LE LANDERON!

 WEEK 182

Team B

Origin: Japan/Switzerland & Canada

Name: Tetsu & Dean

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

This week, (26~30 September) Dean & Tetsu continued producing winding stems and were finally ready for a practice exam and managed to do their first ones. Thanks to Henrik’s feedback, they now know where to be improved for the next pieces.

The success rates were not so high to be honest, and the main reason for the failures have been in the straightening process when the pieces became bent after hardening.

Although it is still some kind of hit & miss scenarios, both of them have been building their confidences slowly but surely.

The real exam time will be coming soon!

We wish you all a nice weekend! 

Dean & Tetsu

Team C

Origin: Switzerland, Norway & USA

Name: Renato, David, Francesco, Åsmund & Robert

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

Hello everyone, 

This week was the last week of our micro mechanics year, all of us were finishing up our last work to get rid of that before moving onto the technician course.

Robert is still working on pivot gauges and it’s still getting better and better, it’s starting to look really good now. Further on he passed his hour wheel exam with a big smile

Francesco also had his hour wheel exam this week and after some hard work it went well in the end.  Besides that he continued working on his school project, I’ve had a few peeks and it is slowly coming together nicely!

I finished up some tools that had been lying in my drawer just waiting to get the surfaces finished, felt good to finally deliver it for grading. Other than that I finished my balance staff for the 6498 movement I have, did all turning between centers which where really fun! Another handmade part ready to be assembled! 

Spent some time taking pictures in the microscope with Henrik, he has got a new setup which is really great. 

You can really see all the mistakes and faults. (Read, not the type of mistakes that would affect anything in terms of performance) - Take a look in the picture section to see the results of the photo shoot 😄

Today me (Åsmund), Robert and Francesco started our technician course; we learned fast and easy techniques on how to sharpen our tweezers and screwdrivers. Furthermore we talked a lot about different handy tools and other genius little thing to use for all kinds of different situations when working on movements. In other words, a lot of notes and ideas to note down for future reference!

Have a great weekend. 

STEP 1: BALANCE STAFF! (ÅSMUND)

Asmund finished his balance staff for his school watch!

STEP 2: PIVOT GAUGE! (ÅSMUND)

Asmund also completed a nice pivot at 0.09 mm diameter!

STEP 3: LE LANDERON! (MICHAEL, HENRIK & ROBERT)

Robert, Henrik and Michael went to Le Landeron flea market!

STEP 4: SCHOOL WATCH! (FRANCESCO)

Francesco continued to work on his school watch!

STEP 5: WINDING STEMS! (DEAN & TETSU)

Dean and Tetsu had some winding stem practice exams and are getting closer to the real one!

STEP 6: GUARD PIN DIVISION! (RENATO & DAVID)

Renato and David continued practicing the adjustments of the Swiss lever escapement, here they are checking if the relationship between the guard pin and safety roller is appropriate! 

HENRIK's WORDS:

It was cold and raining almost the whole week! The Landeron flea market was last Saturday and me Michael and Robert went, found some nice bargains there! It was a lot of repetitions this week, but also something new; Asmund finished his balance staff and Francesco, Asmund and Robert started their technician course as well! for the rest it was more or less the same as the week before! It was a very nice week! Have a great weekend everyone! 

GAÏA!

 WEEK 181

Team B

Origin: Japan/Switzerland & Canada

Name: Tetsu & Dean

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

This week, Tetsu and Dean continued with hand-turning their winding stems.  Heat treatment has proven to be very important as the quenching process tends to bend the stems, which then need to be straightened.  This is a delicate process because although the stems are tempered, they still have a relatively small window in which they can be flexed back to their original shape.  Tetsu and Dean feel they will be ready soon to take the winding stem exam, involving hand-turning, heat treatment, and finishing which must be performed within a designated window of time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Team C

Origin: Switzerland, Norway & USA

Name: Renato, David, Francesco, Åsmund & Robert

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

Hello everyone, 

This week i finished the hour wheel exam and i think it went very well, waiting impatient for the results 😁 I finished up the smallest pivot gauge so far, which is 0.09. Very tiny and puts your fine motor skills to the test, especially for the burnishing. But it went well, according to Henrik! Later on I started preparing for the balance staff and as of now I’m turning it down to the right dimensions. Pictures coming next Friday 

Head down to see the picture of the hour wheel I made earlier, there you can see a comparison to the factory wheel.

Francesco is working on school project and got a big breakthrough which will be presented later on when he is finished. 

Robert has been continuing with pivot gauges and they are getting better and better, he tells me it’s a slow process but he is hanging in there. He just finished the trials exam for the hour wheel and seems like he is ready for the real exam. 

