Replacing the Balance Staff in a Balance Wheel

Рет қаралды 6,233

10 ай бұрын

As I learn watchmaking I am practicing improving my skills and knowledge on very inexpensive "donor" watch movements. In this video I successfully use a cheap Aliexpress balance staff removal tool and my Star staking tool set to remove the balance staff from the balance wheel of a tiny vintage FHF 34 17.5mm diameter watch movement in preparation for doing the same on a more expensive IWC Cal 44.
Videos referred to in this video:
Fitting a new balance staff
• How Do You Replace A B...
Hairspring straightening
• Hairspring straighteni...
Here's a link to the AliExpress Eakins microscope that I use product page (affiliate link):
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dm3...
My videos are for entertainment and educational purposes only. Critical / corrective comments and links to resources including other watchmaking channels are welcome.
#watchmaker #comedy #restoration #vintage #IWC #Cal 44

Пікірлер: 58

@szbalogh 6 ай бұрын

You should practice on something inexpensive 😂

@IShootWatches 6 ай бұрын

Yes, this was a practice part from a non-working $2 donor watch from the thrift store! I just checked out your channel and subscribed! Your watchmaking videos are amazing! I can't wait to watch so many of them! (I just watched the tiny mainspring video) ❤❤❤

@DeDeNoM 10 ай бұрын

I mean I don't have any personal experience, but I think it would be a good idea to detach the spring from the balance cock as the first step. Should make things easier to handle and put less train on the balance spring.

@IShootWatches 10 ай бұрын

Thanks! I figured that out after I made the video! The good thing is now I have a nice bungled hairspring to practice straitening on! 😂😂😂

@sonnymoorehouse1941 8 күн бұрын

love the how to mangle a hairspring !!!!!

@IShootWatches 6 күн бұрын

You're welcome! 😂😂😂

@awdturbopowah773 10 ай бұрын

Lol I kept saying to the screen while watching, "take the hair spring stud off the balance cock!" 🤣🤣 I am glad to see after reading the comments that you got it figured out! In terms of fixing the curves of the hairspring, and making the gaps even etc., I highly recommend Kalle from Chronoglide's tutorial. Get yourself some nice #5 or #7 tweezers, and get ready for a lot of tweaking and gradual shaping!

@IShootWatches 10 ай бұрын

Sad fact is I probably watched Kalle’s video six months ago and forgot the details such as releasing the hairspring from the balance cock! But yes, to everyone else, Chronoglide (Kalle’s channel) is great for tutorials. Check the playlists and past live streams! Thanks Turbo!

@JDRichard 10 ай бұрын

Your video production is excellent btw

@IShootWatches 9 ай бұрын

Thanks JD! Yours as well!

@gpraceman 7 ай бұрын

That was a bit painful watching that hairspring getting mangled but I understand that you are learning. I'm learning as well and have messed up some hairsprings too.

@IShootWatches 7 ай бұрын

Yes, I’ve got a project coming up with an absolutely destroyed hairspring (by mishandling by someone or some-thing else) that I’m looking forward to trying to fix. My relationship with hairsprings thus far has been 100% destructive. It will be fun to try to reverse that!

@danteskardinal3140 4 ай бұрын

Прекрасое видео..люблю вас смотреть... Я когдато на коленке ...делал чуть сложнее ремонты.. В вашем же случае , я б рекомендовал , не разбирая часы ложить их на наковаььню , и легким молоточком так грамм в 300 из -за плеча чтоб был размах , соединить с наковальней..😂обожаю вас.. Если насобираю денег на дорогой бренд , обязательно отправлю вам на репассаж..

@IShootWatches 3 ай бұрын

Поверьте, я много думал об этой технике молотка! Не искушай меня! 😂😂😂

@WatchWithMike 10 ай бұрын

That's ambitious! You need to detach the hair spring from the balance cock, and then separate the hair spring from the balance staff. I'm not speaking from experience… I'm speaking because I watched this video this morning in preparation to do something equally dangerous: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rK-BqaSema2nZYk.html

@IShootWatches 10 ай бұрын

Yes, I figured that out after I started researching hairspring repair! Doing it airborne was great practice though! 😂😂😂

@WatchWithMike 10 ай бұрын

@@IShootWatches You looked poised. 😁

@ElderPinto254 10 ай бұрын

Hahaha i cannot wait Mike to see you sweat lol... i am watching you hahaha

@WatchWithMike 10 ай бұрын

@@ElderPinto254 Elder Pinto, I'm glad Dayton jumped into hairspring territory first. Watching him wrestle that spring was like classic Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) manhandling an Amazonian anaconda. I'm not sure I'm that tough! 🐣🐥🐓🍗

@ElderPinto254 10 ай бұрын

@@WatchWithMike I think Dayton did well he was very calm this time the stress level went so high it calmed him down ... i love to see people struggle 🤣🤣 i am waiting for you Mike haha

@starfindings 3 ай бұрын

WOW! I have been repairing watches more than 60 years and have never seen such butchery! We used to call these guys 'shoemakers' (not meant to insult shoemakers)

@IShootWatches 3 ай бұрын

Check out the Watchmaking channels on my home page if you prefer watching experts. My channel is about the experience of being a first time hobbyist.

