FxrAndy Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Right if any of you read the post about the IWC regulator you will remember that i thought about making my own. But before we get to the fun part, what is a Regulator? well it should look some thing like Simply put it is a watch where the hour and minute hands are not on the same, but separate, pinions. Gerd-R Lang from Chronoswiss says they are watches where the hour function is off center. Typically the watch will have a small 12 hour watch face at the 12 position which denotes the hours, a minute hand central to the watch face and usually a seconds hand in a circular face at the 6 position. The watch is read by consulting each hand separately. This dial format originates with English longcase regulator clocks, a special class of observatory-grade high precision clocks used for making astronomical observations, and used as master-clocks by clock and watch makers as a time standard that other clocks and watches could be adjusted by. In effect they were the chronometers of the clock world, a heritage that is especially fitting since the first regulator clocks were created by John Harrison in the 1720s. See that name above, well he made Brittan Great, because we could navigate, With out him the royal navy would have sank on every rocky out crop round Britan watch the film longitude if you have a couple of hours to kill, the history lesson is worth it. So this morning armed with a good nights sleep and a day off work due to no being able to walk (bad knee not drink related) i set to the task in hand, what else did i have? well i had 1. A seagull 6498 that i had started skeletonising 2. 2 spare canon pins 3. 4 hour wheels 4. A tube of super glue 5. proxxon mini drill stand 6. dremmil and assorted bits 7. Hand tools 8. A rough idea 9. A sense of adventure So the movement was already apart so i needed to decide where the hour hand was to go, a mirror image of the second had looked to be a good place, The idea is to securely fit part of a canon pin to act as the pinion for a shortened hour wheel to rotate on, The geared end of the canon pin was removed as it was not needed and would be too long any way and then the cut end was dressed and finished to a slight taper with a file and emery paper. removing the end of the canon pin What is left Then a 1 mm hole was drilled in the main plate, this was then widened slowly until i could press in the canon pin to create a tight fit, a small hammer was needed to get it to the right height so i was happy with the fit Hour canon pin added from a different angle And from the back Now i was able to assemble to a stage where i could work out where the transfer gear needs to be, my first idea was to use an intermediate wheel and recess it in the plate, this would have brought the drive from the level of the hour wheel to the level that the new one was at, I decided against this way as there was not enough metal to do this where the gear would have to go. So the next thought was to make a thicker hour wheel by adding the wheel of one onto another, and then using another hour wheel as the transfer gear. The extra gear was cut off by putting the tube in a dremmil and using a drill to cut away the tube. This gear was then glued over the tube of the hour wheel making a double thickness that would bring the drive to the correct height. as you can see here in a photo taken later on The transfer gear was added and moved into place, here you need to be careful because if you have it too close the gears may bind and stick, to far away and you will have a lot of free-play in the gears like we were discussing with 7750s the other day. Once marked the hole was drilled and the pin added just like the first, i could now Assembly the train and see how it moved. So far so good but the pins were way to high and needed shortening along with the tubes. Out with the dremmil/files and emery paper again. Ok reassemble it again and see if it works. I was happy at this point that this would all work, a little bit of fear of the gears not gliding as there will be a lot of surface to surface contact but i am fairly confident that the main spring has enough power to move things along, other wise i will have to do some machining to reduce the contact areas. Now i needed a dial spacer to lift the dial 0.30mm up as the gears are 0.28mm thick, so i looked around the house for what i could find and the lid of a decorative tin in the bath room was 0.30mm so now the tin has no lid, a little bit of marking, grinding and drilling later i had my spacer And fitted with dial dots With this fitted i could check i had the required clearance and started to think about a dial, so i found a dial and sanded off the detail that was there and fitted that, yes it is a bit close on the hour hand but it does rotate freely. as does the min hand and the second hand will be fine also. Clearance of the hands Remember earlier i mentioned the free-play in the gears well i work out i have about 7 min of free play in the hour hand but i will be taking this up as i set the time forward then it should not be an issue as the stiction of the oils will stop it flopping back and forth and with an hour hand this size it would probably not be noticeable at all. Now this was not a working movement at the moment but i chucked some spare bridges and an escarpment in and it is ticking away nicely. The sketeton bridges should be finished before Christmas and then we will see how it goes. And as a parting note my artists impression of how it may look. I hope this post goes to prove that working on a watch is not a black art, I am learning watch making the same way John Harrison did all