Alex, thanks so much for this tip. I came back to this video and it finally clicked. I get it now! What a world of difference this makes. I wish we lived closer.

Thanks. Had a memory lapse on the post. Was remembering a new 2824 MS too small for my available winding arbors. Should have popped right in but didn’t and went downhill from there. You have great videos that the average guy can understand. Thanks again.

Every single time I need to learn how to do something new, you already have a video which explains it perfectly! So grateful for all the hard work you put in Alex. It is so appreciated! 👍🏻

Thank you, Alex, for the great lesson yet again. it's so helpfull!

Always something new interesting and Applicable! Happy when when a new teaching comes out :) thanks Alex for Keeping them comming Rick

Bless you sir. Struggled with this beast many times. I appreciate your advice

Thank you, Alex, for the great lesson yet again.

Great video as always! Crystal clear in-depth explanations, great editing, and overall quality. Thanks for all this online material you provide, it's so helpfull!

Oh a new video from Alex, opening, thumbs up, comment, sharing, watching. 😊

Excellent job 😮

hopefully no further additions to my mainspring graveyard with this new knowledge!

Excellent lesson. Thanks for sharing.

Very useful, first time I see this issue treated. Many thanks from France

What a great tutorial many thanks.

Heck yea, this is the exact information i was looking for. I ran into this problem for the first time recently.

This is a question I wanted an answer to so thank you very much.

Thanks again Alex, great information!

Thanks Alex! You make it look easy. I can do this!

I have destroyed more mainsprings than I'd like to admit by crushing the inner coil. Another tip I haven't seen anywhere else. Great video.

Great stuff!.Always something new interesting.Thanks,Itzhac

Clarity and practicality.

Great stuff! Made some really small round pliers from harbor freight by grinding it down to size.. but mostly for click springs . Awesome content !

Thanks for the information! Always struggled with this. Hardest part besides the size of inner loop is installing the arbor!

You saved me money today, I would have thought the roskopf watch I am repairing had the wrong spring as it kept being unhooked,however I had watched this video and checked the spring someone had already taken the temper out and tried to resize to fit the arbor. I have followed you video and haven't yet broken it.

Thank you Alex! Next time I'll know how to deal with those big inner coils.

Alex, it's almost like you know exactly the issue I am going to have next. Thanks for this video as I am working on an old Russian watch that is having this exact issue.

Thank you for this video. I was able to finish an 1883 Waltham Broadway using this method. I guess new white alloy mainsprings are built assuming a larger arbor size.

Thanks Alex for another interesting video. I have a similar problem with my mainspring winder. The spring is not tight enough to get hooked on the winder arbor pin so I cannot wind it properly. I think your technique will help with that also.

That was a GREAT TIP the problem was I Tempered the end many times but I mauled the center when the arbor did not fit-feeling stupid🤪,Thanks Again!!!

Tho is great information!! Thanks for sharing 😂

Hello Mr Hamilton, I touched base with you after starting to watch your lessons. I thank you not just for sharing, mentoring etc. but because of your lateral approach. And, in this virtual world how you still reached out to show interest in my journey. So, in return here is my update. On topic of the main spring, this video was invaluable but just a week after I ventured to test my winder set on a 'practice' Seiko movement. Diagnosed issue that arbor was not grabbing spring so guess what I did. Learnt a quick lesson. And then you offered the solution. Further reading and I now realise the importance of understanding how metal and heat are used to change its properties. Invaluable but I do have a broken main spring. So, that is the purpose of buying a cheap movement (I bought 2 with the goal to have 1 fully working, fine tuned movement in say 2=3 months). OK, so progress so far. I have taken apart, re-assembled 4 times. Still not quite memorised sequence but comfortable. Tweezer skills, screw driver skills, keeping movement untouched, unscratched, using loupe etc. all coming along nicely. 2nd phase, I cleaned 1 movement. 5 minutes at 65c using dish cleaner, rinsed 3 times with final in IPA and dried in oven at 65c with fan on. This turned out to be too aggressive. Top bridge or main train bridge lost its finish. My 2nd movement is getting a clean today with 3 minute timeframe and less cleaner. Just need to get the formulae correct and repeatable to ensure I get the right outcome. All my tools are lovely and thankfully, with guidance such as yourself, I feel I have invested just right. I have a microscope although I only have one working eye so just a single lens fed to my surface pro high resolution screen works great. My goal I mentioned is to be able to service my 'baby' 1965 Grand Seiko watch in about 4=6 months but I also have thought that the Moeris swiss brand of the 1950s played a big role in Seiko's 50s to 60s period and want to service one of these for its lineage. Turns out the Grands Prix I bought had a broken balance wheel pivot so I am going down the path of learning to dismantle, re-rivot and fit a repaired balance wheel. Of course you have some great content on understanding how this works and I am supplementing this with further reading. I am getting so serious about this journey I just bought a Staking set and also reading up on its usage. I also do have a Timegrapher that uses PC software and this is proving to provide interesting in-sight into the behaviour of a mechanical movement when not properly serviced and adjusted. It gives me a baseline and I feel as my skills grow I will see this baseline improve. I temper this with the understanding that vintage time-pieces and the quality of the build dictate what can be achieved. I have also not been shy to remove and clean cap jewels etc. and yes, the odd one has tried to disappear but I have a nicely setup environment, good light, organised bench, and lots of patience so to-date I have not lost a part and my practice movements are still operating. Big ramble, but I wanted you to know that the Watchmaker bug and my excitement has not wained, it has cost me about $1000 New Zealand but I feel this is no different to going out an buying a set of Golf clubs or a Sail board so easily justifiable and affordable and the reward is immense. Hope you don't mind me dumping this on you as though I am your student but it is nice to bang out my thoughts...cheers, Brett P.S. the most interesting side of Watchmakers I was not aware of at the beginning is just how important it is to understand that you can manufacture your own hand tools. You have advised this and I am reading text from 1906 that talks about how important it is to make tools comfortable to use by adding handles and to prepare, sharpen etc to ensure they give the best result. So interesting is the history...

