FINAL EXAM!

 WEEK 103

Willy, Yuriy, Alex, Michael

Origin : Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Malaysia 

Age: n. a.

Watchmaking class: Technician & Fullskill 

Current mood: Phase of the week "Delicate substance handle with care" . Handling hair spring, messing it up and trying to rectify it. Full throttle plus full concentration .  Only one word "Wonky" . Have a great weekend 😀

Pierre Aubert

Origin :Toulouse, France.

Age : 24

Watchmaking class: Fullskill

Current mood: N/A, (In practical final exam)

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week Pierre had his final exam and I focused on a few side projects during this time, specially the pivot gauges using a sections strategy to make several pivot gauges at once. This meant that I just worked on one section at a time in bulk such as body, pivot, burnishing etc. This strategy went well as I was able to increase the efficiency of my work as changing equipment was reduced.

In conclusion this was a good week although intense as each section required a lot of focus I was able too meet my daily goals.

STEP 1:  PINNING UP TO THE COLLET! (TECHNICIAN)

Pinned up hairspring to the collet.

Checking flatness and centering around the collet in the Bradux tool.

STEP 2:  HAIRSPRING ADJUSTMENTS! (TECHNICIAN)

Yuriy found this hairspring in one of his Zodiac watches for repair, it has the shape of a reversed umbrella which is a very common hairspring problem found on vintage watches, it can happen easily if someone pulls too much on the stud, which in this case is also out of square to the hairspring, he will later attempt to correct these problems.

Its a very delicate watch part!

STEP 3:  COFFEE! (ALL)

As our old coffee machine broke down after years of extreme use! Svenja found this gem, it was one of the talking points during break time this week, we love it! Thank you Svenja!

HENRIK's WORDS:

This week the most important happening was Pierre's practical final exam, which he completed well before the time was up, that is usually a very good sign! next week the experts will come to the school and grade his work, we all cross our fingers that he will pass! For the technician course, since last week they got introduced to the pinning up of hairspring to the collet including how to true it in the round and flat, they continued mostly with that this week and completed almost all of the exercises which is very fast! Some hairsprings got killed on the way, but that's for me expected when learning. Since Markus reached last week the timing course, he continued this week to finish off some old pivot gauges and will resume the timing course next week. Have a great weekend everyone! 

THE HAIRSPRING & FINAL EXAM!

 WEEK 102

Willy, Yuriy, Alex, Michael

Origin : Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Malaysia 

Age: n. a.

Watchmaking class: Technician & Fullskill 

Current mood: Oscillator time!

This week we continue the balance build/repair topic. Replacing balance staff is a significant aspect of proper time keeping.

Old balance staff must be properly removed first. Henrik explained several different methods of this operation. Each has its own pros and cons. It was interesting to see how each method works on various balance wheels of different makes and materials. My favorite method is by using lathe to remove exact amount of material to make sure the old staff is removed securely without damaging the wheel or altering its geometry. It was eye opening experience observing how brass could be strong on time of intense and momentary impact. As well as steel loses its strength rapidly when its thickness is decreasing.

After removing old/broke staff, a new staff should be installed. Two days the workshop was full of tapping sounds of small hammers, riveting new staffs on exact place. Like dozens of woodpeckers doing their job. We also finished all the static poising and truing the balance wheels in the flat as well. We then started to work on the hairsprings by first learning how to pin them up on the collet and practicing truing them in the round and flat. 

Pierre Aubert

Origin :Toulouse, France.

Age : 24

Watchmaking class: Fullskill

Current mood: N/A 

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week i finished the neccesary preperations for the hairspring and started the timing.

This was a lot different on a techical level being similar in nature to the vibrating but a lot more complicated as it was a digital representation of both the health and neccesary performance of the movement and naturally this required getting a hang of the feel. Through the process of elimination and adjusting I was able to gain a better understanding making it a very intresting section.

