Author Topic: Handmade Watch Screws  (Read 10934 times)

Offline DeanDK

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Handmade Watch Screws
« on: November 22, 2016, 10:03:50 PM »
Hi guys,

I thought I would share my experience in making small handmade screws. The screw is made from water hardening silver steel (drill rod) has a M1.0 thread, Ø2mm head and a total length 3mm.

The lathe I used for turning is a Peerless watchmakers lathe, and the slot was cut with a 0.3mm slitting saw in a Sincere watchmakers lathe.



Sorry I struggled capturing the blueing process this time as my head would get in the way of the camera as I was trying to see what I was actually doing, or I had my blueing pan off camera or out of focus.  :bang:
 
Anyways hopefully this is useful to someone  :proj: 

Have a great day.
 

Offline SwarfnStuff

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2016, 11:49:40 PM »
Thanks for posting Dean,
       Good to watch you at work with steady hands doing stuff that is small / tiny. I'm sure I would need more than one attempt to get anywhere near the result you have.
Congrats,
           John B
Converting good metal into swarf sometimes ending up with something useful. ;-)

Offline speedibee

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2016, 04:42:46 AM »
what is  blueing ?
You are  never alone with Schizophrenia

Offline awemawson

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2016, 05:43:30 AM »
Forming a protective and decorative finish on a steel item, usually by oxidisation but also sometimes using selenium salts
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline jcs0001

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2016, 10:04:40 AM »
Dean:

Thanks for posting - very interesting.

John.

RobWilson

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2016, 11:10:58 AM »
Nice job Dean  :thumbup:   



M1 screw  :jaw:



Rob

Offline DeanDK

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2016, 04:09:54 PM »
Thank you everyone for your comments  :beer:

speedibee - maybe I should have included a photo at the end, instead of just the thumbnail where it shows 2 blue screws.

So after the screws are hardened and tempered. They are polished, and then heated to around 290 degree Celsius. This forms a deep rich blue oxidation layer which not only looks great, but also provides some protection against further oxidization  (rust).

Cheers,

Dean

Offline Will_D

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2016, 06:32:18 PM »
Watching this amazing hand/eye skill reminds me of a story I heard when I worked for AVRO/Hawker Siddelley/BAE in Chadderton, Manchester, in the 70s:

"
So, it was England's darkest hour, WWII was not going well and the USA had offered to help out.

So it was Pratt & Wittney and Rolls Royce as the 2 main precision companies.

After a bit of banter (see below*)  P&W sent the "Worlds Smallest Bolt" to RR.

What did RR do? Took the "Worlds Smallest Bolt", drilled and tapped a hole in it and sent it back to P&W

No Comment!!


* Bit of banter:

P&W offered to build the RR Merlin engine for Spits/Lans/Mustangs.

RR sent them the drawings and specs.

"No way can we build to these tolerances says P&W"

So what did RR do?

Crated up an engine from a Spit with about 1000 hours on the clock, shipped to P&W, quote was "Check this out, its STILL in tolerancer after being in combat"

P&W then found they could build Merlins


Now I refuse to get into the Comet vis a vee the 707 debate
Engineer and Chemist to the NHC.ie
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/

Offline RussellT

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2016, 05:02:37 AM »
Thanks for reminding me of these Will.  I've heard both before in slightly different forms.

The second one I've heard more than once and the version I've heard most often is that Ford were asked to make Merlin engines, and as you say they were unable to work to Rolls Royce tolerances.  The explanation that goes with the story is that Rolls Royce built engines with skilled fitters and there was a lot of hand fitting.  Ford wanted much tighter tolerances so that the engine builders could just pick up a part and it would fit.

Russell
Common sense is unfortunately not as common as its name suggests.

Offline mattinker

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2016, 08:03:14 AM »
The documentary  that I saw showed that Pratt & Whitney produced the Merlin engines to high tolerances using industrial methods that didn't require Rolls Royces man hours scraping and fitting! This lead to much higher numbers produced and a bigger war effort. Hand fitting is great for one offs, but mass production allows more!

Regards, Matthew

Offline Fergus OMore

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2016, 02:43:17 PM »
PACKARD Merlins, if you please!




Offline Manxmodder

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #11 on: November 24, 2016, 05:38:53 PM »
Didn't the Jaguar factory also produce some versions of the Merlin?......OZ.
Helixes aren't always downward spirals,sometimes they're screwed up

Offline mattinker

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #12 on: November 24, 2016, 06:03:21 PM »
PACKARD Merlins, if you please!

Ooops, thanks Norman!

Offline Fergus OMore

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #13 on: November 24, 2016, 07:12:45 PM »
Didn't the Jaguar factory also produce some versions of the Merlin?......OZ.

Probably you mean Spitfires rather than engines! According to one source, there may be quite a lot buried nearby in crates!

I'm not really into Spits. OK, the Hendon Three- including SL-721 and those of 601 and 604 Squadrons before they got Vampires.
My mate- still alive, was the engine 'basher' on SL-721 on B Flight RAF 31( Goldstars) Squadron.

I merely ran the Technical Library :lol:

Offline Fergus OMore

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2016, 03:42:08 AM »
I wonder if it was an urban legend or true but when my classmates ended up at Vickers Armstrong's at 14 at almost the end of the war, the story was that before 'Pearl' the Brits drilled a hole in a pin and sent it to Japan who drilled it again- and sent it back-- and so on.

Then there was the other story about writing the Lord's Prayer on a pinhead! Quite?

Then we seem to have this 100,000 hours for a Merlin.Really?  Well, I recall Avro Shackleton first public flights when it flew , keeping height on its starboard outer with the RR  Griffon going full blast. That was Farnborough 1949 and I'd 'skived off' from Hendon.
Of course, it was the update to the Merlin engined Avro Lancaster. The Air Ministry specification was that it should last 168 hours.
The odds were a bit ,like the Lanc. If a Lanc could last three flights without being shot down----

 Where would you be without urban legends?

I'll get me coat

Offline PekkaNF

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2016, 06:11:24 AM »
Anyway to OP: Very nice screws and very nice to see manual manipulation of cutting tools in metal turning.

Some of the cutting tools seem to cutting on shearing, whole concept of making screws and other parts that way is pretty fascinating.

Thank you for showing.

Pekka

Offline Biggles

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2016, 01:48:15 PM »
Amazing hand and eye coordination: I doubt if I could hold my hand steady enough, even if I could see that small without an aid.    :clap: :bow:

Offline DeanDK

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #17 on: November 27, 2016, 05:20:38 PM »
Thanks Pekka and Biggles.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Offline SteveT

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #18 on: December 18, 2016, 12:23:19 PM »
Nice work, what was the screw to be used on ?
Steven Tyrer
lives in Cardiff South Wales

Offline DeanDK

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Re: Handmade Watch Screws
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2017, 09:22:33 AM »
It was for a tool I was making, in watchmaking it is  called a "balance wheel table" . Thanks for all your replies :)