Renato got a great microscope this week, it has a 112.5x magnification and we all gathered up to try it out. Best quality from the late 90’s. Other than that, he has been disassembled several of his chronos, check his Instagram for pictures. He also did a nice bushing for the barrel bridge on the Universal Geneve chrono, check pictures to see the result's.

David is working on adjusting pallet fork jewel’s.

See you next week. 

STEP 1: GAÏA! (HENRIK, JEAN-LUC & ROBERT)

It was really packed with people!

It was only me and Robert that went as the other students were busy, it was a really great evening!

STEP 2: HOUR WHEEL MAKING! (ÅSMUND)

Asmund made a nice hour wheel for his school watch, big difference in finish comparing it to the commercial hour wheel (right)! 

STEP 3: SWISS LEVER ESCAPEMENT! (RENATO & DAVID)

David and Renato learn how to adjust pallet staffs, guard pins and how to boil out old shellac before replacing damaged pallet jewels!

STEP 4: RE-BUSHING! (RENATO)

Drilled out in the Hauser Jig boring machine to prepare for the fitting of a new bushing!

Made new brass bushing!

Installed new bushing!

HENRIK's WORDS:

It got really cold this week, most mornings below freezing! The week was the polar opposite of the previous week, calm for the first time in a very long time! The 28th GAÏA award ceremony was on Thursday but it was only me, Jean-Luc and Robert that were free to go there, it was completely packed with people! We had a great evening!! Francesco had a big breakthrough experience on a part he was making for his school watch, he will show something once he completes more of it! Renato and David worked on the Swiss lever escapement, and Renato also re-bushed the barrel pivot hole (bearing) in the bridge as it was very worn and made the entire barrel tilting sideways! Otherwise it was nothing special going on this week. It was a calm and nice week! Have a great weekend everyone! 

AWCI INTERNATIONAL GROUP IN HAIRSPRING COURSE!

 WEEK 180

Team B

Origin: Japan/Switzerland & Canada

Name: Tetsu & Dean

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

This week, (12~16 September) Dean & Tetsu continued producing winding stems, now they could reach to the end after slot cutting and surface finishing to complete.

Well, their success rates were very low but at least a few of many went through all the required processes.

Their next task will be to produce a part within 8 hours, which is the duration of the exam.

Of course, without compromising the quality.

We wish you all a nice weekend! 

Dean & Tetsu

Team C

Origin: Switzerland, Norway & USA

Name: Renato, David, Francesco, Åsmund & Robert

Watchmaking class: Fullskill 

Current mood:

This week was pretty cool since I could finally start the work on several vintage chronographs who need a service or repair. Also interesting because they all happen to have different (mostly) inhouse movements, so I see all the different layouts and construction. Quite a nice feeling to disassemble everything and have each single part going through my hands and later assemble again knowing each movement is in top shape. They all need a service and adjustment, so it will be nice to have them properly running at some point. Next thing is to go through winding/setting, mainspring, end shakes etc. we learned already about. Looking forward to it!

-Renato

STEP 1: HAIRSPRINGS! (AWCI INTERNATIONAL GROUP)

It was truly inspiring and wonderful to teach this class!!!

STEP 2: GEAR MAKING! (FRANCESCO)

Francesco practicing making the hour wheel!

STEP 3: WATCHES! (RENATO)

Renato subjected a wristwatch chronograph collection for repairing!

STEP 4: BOOKS! (KHWCC LIBRARY)

Thank you for making the school library more interesting!!

STEP 5: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (ROBERT)

Happy Birthday sweet tooth Robert!!

STEP 6: POP-UP SECOND HAND WATCH TOOL STORE! (KHWCC)

Sabri came to the school with his collection of second hand watchmaker tools which was very nice for everyone especially the hairspring course students!!

STEP 7: MOVEMENTS! (DEAN)

Dean Submitted some very interesting ultra thin movements that he will later in the course repair!

HENRIK's WORDS:

This week we had a group of 5 watchmakers all members of the AWCI  https://www.awci.com/   to learn about hairsprings, they were all very passionate and enthusiastic! we covered a lot in a very short time! they learn to rivet the staff to the balance, install the double roller, perform static poising and truing the balance in the flat, they then continued to pin a raw hairspring to the collet, vibrating/counting it to the correct frequency, align the inner pinning point to the regulating point, make the double bend, regulating curve, and studding it up to the bridge and then they also practiced making it flat and centred under the bridge before doing the timing, very intensive week and they all went home with their own balance completes! The Fullskill students continued progressing mostly with the same work as last week! It was truly a fantastic week!! Have a great weekend everyone!