those years ago, "With a sense of adventure" Sorry about my photos but it never was my strong point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlydog Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Nicely down and meticulously documented and photographed Andy! Are you thinking of adding a regulator to your line of watches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikellem Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Very cool my friend.. Thanks for the education.. Excellent tutorial and fabulous pics... Cheers, MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 where is that :Hail icon when ya need one ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Nicely down and meticulously documented and photographed Andy! Are you thinking of adding a regulator to your line of watches? If i did it would not be at the same prices, once i revisit this there will be about a month of finishing (2-3 hours a night) before it would be fit for a customer, I would have a lot or money to put into making a minimum of 50 dials as well, seeing that business is not good right now there is no way i could do that. But while i cant walk i am making use of the time to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Nice work. Are you going to case/wear it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 I will when it is finished freddy, all it is right now is an ugly heart under a glass dome being observed. I have to make a dial which means learning a CAD program to print one like slatibarfast did with the tudor and finish the bridges, full even pearlage on the main plate, polish the going train gears ect ect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Very Cool Andy I have one Regulator and although it is not completely accurate, I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow Andy!!!! Bravo indeed! I never thought my little posting would turn into something like this!!!! I love it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Some times i just need a poke to get on with things but when i start things get done. It is hart to believe that 3 years ago i had never taken a watch apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow, that is quite amazing Andy. You had never worked on a watch before three years ago? Well i'd say you have come a long, long way!!! Can't wait to see what's next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Wow, well done, I hope you get a few more days off... For the slack in the gear teeth, you can try to install a dial washer on the last gear, this should act as a shock absorber and prevent the hand from flopping as well as take up the slack. Great job, can't wait to see more. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks Rob, i plan to use a dial washer on both the end and transfer pinions just to hold it all together. I just wish i could get hold of the transfer gear from the Meistersinger singulator, it has split and splayed teeth to remove all free-play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Well done! I'll be watching this one closely, just to see where it goes! Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Ok, I know there people out there that have helped me out with dial design before but they never came off because of the amount i needed to get printed but now i have the right stuff to do it at home, Slatibartfast did not have time to help me out before so is there some one out there that could help me with a dial print for this? could someone start me off with a tutorial of how to make a dial pattern on any of the free cad programs that are out there, i dont need the full thing making i just need to be shown how to make a 32mm circle and indices ect, I have tried before but it just escaped me of where to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 That's an absolutely fantastic project I wish I could help with the dial design, but I've not used CAD programs, just photoshop. If you need the the RWG logo file from the group rings as a dial logo, just let me know, and I'll send you the largest resolution copy I can find on my hard-drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Well it has been running 24 hours now and no problems to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Holy crap, Andy! This is like cool to the N+1th power! Makes my ambition to kill the sweep seconds hand on my a21j Daytona seem rather pre-school... :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest avitt Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Mind blowing, Andy! Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 Holy crap, Andy! This is like cool to the N+1th power! Makes my ambition to kill the sweep seconds hand on my a21j Daytona seem rather pre-school... :-p We all started somewhere, crack it open and have a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asf Posted November 1, 2009 Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 this is some amazing work andy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollux1 Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 That's some amazing attention to detail Andy, I never cease to be amazed at the skills some of our members have, bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Just the rough work done, it is the finishing that takes the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Can't wait to see the finished product Andy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 A little bridge work going on, the peg wood with the emery paper is 1.9mm, but had to be thinned down to it to 1.4mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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