Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Klok

Our big project has started in class.  We are building a clock, or at least all of the parts minus the wheels and springs.  I am currently working of the front and rear plates but there is an ongoing problem in trying to drill out the holes that the escape wheel pivots will inhabit.

The issue here is that the hole is drilled with a 0.65mm bit, and even when using a precision drill press and a great amount of patience and care the bits have the tendency to break off and lodge themselves in the hole.  This would normally not be a problem but you can't continue drilling until you remove the bit and the only way we have found to do that so far is to boil the plates in a water and alum solution until the lodged drill bit dissolves and that can take a bit of time. 

With any luck I'll be able to finish the drilling early next week and post some pictures of the results.

While my plates are boiling I have been working on several different ETA movements in class, I am able to get the 2824-1 completely apart and back together in under 30 minutes.  Once we start cleaning and lubricating the watches this experience will be invaluable.



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