How on earth did you know? I have even posted a request for how to do this on my forum. Using a soldering iron? Well, another thing to buy. But it would achieve what I need to do. Alex, Thank you again.

Thanks Alex, yes I’ve tried this a couple of times with some success, but without the heat. Took me ages and lots of patience (sounds like all watch making!). I will give the heat a go next time, I have a soldering iron. Would a normal cigarette lighter work? Also I’ve never worked with shallac, have you a video on that? Ta!

Another tip I haven't seen elsewhere. I have to use this pronto because the mainspring winder i had to use the winding arbor was a little too big but I had nothing else. Great work. Do you ever worry about taking the heat treat out of the mainspring? What videos you working on? Whats on deck? Let us know maybe in one of your vids? As always many many thanks Alex.

How do you handle a replacement MS that is too small for the arbor? Great video BTW

Alex....its about f***ing time. Lol🤗 Edit: thank you for putting in the time to make these videos!

This is a handy tip for sure. After heating the inner coil, do you need to reshape while the coil is still hot or can you first let it cool?

Nice work. How do you keep the alcohol in your lamp from evaporating? Everytime I fill mine the alcohol is gone in just a few days.

Once again, big thanks for the sharing this priceless knowledge. One question - once you are done with forming the inner coil to the desired diameter for the arbor, do you need to reheat and dip in water the mainspring for hardening or it is not needed?

Big thanks for the excellent tips and demonstrations Alex. I’d never thought to use my soldering iron. I’m guessing the spring, being so thin, cools really quickly after you take away the heat. Does the steel stay soft enough to work without breaking only while it’s still hot, or is the steel pliable for longer? I guess what I’m really asking is - how long have you got to do the manipulation to the spring after you take it off the heat? Thanks again.

do you have a book for sale to how to service a watch? i need to buy one. iam new to watch service. thanks.

Thanks! I have a blue steel mainspring for a Hamilton 987 watch movement. It's a NOS made by Hamilton. What do I look for in that case?

Will tempering the coil cause weakening the mainspring? If not, can I use this method to restore the mainspring that is worn?

Hi, Alex I have a main spring that I need to fit to the arbor and want to use your soldering iron method. Question is, do you set the iron temp to the desired temperature or something higher. I thinking that the rest of the spring would act like a heat sink and constantly draw the heat away from the tip.

Hi Alex, another great video. Thank you again for sharing all your tips and tricks. I just installed a new MS in the barrel and found out the incircle is slightly bigger than the arbor and it didn't hook. And because I haven't seen this video before, I tried to reshape it cold and, guess what? I broke this brand new spring. I just order another MS and I'm sure I'll run into the same issue. But now I know "What not to do" (4 valuable words in watch making that a wise man keeps telling us 😀). Your video explains how to reshape a MS when it's uncoiled out of the barrel. Do have a method to reshape MS when it's already in the barrel? Or better yet, reshape it before putting in the barrel when it's still coiled in that ring that comes in when new? I don't want to take it out and uncoil it because I don't have a MS winder to put it back in. P.S: My other hobby is electronics repair and I have a very professional soldering iron with precision temperature control and different tip sizes. Thanks again for your help

Have you ever used the stepped round nose pliers? They have that variety of sizes plus a flat part to help forming any metal. Let me know your insights! As always, thank you for your videos and simple solutions to odd operations!

is it possible to punch another hole on the inside of the MS?

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Are you not annealing the metal to make it softening toshape whereas tempering would make it harder.

Its crazy that watchmaking is such a „tiny” hobby or even your work. But you are offen using big clamps or Clippers.

That Looks Easy.....Not!!!...lol

Супер!!!!

i just murdered a fhf st 96 mainspring an two hours ago 😂