Another pocket watch

[c.kelly]

Hi guys,
A week or so ago I posted a topic about an Illinois with a bad mainspring. Today a customer brought in an Elgin and he said he didn't know what happened but it just quit working. When I opened the back I said well right here is at least part of the problem. The hairspring had several bends in it right at the pins on the regulator arm. Like someone had tried to speed watch up but the regulator pins grabbed the hairspring and bent it about double. In the first picture you will see what it looked like after I got it out of the watch. I told the customer I would give it a go at fixing it back but made no promises. Told him I would relax a bit and get my mind right and see what I could do. In the other picture you can see how it worked out. Put the watch on my timeograph and it is a bit out of beat but it is running only about 6 seconds a day fast. Anyway I just wanted to share this one.

[willofiam]

[c.kelly]

Hi,
No I don't have any special hairspring tools. What I used on that one was a pair of #3 tweezers and a 1 or .8mm screwdriver. I held the screwdriver in my left hand and picked up the spring at its various bent points and rubbed it against the stationary screwdriver. Sort of massage it a bit and then check to see what it looks like. Is time consuming but works for me. That particular spring was bent inward some then outward and to top it all off was bent downward as well. I just checked the watch before I picked up the computer here and it is still running and has kept good time for almost a full wind.
With a hairspring for a wristwatch I'll use #5 tweezers as the hairsprings are so small. The pocket watch spring here was too strong for the #5s. Sometimes when working on a wristwatch hairspring I'll have to use a microscope just to be able to see what I need.

[Bob Tascione]

Beautiful job Charles!

Bob

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well done.

[c.kelly]

Thanks for the comments. Back years ago hairsprings really scared me. I can't save them all but I do feel good when I get one shaped well.
Thanks again,
Charles K