No.3 Sneak Preview

Over the years many people have written to me about my skeleton watches. Some have inquired if I have a uniquely Indian watch. Some have mentioned that even 41mm is quite large for their wrists. Many have requested me to make something a little more accessible.

Well, No.3 is an answer to all these requests! It is based on the venerable HMT hand wound 020 movement (which is basically a license built Citizen 0201). One feature of this movement is that it has direct centre seconds. So you get a unique layout of the train and none of the infamous second hand slop. Here are some pictures of the skeletonised movement (minute wheel is yet to be done).



This movement will have blued steel hands and will be housed in a 36mm stainless steel case with sapphire crystals front and back. Stay tuned :-)

Smiths Mantle Clock

Hello after a long break,

I have been doing some interesting work and hope to make up a bit for the lack of posts :-)
I have been looking into clock repair for the past few months. The way a clock works is basically similar to the way a watch works. However, the scale is different and so the problems & the way one deals with them are different.

I had bought this Smiths mantle clock with Westminster chimes for a pittance many years ago. (sellers picture)
The glass was missing and it would not run. A perfect practice clock, I thought!


Here you can see the rear of the movement out of the case.


and the front with all the flirts, racks etc for the chiming & striking mechanism


And here are the three trains with the back plate removed (chiming is closest, then the time train and the strike train is furthest). It is not obvious in the picture but the chiming barrel is much larger than the other two.


What was surprising for a person who has only worked on watches was the quantity of dirt inside.


Almost every pivot hole had a thick greasy paste pouring out. On close examination I got the impression that this clock was never serviced, it was worked till it stopped.


And it is this dirt that causes a clock to wear out and, eventually, stop. In the picture below you can clearly see how the hole has been worn to an oval. The arrow marks where the hole should be.
An oval hole brings wheels closer than they should be. This results in poor power transmission and finally in stoppage.


The solution is to fit a brass bush. To do this, the hole in the plate needs to be broached open. This has to be done carefully so that the new hole is concentric to the original hole and not the worn out oval hole. In the case of my clock the unworn portions of the hole and the oil sinks acted as a guide. Broaching is always done from the inside, so the hole tapers towards the outside. Also, a bush with a hole smaller than the pivot it is to recieve and a taper that just about enters the broached hole in the plate is turned.


The bush is hammered into the hole....


...and riveted from the other side. Now the hole is opened for the pivot and a new oil sink is formed.


This clock needed four bushes. I fitted a new plastic crystal (the correct size glass was not available).


I am happy to say that it is working, chiming & striking beautifully now.

Thankfully my wife & son too are quite pleased with all the chiming & striking :-)

Video of No.2-00

Here is a video of No.2-00.



In the background you can see one of the desk clocks I have made for No.2. Not sure what I will do with them. Perhaps I will give these to the first few people who order no.2. Here is a picture

No.2-00

Hello after a long break and a very happy new year to all!

I have been busy with a number of things over the past few months but I shall share the most exciting bit first.

Here you see No.2-00, my next model. No.2 is based on the Swiss ETA-6498 (No.1 is based on the Russian Molnija-3603). The case diameter is just a shade over 41mm. The gold plating is flawless. I have also revised the design of the hands. These are more visible & they contrast very well with the frost finish on the plates. Overall I am extremely pleased with the results :-)

George Daniels

George Daniels, CBE, DSc, FBHI, FSA passed away on the 21st of October. He has been hailed as the greatest watchmaker ever even in his lifetime. Comparisons are always drawn with the great Abraham Louis Breguet whom he admired and whose work he studied in great detail.

In the course of a long career Daniels made 37 watches from 'scratch'. This means that he made 'everything'- the gears, jewels, springs even the cases! He always placed technical advancement over pointless decoration. This is why his watches have a rare beauty.

He is most famous for the invention of the co-axial escapement. This has been described as the most important advance in mechanical timekeeping in 250 years. This design takes away the need to use oil in the escapement by reducing friction to a minimum.

Daniels selflessly poured out all his knowledge into his book 'Watchmaking'. This book & his work have been an inspiration for some of the big names in independent horology today. My wife gifted me a copy on my birthday this year.

A ruined dial

I have started making parts for No.1-04. The movement ring is done. I am working on the dial now. Everything was going well till I started drilling the minute markers. Halfway through I had an uneasy feeling about some of the earlier holes I had drilled (the holes are not clearly visible while drilling since they are under a paper template). This is what I found under the template-
If you look carefully you will notice that some of the holes at the six o'clock position (in the image) are a bit dodgy.

Here is a close up-
They are elongated. These holes are 0.4mm Dia. The problem was that I had allowed the drill bit to project too much out of the drill chuck. A 0.4mm bit will certainly flex when you drill brass.

Here is a closer look at the offending holes-

There is nothing else for it but to start over. Silly mistakes can sometimes cost an entire days work.

Aditya

Pictures of No.1-03

My friend Sachin Kadam, who is an avid photographer, visited on saturday. He did not really know what to expect and just got his camera along (no macro lens, light tent etc.). All the same, I think he took some really nice pictures of No.1-03 (that was finished a couple of weeks ago).






Hope you like them as much as I do :-)