CONTENTS OF BOOK X.

Page Vibrating Tool ...... 129 Hairspring Vibrating ...... 129 Vibrating a Flat ...... 129 Timing a ...... 130 Adjustments ...... 131 Breguet Hairsprings ...... 131 ·Over Coil Tweezers ...... 131 Making Gradual Over Coil ...... 132 Construction of ...... 132 Action of Lever Escapement ...... 133 Lock ...... 133 Slide and Run ...... 133 Lift ...... 134 Drop ...... 134 Adjusting the Escapement ...... 134 Adjusting the Guard Pin ...... 135 Adjusting the Banking Pins ...... 135 Adjusting the Roller Jewel ...... 136 Shifting Pallet Jewels ...... 136 Adjusting the Lock ...... 137 Adjusting the Draw ...... 137

Copyright, 1914 and 1915, by JOHN DREXLER. VIBRATING TOOL. A convenient tool for vibrating is shown in Fig. 299. It is made of an American watch dial, and a steel shoul­ dered wire with a screw in one end to hold it to the dial and two nuts at the other end to allow a bridge from any to be adjusted so that the lower pivot just touches the dial. The post is fastened in the hole of the bit and the dial feet are adjusted to make the tool stand level. HAIRSPRING VIBRATING. Vibrating is a method of finding a hairspring of cor­ rect length and strength to allow a balance of a certain weight or size to make the proper number of turns or vibrations in a certain . Balances being of different weights and sizes, a spring is fit, only, for the balance on which it is vibrated. The simplest way to vibrate a hair­ spring is to hold it with a tweezer near the end and com­ pare its vibrations ( when set in motion) with a balance of a timed movement having the same kind of a train, as the one for which the spring is being vibrated. The train of a watch may be slow, or fast, but the number of vibra­ tions which a balance of a properly timed watch makes, in one minute, can be found by dividing the number of teeth in the fourth wheel by the number of leaves in the escape wheel pinion and multiplying the result by twice the number of teeth in the escape wheel. VIBRATING A FLAT SPRING. To vibrate a hairspring, select a balance from a timed movement with the same kind of train as the one for which the spring is to be vibrated, and adjust it on the post of the vibrating tool so that the lower pivot just touches the dial and the balance vibrates without tipping sidewise. Press the collet of the spring to be vibrated on its staff and hold the hair. spring near the end with a tweezer. With the dial between the fingers, twist back and forth to start the trial balance. When it steadies down, bring the two balance arms together, move them apart a little as shown by the dotted circle in Fig. 299, and observe the arms of both balances. If the balance 129 that is being tested vibrates faster than the trial balance, take hold nearer the end of the spring and try the vibra­ tions as before. If it vibrates too slowly, take hold far­ ther from the end. Where the tweezers hold the spring, when the balance arms vibrate together for a while, is the place for the regulator pins. Without releasing the spring after it is vibrated, place the regulator in the center of its index. Lay the hairspring and balance on the bridge with the points of the tweezers beside the regulator pins. With another tweezer, grasp the spring a little beyond the stud, release the first tweezer and break off the spring where it is held. Remove the hairspring from the balance, insert the end between the regulator pins and into the stud, and pin it as you did in the collet. Turn the pin until the hair­ spring is parallel with the bridge. Press it in tight, and take off both ends of the pin close to the stud. True the hairspring on the bridge, in the round and in the flat and make the path of the regulator so that it does not move the col/et from the center of the hole jewel. Re­ move the hairspring from the bridge, true it, press it on the staff, so the watch will be in beat, fasten the balance in the movement and set the regulator in the center of the index. Hold the movement, dial up, above a pocket mirror and observe the action of the hairspring. If it touches the stud, the balance, the bridge or the third wheel, adjust it. Then set the watch to time and regulate it. TIMING A WATCH. If the spring has been properly fitted and vibrated, the watch will be close to time, with the regulator in the center of the index. Should it lose, so that the regulator will not bring it to time, take the spring up a little, at the stud, while if it gains and there is no spring to let out, turn out the timing screws an equal amount on each end of the balance arm. You may distinguish them from the balance screws by their threaded bodies, which are a little longer, and their heads which are not tight against the balance. Some balances have four timing screws, 130 (See 1, 2, 3, 4, Fig. 259), one at each end of the arm and one half way between. If there are no timing screws, place timing washers on the other screws at the balance arms, an equal amount on each side to prevent throwing out of poise. Timing washers are sold in assorted sizes and weights to cause a variation of thirty to five minutes per day. Gold is the heaviest phosphorus, bronze lighter and brass the lightest. ADJUSTMENTS. The word "adjusted," stamped on a movement gen­ erally signifies that the watch will keep the same time in heat as in cold. Adjusted to position means that the watch will keep the same time in different positions. are ad­ justed to three, five, or six positions. Three position adjustment is dial up, dial down and pendant up. Five position adjustment adds pendant to right and pendant to left; while six position adjustment adds pendant down. Isochronism adjustment, stamped on a movement, signifies that the watch will keep the same time with the fully wound as when it is partly run down. BREGUET HAIRSPRINGS. A portion of the last coil of a breguet hairspring ex­ tends over the other coils and is called the breguet, or over coil. Some over coils are made with a gradual bend, as in Fig. 300; others have two bends, or a knee, as in Fig. 303. Those with a gradual bend are mostly used. Be­ ginning at the bend, or knee, the over coil is shaped in­ ward. Some are straight across the spring, others have a gradual curve, but all are circular in the path