@JDRichard 10 ай бұрын

OMG! You removed the collet with the hairspring attached to the balance cock. Buy The Watch repairers manual

@IShootWatches 9 ай бұрын

Thanks! I just looked at it and I may get it. The problem is it's not laid out in a very useful way (numbered parts and numbered lists are not very fun to look at) and I know 99% of what's in it already. It does seem useful for absolute beginners, but it would be a lot more accessible with better graphics and layout.

@JDRichard 9 ай бұрын

@@IShootWatches I have a video reviewing all the books available for watch repair

@sonnymoorehouse1941 8 күн бұрын

wow !!!! you remove hairspring stud from balance cock. then you use levers to remove hairspring collet from balance staff.

@IShootWatches 6 күн бұрын

Yeah, the consensus in the comments is definitely to do it the easy way instead! But then I wouldn't have got any practice at attempting to repair a bungled hairspring!😂😂😂

@sonnymoorehouse1941 6 күн бұрын

@@IShootWatches Yeah just Busting Your Balls. I forgot to add the LOL.

@JDRichard 10 ай бұрын

He is pulling on the balance and will distort. the spring, this video is killing me. Nice closeups however

@IShootWatches 9 ай бұрын

I grew up in Boulder Colorado driving sports cars and motorcycles way too fast on ice and gravel and I'm still alive. I have two modes: test the limits safely when the road is wide and there's no canyon off the side, and then stay well within those limits when there is. I've found that this approach generally works and is faster than the cautious approach of treating dry pavement as if it's black ice and trying to never to break into a skid. It's also a lot more fun! 😂😂😂

@user-rm7nx6ov4w 12 күн бұрын

😅

@ElderPinto254 10 ай бұрын

That was not bad !!! I like your learing curve so much and your train of thinking .... You are a very smart man and sometimes i think your the older brother of stazstix fix haha .... this is not a easy task and trust me i know i learned it the hard way to and yes it was bloody and messy haha .... its a beautiful struggle lol....and you got me there sitting on the tip of my chair for a while ... good book you got there Nineteen Eighty-Four 🙂.

@IShootWatches 10 ай бұрын

You mean younger brother, right!? 😂😂😂

@ElderPinto254 10 ай бұрын

@@IShootWatches sry younger brother, did i say older its younger yep younger 😂😂

@user-tp2vv4ww4p 6 ай бұрын

스프링탈거후 바늘로 돌리면 될것을 왜이리 어렵게 하는지 ㅋㅋㅋ

@IShootWatches 6 ай бұрын

질문해주셔서 감사합니다. 자세한 답변을 제공하는 다른 두 동영상을 시청해 보세요. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aZOSpayjv7-Yd2Q.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j5ygd5l-zMnTiYU.html

@mM30040 3 ай бұрын

whith money you buy all this tools man maybe should go watchmaiking school ha wath you think😊

@IShootWatches 3 ай бұрын

Thanks! I might do that some day but for now it's just a hobby for me. I'm more interested in the history of watchmaking in Switzerland. It is a hobby that requires tools, but the vintage tools are not expensive here in Switzerland.

@JDRichard 10 ай бұрын

/ Do life your setup

@IShootWatches 9 ай бұрын

Thanks! That's actually why I started a KZfaq channel. Watches and watch tools were just a good subject because they're so small.

@michaelfonseka7657 6 ай бұрын

I must have picked your worst video to watch....l do love your workshop set up though.🎉

@IShootWatches 6 ай бұрын

I think the consensus is that my blindfolded video is my worst but this one is in the bottom twenty or so. They’re all pretty bad at this point. I wanted to make sure the only direction I could go was up and then went down from there somehow.😂😂😂

@afzalafzal4050 Ай бұрын

mentel man

@TommyTightPants0115 4 ай бұрын

watching this is like a blacksmith doing brain surgery i thick you would benefit from having some basic watch repairing courses. Start by binning the microscope off out of the way

@IShootWatches 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! That's exactly what I was going for! 😂😂😂 I'm training with the microscope because of KZfaq and they won't let me bring it to watchmaking school so I have to do it solo!

@TommyTightPants0115 4 ай бұрын

I use 10 x 20 x magnification loop 1 eye and only use microscope for close up work now and then . Also always take the hairspring off first then the collet and finally the roller table off. I’ve been repairing watches for 20 years and still learning

@IShootWatches 4 ай бұрын

@@TommyTightPants0115 Thanks! Yeah, I'll have to follow better protocol including your suggestions when I do this repair for real. I've already failed a number of times but I have two more balance staffs and a lathe now in case I have to make a third one!