Case Progress

Brass Doughnut

Today I took my brass blank, which essentially started as a thick puck of brass.  I then squared off the ends, reduced the diameter a bit and then started hollowing out the middle.  Lots of work to go, but I won't press on with forming the rest of the main case until I finish the casing ring which will decide the final inside dimensions of the case.

Making Case 2

Here is the basic layout for the proposed case.  The outer diameter may have to be reduced to make it easier to install pushers and the stem.  I won't be using this as a engineering guide, but as a proof of concept.

Making Case

 

The Omega Seamaster with the 312 movement I made the minute jumper and hammer springs for last year is lacking a case.  I have overhauled the watch and it's running well, but it's sad to see such a nice movement sit in a plastic tray.  The dial and hands are in okay condition, so I'm going to attempt to turn a brass enclosure for the movement on the lathe and install a case tube and pushers for the operation of the watch.  This will consist for a brass cylinder with a crystal pressed into it, the back will be screw-down with a display back.

So far I've modeled the watch dimensions in CAD and will begin working on the design for the case.  Then the difficult part will be turning the components on a lathe which is really too small for the job.  Stay tuned!