: POINTED NOSE VISE (MICHAEL)

Extra template for the pointed nose vice

Calculations for the trigonometry angles (Reminds me of my high school days)

STEP 2: CLICK DESIGN (PIERRE)






Testing out the design on my own barrel bridge! 

Need to lengthen my click and adjust the spring design accordingly!

HENRIK's WORDS:

Very diverse week with some exams but also nicely creative and it feels we are upshifting in the course! Michael progressing on his pointed nose vice learning a lot about milling, Alex has now arrived to the stage where he will start making complete winding stems, even though it was the real exam week for Pierre he still got in a couple of hours to progress on his school watch, which was really nice to see again! Markus finished his winding stem course and will start a new course about pivot gages next week. I forgot to tell that last week some of us went to Mr. Simonin to get some tools and books as well. See  you next week!

The amazing old Le Locle school piece we get much inspiration from!

This was Friday morning in Le Locle!

At Mr. Simonin watchmaking bookstore.