STEP 1:  EPILAME! (TECHNICIAN)

We also had an interesting discussion on the various applications and policies of Epilame use on movement parts such as the escapement, winding and setting mechanism, chronograph parts etc.

STEP 2:  BALANCE STAFF! (TECHNICIAN)

Oscillator with rusty balance staff! Good thing we now know how to replace them!

STEP 3:  BOOKS & TOOLS! (TECHNICIAN)

At Mr. Simonins book and tool store! https://www.booksimonin.ch/ 

Got home with all these watchmaking books!

STEP 4:  GUIDANCE! (TECHNICIAN)

Our guide to true the hairspring around the collets.

STEP 5:  STATIC POISING! (TECHNICIAN)

Static poising of a balance!

STEP 6:  PINNING UP THE HAIRSPRING TO THE COLLET! (TECHNICIAN)

The parts needed to do the pinning up.

STEP 7: WINTER IS BACK! (ALL!)

Blessings from the sky!

STEP 8:  HIGH GRADE! (ALL)

In need of a good overhaul! Amazing quality watch though!

Movement details!

Swiss silver hallmarks on the case.

Regulator index pointer with screw and locating pin!

Beast of an oscillator!

HENRIK's WORDS:

Amazing week! We got winter back in full swing! Today (Friday) we even had -10°C freezing cold in the morning!  We finished all the riveting, static poising and truing exercises this week and had some time to learn how to pin up the hairsprings on the collet including practicing making them flat and centered around the collet, certainly a delicate task when doing it for the first time. Even though there are only two concepts/rules for correcting flatness and the same for centering, it can still be very tricky to understand how to make the good corrections due to that the hairspring is spiral shaped and the correction with fine tweezers is very delicate and can easily damage the hairspring. We will spend some good time on the hairsprings, leading us in the direction of the really interesting timing course!

 Pierre had his oral and theoretical final examination today and next week he will do his practical, can’t believe he will only be with us for another 2 weeks and then he is off to Holland! Markus finished all his hairspring exercises and started the timing course; he is soon ready to start with his trial balance/hairspring and timing exams, very happy for him to reach that level!

Even though we were only allowed to go 3 to visit Mr. Simonin due to the Covid situation, it was still a great experience and we got a big bag full of books with us and even some small hand tools for Yuriy and Willy. 

Also I got a nice Patek silver cased pocket watch for an overhaul, which I used to show the difference between modern mass manufactured movements and high grade vintage movement such as that Patek, the amount of detail is a feast for our eyes! (even a lot of it is there for pride of workmanship!) Have a great weekend everyone! 

THE BALANCE!

 WEEK 101

Willy, Yuriy, Alex, Michael

Origin : Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Malaysia 

Age: n. a.

Watchmaking class: Technician & Fullskill 

Current mood: This week was busy and diverse, we got introduced to the amazing Bestfit book and dive a bit deeper into the realm of the balance. Theories, assembly and disassembly, riveting, installation of the roller, flatness, static poising and so much more!!! We are facing an explosion of works again! Less talking more doing! See ya!!

Pierre Aubert

Origin :Toulouse, France.

Age : 24

Watchmaking class: Fullskill

Current mood: Repairing as many movements as possible in order to prepare for next weeks final exam! Starts on Friday and lasts a week!

Still have some work to do. Have a great weekend everyone!

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week started with recovering from a cold that I had caught over the weekend thankfully not Covid. This was an unfortunate inconvenience as it got in the way of potential work I wanted to do. Fortunately  I was able to recover quickly and get back to work and I was able to finish off several 6498 hairsprings in preparation for the timing section, making this week better than it could of been.

STEP 1:  BESTFIT! (TECHNICIAN)

Consulting the amazing BESTFIT catalogue to find the calibre of a vintage watch.

STEP 2: THE BALANCE! (TECHNICIAN)

Some of the tools used when dealing with the balance.

Turned off roller seat before extracting the staff.

Half a balance staff.

Another practice balance with knocked out staff.

Fitting the roller on the staff.

Before the roller is fitted the balance would be fitted to the staff and then riveted.

