Finishing Touches

 

 

Week 4

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS

Workshop A

Students:
    Art, Bernd, Cesar, Joan, Louis Lu, Mun, Nine

    This week Art finished his winding stems, and Louis Lu used hand filing to make a pointed nose vise.

Art's final winding stem

Louis Lu's nose vise

Workshop B

Students:
    Craig, Dunham, Ivan, Louis, Sheikh, Varun

    Ivan and Varun tried out new approaches for finishing ratchet wheels. Ivan perfected a snailing finish, while Varun worked on sunray grinding and tempering the steel to an auburn brown.

 

Ivan's snailing finish

Varun's sunray finish (above) and auburn tempering (below)

    Ivan also completed the design for his school watch, and began the first milling operations on the prototype.

 

Renders of Ivan's design (compiles by Miles Ross)

    Louis spent the week on restorations. First, he re-burnished every pivot on his marine chronometer and lapped a diamond endstone to a flat finish. Casing everything up, it began ticking! Now it's ready for several weeks of timing adjustment.

The diamond endstone before (above) and after (below) lapping

 After the chronometer, Louis also began restoration of a chronograph with an instantaneous minute counter.

Thank you for reading!

Hope to see you again next week!

Learning new things

 Henrik started his students off with the chronograph course. Running them through theoretical concepts of old to new chronographs.

Educational movement 

In the meanwhile, Michael’s students got a thorough lesson on the jig-borer. They were introduced to the Hauser 2A3 jig borer. Exercises included centering the work piece with the microscope, scribing a square and a circle, as well as drilling holes with different diameters and depths.

The Hauser 

Michael showing Bernd the ropes

Centering 

The finished exercise 

This week Greg also made some headway on his own project. He managed to finish turning and polishing a pinion, then he riveted the pinion to a brass he made. 

The pinion 

The riveted on center wheel

That’s it’s for this week.

Until next time!

3D Printing

 

Week 2

The globe turns and another year begins anew. In the lobby of the school, KHWCC has hung a map of the globe with pins to mark where all of the students have come from.

Our international student body

Another new feature in this new year: the workshop has gained a 3D printer. After the initial setup and stock test prints, Louis and Dunny from Workshop B used this tool of additive manufacturing to make custom movement holders.

Dunny's movement holder with personalized insignia

Louis's movement holder for his marine chronometer

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS

Workshop B

Students:
    Craig, Dunham, Ivan, Louis, Sheikh, Varun

    Craig learned how to cut the leaves for a pinion, and then polish them to mirror perfection using a wooden wheel and hand finishing.

 

 Louis continued his restoration of a mid-19th century marine chronometer by making a new ratchet wheel and spring, modifying a click to fit, and fitting a new fusée chain. To manufacture the ratchet wheel, he first had to make a custom fly cutter, and the fusée chain needed to be shortened and the direction of the barrel hook flipped.

 

The marine chronometer with new ratchet wheel, spring, and modified click

Cutting the ratchet wheel

Riveting the fusée chain

Thank you for reading!

Hope to see you again next week!