of the regulator. When making an over coil, the shape of the old one must be followed. OVER COIL TWEEZERS. Fig. 302 shows a tweezer for making the rise of the over coil. The screw A is to adjust for the thickness of the coil. The spring is held in the groove, as at X, in Fig. 301, the broad way of the coil, and the amount of bend to be given is regulated with the screw S. To make 131 a knee, make the first bend as A in Fig. 303, reverse the tweezer and make the second bend as B. Fig. 304 shows a concave tweezer, lined with brass, as shown by the black, for shaping the circular part of the over coil. If you use a pegwood and an ordinary tweezer for making the bend of the over coil at the rise, finish off the inside corner of the tweezer to avoid making a sharp bend. MAKING GRADUAL OVER COIL. If you are to make a gradual over coil, vibrate the spring a little fast ( about five minutes per day). Hold it on a paper with a tweezer, as in Fig. 300, about three­ quarters of a coil from the end, and with another tweezer gradually lift the coil above the level of the remainder of the spring, not making any sharp bends. Now hold the spring a little beyond the rise with a tweezer and with a pegwood bend the coil inward over the spring, and with a tweezer, like Fig. 304, shape the path for the regulator, bending as in Fig. 305. Pin the spring into the stud, fastened into the bridge, and true it so that the regulator does not move the spring when moved from slow to fast. Have the path of the regulator (A) parallel with the bridge, and with the remainder of the spring ( B), as at X X, in Fig. 307. Center the spring by bending near the rise and where the path of the regulator begins. Then true it in the round and in the flat. (When pinning a spring try to have the pinning in the collet come on a line ( as X in Fig. 308) half way between the stud ( S) and the regulator pins (R) when the regulator is in the middle of the index, as the best results are obtained with a spring pinned in this way.) CONSTRUCTION OF LEVER ESCAPEMENT. The detached lever escapement, so-called because the balance swings free, except when it received impulse, and returns impulse to the fork, is used more than any other escapement; most watch makers considering it the best because of its simple construction, and the consequent ease with which it can be adjusted for accurate time measure- 132 ment. However, we will not discuss the merits of vari­ ous escapements, but explain their construction how they act, and how to adjust them. The detached lever escapement shown in Fig. 309 is composed of "a club tooth" escape wheel (E), the lock­ ing faces of whose teeth are slanted away from its center to draw the fork towards the banking; an anchor (A) and a fork ( F) fastened on the pallet arbor; a receiving pallet (R) and a discharging pallet (D) set in the anchor; two banking pins ( R B and D B) ( B being a side view to show the construction), and a guard pin ( G) pressed in the fork so that it will pass through the crescent ( C) in the roller table (T), when the roller jewel ( P), set in the roller table, passes through the slot in the fork. In Fig. 309 and 310 the fork is shown broken, and, with the roller table turned over, so that the roller action is shown with­ out using dotted lines. Fig. 310 shows that the double roller is the same as the single roller, except that the guard pin engages in the crescent of a smaller roller, instead of engaging in a crescent of the large roller table. Fig. 311 shows the names of the acting parts of tooth and pallet. ACTION OF LEVER ESCAPEMENT. The construction of the detached lever escapement makes the pallet action and roller action dependent upon each other, but for a clear understanding we explain each action separately. The pallet action consists of lock, slide, run, lift and drop. The roller action is the engag­ ing of the roller jewel in the fork to give impulse to the balance and hairspring. This impulse is returned from the hairspring to the fork by the roller jewel. LOCK. The instant the progress of the escape wheel is arrested by either pallet, the amount the tooth and pallet overlap each other is the amount of lock. SLIDE AND RUN. After the lock has taken place, the escape wheel tooth, on account of the draw, moves the pallet toward the center of the escape wheel; the fork moves toward the 133 banking, and the roller jewel, being out of the fork slot, the guard pin stands a little away from the roller table. The distance which the tooth advances on the locking face of the pallet, during this action is the slide. The distance which the fork advances toward the banking dur­ ing the same time is the run. Thus the slide and run take place in the same action. LIFT. When the roller jewel, on its return, gives impulse to the fork, the pallet begins to move away from the center of the escape wheel until the tooth unlocks, and its in­ clined face, sliding down the impulse face or incline of the pallet, presses it away from the line of centers, until the discharging edge of the tooth leaves the pallet, and another tooth locks on the other pallet. This amount the fork moves after the run takes place, until the tooth drops from the pallet, is the lift. It is divided between the width of the tooth and the width of the pallet in this es­ capement where the tooth is wide, but where the tooth is pointed, as in Fig. 312, the lift is all on the pallet, which is proportionately wider. DROP. The space between a pallet and a tooth when the tooth has dropped away from the pallet, is the drop. This freedom is to allow free movement between the escape wheel teeth and the pallets, both inside and outside the anchor. The lock, slide, lift and drop must be alike on both pallets. ADJUSTING THE ESCAPEMENT. The roller and pallet action, in the escapement, being dependent upon each other, any change in one causes a corresponding change in the other; hence it is necessary to adjust each separately. The pallet action may be ad­ justed first, but better results are obtained by leaving it until last. Adjust the escapement with dial and hair­ spring off before dissembling, and if necessary correct it again with the hairspring on after cleaning and assem­ bling. 