Checking the flatness of the balance.

STEP 3: MAINPLATE RESTORATION TRIAL! (YURIY)

HENRIK's WORDS:

New Subject! This week we started the balance and hairspring course, The students first learn different technics how to safely remove the hairsprings and double rollers from the balance before extracting the broken balance staffs, they also learn different technics how to remove the staff without damaging the balance, after that they learn how to rivet back new ones in the staking set, as well as checking concentricity of balance, condition of rivet and pivots, as well as truing the balance in the flat. Markus finish several of his hairsprings and will soon start doing timing on them. Pierre was repairing and overhauling a lot of watches this week to get ready for his final exam starting next Friday. In between the balance work, Yuriy continued to practice restoring mainplates with worn barrel and center wheel bushings. I also show how to use the genius Bestfit catalogue to find the calibre of the watch in order to be able to order the right spare part for vintage watches. This Saturday we will get the opportunity to visit Mr. Simonin again, unfortunately we cannot all go due to the restrictions, but we will certainly go another time soon again.  Have a great weekend everyone! 

WEEK 100!

 WEEK 100

Willy, Yuriy, Alex, Michael

Origin : Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Malaysia 

Age: n. a.

Watchmaking class: Technician & Fullskill 

Current mood: Another week has passed! This week was the week of creativity since we had just finished the final exam for the escapement. Apart from learning how to do centering on a 70, Yuriy continued with his numerous personal repair projects. Michael finally completed all of the 13 pivot gauges and is on his way of making balance staff. Willy was making some interesting wood pieces. Alex did frosting, corner filling and some servicing. It was a good, relaxing week!!

Pierre Aubert

Origin :Toulouse, France.

Age : 24

Watchmaking class: Fullskill

Current mood: Exam preparation..! Have a good weekend everyone! See you next week.

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week I focused on the hairsprings finishing the last stages and assembly. This went well as I was able to make very precise adjustments to the hairspring something which was challenging when I started.

Overall this has been both a good week and a good section being challenging at certain points especially with dexterity and motor skills and pushing through this section was very rewarding and necessary.

STEP 1:  BLACK POLISHING! (YURIY)

In one of Yuriy's pocket watches this mismatching and scratched cap jewel setting was found, he decided to correct the size and remove the scratches with the black polishing technique he learned previously.

Cap jewel setting glued on a platform that would be fitted in the polishing tripod.

After re-sizing and polishing.

STEP 2: TOOLS! (ALEX)

Alex filing a step on his pointed nose vice.

STEP 3: MAINPLATE CENTERING! (ALL)

Everyone tried out to center the barrel bushing with the help of the tailstock microscope on this discarded mainplate.

STEP 4:  (ALEX)

Alex received a vintage classical column wheel chronograph that he will use as his school watch later on.

HENRIK's WORDS:

Interesting diverse week, the technicians had their last escapement theory lesson and finished all escapement exercises, so for the rest of the week they were free to work on their own projects, as we are transitioning to the balance and hairspring course next week. The highlight for me this week was that we had Philippe Narbel as a visitor to the school;  https://www.instagram.com/philippe_narbel_watchmaking/ He has an incredible passion for skeletonizing and finishing work in watchmaking which I, and probably all students also share! Thank you very much Philippe for coming by and sharing your passion! We hope to soon visit you as well!

This is also the No.100 week since we started this new blog format with Pierre and Harman!

Since Yuriy soon needs to re-bush some of his movements, as the center wheel bushings and barrel bushings are worn on many of his repairs, we also practiced centering the mainplate in the lathe using the tailstock microscope. Michael and Alex took the opportunity to finish some old tools, and pivot gauges as well as Michael started to learn how to turn the balance staff for a pocket watch repair. Pierre started to practice for his final exam by overhauling and repairing the 7 ETA exercise movements and Markus continued with hairsprings, now doing the final adjustments of flatness under the bridge with the balance attached very soon he will start timing. Have a great weekend everyone!