Roller table problem

[timenut111]

Here is a good one, I have a Waltham 16s Traveler grade..not an expensive watch, but one I want to get running and resale since I gave nearly 0 for it. The balance staff upper pinion was broke. I reordered another staff for the watch which was correct in size, replaced staff, same roller table that came off damaged staff and hairspring. Now the roller table slides on the staff...I align it at 90 degrees to the balance arms and when i test it, it has swung 15 degrees off..can't get it to seat properly....anyone see this before?

[Bob Tascione]

This Topic moved from other forum to General Forum

Hi Timenut,

Yes that happens occasionally. Staffs can sometimes be a bit off on dimensions. When the roller needs a little more grip you can use a punch that is in most staking sets to close the hole in the roller a tiny bit when needed. I'm out of town right now but I think I have some info explaining the process at home. I'll take a look on when I return on Tues. and will put a link to it up here if it's online somewhere.

Bob

[timenut111]

thanks Bob, I have the staking tool for doing this but not real sure how to use it. can't decide which side of the table to stake or does it matter. I'll wait till you return on tuesday.

[Randy]

Timenut111,

The stake you have is a star punch ?
Can also be called a triangular point punch. It is used to close the hole in rollers by raising burrs around the edge of the hole.

If you have this one,..then I believe you will want to raise the burrs on the "bottom" of the roller, so that it will "bite" onto the should of the staff better.

If it is a single roller, you'll want to be careful of the impulse pin. You may have a stump that will accommodate that as well.

I did this a couple of years ago on one that was loose. You want to go very carefully at it. It shouldn't take much to close it sufficiently. If you make it too tight,...you risk damaging it when pressing it back on ( or the staff !! ). If you do make it a bit too tight, you'll have to broach it out a bit and keep trying for the best (snug) fit.
I've cracked a roller by getting too heavy handed

Bob..tell me if I missed anything...I'm been away from my bench too long LOL !!!

Randy

[timenut111]

Bob, I did the same thing with a roller table except I split it totally in two pieces ....LOL .'ll'll go at it a little softer...thanks

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Randy and Timenut,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to the forum. My trip to the States got stretched out and didn't return home to Mexico until last Saturday. Upon arrival we found our internet connection next to worthless. Any attempt to upload to the forum would end in failure/frustration. Even simple emailing was a challenge and usually took more than one try to get it sent out so more or less depended on my mobile phone for emailing. Turns out that our phone line inside the complex where I live (our infrastucture) was just too old and corroded. The phone company will only handle the line coming up to the housing complex but not inside. That's up to us. So put a new section of line in and finally by Thursday evening got a decent connection. All seems to be working now. Well, that is, if you're seeing this!

Thanks for jumping in on this Randy! Yeah I think you covered it better that I could have. The only thing I might add here is to watch out for heat treated, hardened rollers. They can and will usually split unless annealed first. The roller hardness should always be tested prior to applying any stress to it. If the roller has a highly polished surface then there's a good chance it's hardened. They can be spot annealed where the hardness is drawn out around the hole without affecting the entire roller by packing the roller in wet clay type material (I whip up a simple bread dough..flour and water) and then clear the area right around the hole. The 'wet' dough draws the heat out of the metal where applied. Heating a long steel pin inserted through the hole until the metal just around the hole turns to a cherry red and then removing the flame should do the trick. You'll most likely find that part of the roller has become tempered to a blue color but should still be ok. You can bring back the polished steel finish by polishing it a bit.
I've used the flour and water mixture for many parts where targeted annealing or heat treated was needed. There's most likely a better commercial product out there but just wouldn't be as much fun for me as making my own batch.

Hope this helps.
Adios for now,
Bob

[Randy]

Bob,...Thanks for the "home-made" tip for making clay that will work with annealing metal !
I would never have thought of that...

Probably why I cracked one awhile back. It was highly polished and I wasn't even thinking about that possibility ( my lack of the experience ) !!

Also good to hear you got your phone line up and running.

Take care

Randy