134 Before adjusting the roller action, have the roller table tight and free from shellac; the roller jewel tight and perpendicular to the roller table; the guard pin tight, straight and perpendicular to the fork; and the banking pins tight and perpendicular to the plate. When these are right, remove the hairspring, place the balance with the roller jewel in the fork, screw down the balance bridge, let down the mainspring, wind it half a turn and proceed to examine and adjust the roller action. ADJUSTING THE GUARD PIN. While holding the movement in one hand, lead the balance with the forefinger of the other, so that the guard pin passes the roller table crescent. If the guard pin is too far from the table as shown in black in Fig. 313, allowing it to be easily moved by the table, remove the balance and fork and bend the guard pin close to the fork, as in Fig. 314, and bend it again to make it perpen­ dicular to the fork as in Fig. 315, thus moving it toward the roller table, the distance X to correspond with the dotted guard pin in Fig. 313. Replace the fork and bal­ ance and if the guard pin touches the table inside the cresent, bend it back a little. Very rarely the guard pin cannot be adjusted to pass through the crescent and not pass the table elsewhere. If this should be the case, grind the crescent a little deeper with oil stone dust on a steel wire of the same diameter as the crescent. After grinding, clean and polish with a little diamantine on a brass wire of the same thickness. Do not grind the cres­ cent too deep. ( Fig. 316 shows a guard pin of a double roller. The dotted line shows the amount that must be taken off, or bent away, to give it the proper freedom. This freedom must be alike on both sides of the roller.) ADJUSTING THE BANKING PINS. Lead the balance until the guard pin is entirely out of the crescent. With a pointed pegwood touch the fork and notice if a little light is visible between the guard pin and the roller table or iLa little freedom is there 135 when the fork is against the banking. If there is too much freedom, move up the banking by turning it with a screw driver, but if there is not enough freedom, move the banking away the required amount. Adjust the guard pin on the other side of the table in the same manner, and try its freedom all around the table. If it is not free all around, move the bankings apart a trifle. If a banking pin is loose, remove it; place the pin of the banking in a hole in the die of the staking tool, and spread the head a trifle with a chisel shaped punch as in Fig. 317. ADJUSTING THE ROLLER JEWEL. When again leading the balance, observe if the roller jewel enters and leaves the fork properly. If it touches the horn and cannot leave the slot as in Fig. 318, move it towards the staff with a hot brass tweezer that will melt the shellac. If the roller jewel touches the corner of the slot when leaving the fork, as in Fig. 319, move it for­ ward to enter deeper in the slot as indicated by the black line which shows the shellac. ( Moving the roller jewel out, or in, is equivalent to lengthening or shortening the fork, hence if the roller jewel cannot be moved in, the fork may be shortened as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 318. This is done in the lathe the same as deepening the crescent, except that the circumference of the wire must correspond with the curve of the fork horns.) When the roller enters and leaves the fork properly, it gives the impulse to the fork on the side of the slot as shown by the full lines in Fig. 320 and receives impulse from the other side of the slot as shown by the dotted lines. When the roller table is moved in the opposite direction, the condition is reversed. The roller action now being properly adjusted, examine the pallet action. SHIFTING PALLET JEWELS. When you wish to move a pallet jewel into the pallet frame, hold the fork between the thumb and forefinger, as in Fig. 321 and the pallet jewel and frame with a hot brass tweezer until the shellac, that holds the jewel, melts. Then lightly press in the jewel. If you wish to move the jewel out of the pallet frame, take hold of the jewel with 136 the tweezer as in Fig. 322. When moving the pallet, wait until the heat from the tweezer has melted the shel­ lac. Use but little pressure, as too much pressure might chip the pallet. ADJUSTING THE LOCK. Having removed the balance, insert a pointed peg­ wood in the fork, press the point against the plate to steady it, and lead the fork slowly towards the banking; stop it, the instant a tooth falls on the receiving pallet, and notice the amount of lock. Lead the fork toward the opposite banking, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 310, and notice if there is a little freedom, or run, between the fork and the banking the instant the tooth drops from the receiving pallet. If there is no run, the lock is too deep, or the banking is too close, but, since to change the bank­ ing, would necessitate readjusting the roller action, move the receiving pallet a little into the pallet frame as in Fig. 321. Again try the lock on the receiving pallet, and if the pallet is moved too far into the frame, the lock will be shallow and the tooth will drop on the lifting face of the pallet before the fork gets to the banking. If too little lock is found, move the pallet out of the pallet frame ( as in Fig. 322) until the lock is equal to one-eighth of the width of the pallet. When the lock is adjusted on the receiving pallet, lead the fork toward the opposite banking, and if neces­ sary, adjust the discharging pallet, making the lock and drop the same on the discharging pallet as on the receiv­ ing pallet. ADJUSTING THE DRAW. When the tooth is locked on the receiving pallet and there is no draw ( as in Fig. 323), the locking face of the tooth being flat with the locking face of the pallet, move the pallet toward the center of the pallet frame, as shown by the dotted lines. This will decrease the inside drop and increase the outside drop as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 324, hence the discharging pallet must be shifted out an equal amount to equalize the drop. This correc­ tion is seldom necessary and should be avoided if possible. 137 , ~; FIG. NUMBERS FROM 304 TO 308

Fig. 304 Fig. 305 ~-

l- ~

Brass Lined Tweezer Bending W i t h Brass Over Coil Level With Spring Lined Tweezer

0 0 Fig. 308 l Fig. 309 :? 1 ...... fD .~f" ....t tfB---~ (0.... 01 --X

NJ.--~

Spring Correctly Pinned Lever Escapement Roller And Fork Inverted FIG. NUMBERS FROM 309 TO 312

Fig. 312 Fig. 309

Side View Comparing The Lift

C)

~:l. i.... Fig. 310 :0.... t-.... Fig. 311 ~ :0... :a ~

Top View {,scHP.RGING £.OGE. I lw'\~U\.SE f"P.Cf: Double Roller Escape- ment Roller And Fork ln,verted Names Of Acting Tooth And Pallet Parts , FIG. NUMBERS FROM 313 TO 319

Fig. 310 ~•

Side View

Fig. 316 Fig. 314 0 0 - Guard Pin Too Far From ~­ //,/ ' . Roller Table ~ ,,.=~Correcting. Double Roller Guard Pm ...... (0 ....t Fig. 317 (0.... 01 Bending Guard Pin Fig. 315

Fig. 319 Fig. 318

Spreading Banking Pin - Roller Jewel Too Near To Uprighting Guard Pin Roller- Jewel Too Far From Staff Or Fork Too Long Staff Or Fork Too Short Fig. 320 Fig. 321

Moving Pallet Into Pallet Frame

Fig. 322 Correct Roller Action

Moving Pallet Out Of Pallet Frame Fig. 324

Adjusting Draw

Effect Of Adjusting Draw

Fig. 325

Pallet Setting Plier Holding Pallet Frame For Setting Pallet

Copyright 1914-1915