4 Attachment(s)
CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Hi guys.. since I took a break from RC modelling, the lifestyle ideas grow ...
Noo not Apple but other luxury things like watches and jewelry.
Since my studies in Black Forest I hooked a heart on mechanical wrist watches ... far from beein able to effort a Breitling or other pilots chronograph
it was creeping into my mind - "...but you have a CNC"!!
Ok, the short track .. since that time I have the dream to setup my own mechanical wrist watch unsing an ETA brand 7750 movement also assembled in some newer Hanhart or the "cheaper" Rolex lines . You have to know that that movement in the basic appearance is not that expensive, but as soon as the luxury guys get their fingers in ... they blue the screws engrave or pearl the bridges and cover that parts with Gold so the price raises up to several thousands of Euro ... for me the standard configuration is good enough and should I be able to join a workshop or a clockmakers hobbyists class one day, I think I can do what I did not miss so far ( then) ... But now ...
let the pics tell ...
some data :
The Material is 1.4112 - for the US Guys it is stainles knife steel AISI 440B
Movement ETA 7750 "Valjoux " TOP Grade
Wrist Band : either a Kaufmann band ( I like the butterfly mechanism to close it) or a
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Hi Harpye,
Might I ask what kind of CNC gear you used to make your watch case?
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
I know it's an old thread but what a machining job, and the movements appear to be reasonably priced on Ebay, although the clones are a third the cost, but I'm sure not up to anywhere near the quality!
cheers, Ian
6 Attachment(s)
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Sry guys - I have not been here for a longer time now
CNC Gear is all DIY ... Meanwhile the watch is several steps further .. .and I also did some other watch related things...
Second pic is a true guilloche made on my DIY CNC Lathe the other on my DIY router
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Wow, that's some really incredible work!
That looks like you made your own tourbillon?
How did you go with the machining the parts, and getting it precise and smooth enough for integration with the movement? And I assume you've seen Clickspring's videos on bluing screws? He made some nifty trays for that purpose to get nicely repeatable results.
Lastly, more pics please! I loooove watch porn like this!
cheers, Ian
3 Attachment(s)
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Hi Ian!
The tourbillon is still in progress ... there are missing several gears but at the moment the regular business takes too much time to find the patience to engage into this without making mistakes!
I think I'll attach some more simple parts....
Hj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Vo2wVtx4s
BTW this was the last attempt of an own tourbillon movement which was not successful due to the necessary parts and the availability....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muB81ZuCsU4
This is just the hands gear ... solved in a bit unusual way...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1CaZaNSrTM
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Just amazing work!
There's something about guilloche work that I find really mesmerising, I could never tire looking at rose engine (or CNC in this case) work for ages, it's so beautiful.
And making your own tourbillon, that's just incredible to tackle something that complex. Looking forward to more pics!
I know it's horses for courses and everyone's tastes are different, but I've never understood the attraction of digital or smart watches over analog watches.
cheers, Ian
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Beautiful work indeed ,I have just educated myself on the Tourbillon on a utube :) so much fine work goes unnoticed thank you.john.
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Quote:
Originally Posted by
InMesh
Beautiful work indeed ,I have just educated myself on the Tourbillon on a utube :) so much fine work goes unnoticed thank you.john.
If you really want to be gob smacked look up Abraham Breguet, considered the greatest horologist ever, who invented the tourbillon
And to see some more absolute jaw dropping eye candy, look up George Daniels, universally considered the greatest watchmaker in modern history, who invented the coaxial escapement completely revolutionising modern watch making, and helping to re-ignite the entire watch market.
It's all extremely fascinating stuff, and knowing what's involved I have the utmost respect for people making watches, and tackling making a tourbillon, wow!
Cheers, Ian
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Thank's for that Ian yes after building the cnc doing a little fine work i also like hand engraving so i may have to purchase a stereo Microscope for some of my finer work:) I have a passion for the machinery as well those guys are Inspirational for sure so many distractions on this forum....:)
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
When I was at the age of 16 I decided against the watchmakers apprenticeship as my impression of that job was ( as I watched the recent apprentice while waiting for my own Casio watch to be serviced) that the main duty was changing swatch batteries with a coin.... afterwards I finished highschool and studied at the university of Furtwangen which until after the war was the black forrest watchmaking school ... and again came in touch with watches the remaining of the story is that I wanted to learn but did not find the time in between the job and the late night.... so only thing to handle this resulted in a DIY action ... first the housing shown at the beginnig of the thread... which was damaged while turning... so I made the second shown in one of the previous posts ... made the dial the Hands and some other parts .. then started ( ambitious a 3 Axis Tourbillon short before Jaeger published their masterpiece ... but was not successful due to low experience .. but learned a lot in manufacturing ... then started with a Bridged one which was not successful due to the availability of parts I based my design on and now I do the third attempt ... based on the balance of a Unitas...
We will see what will come out!!!
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
That is a great effort you help Inspire me :) the years go fast I have been distracted by many things but my appreciation of fine work never goes away ,There is so much to learn my background is in engineering and machining i enjoy the fine work the most don't give up,cheers John.
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
They look great to me I get caught up in all the things I do I forgot about dedicated watch maker /repairer forums :) After building the cnc I was testing it for accuracy I can get a very fine finish it surprised me .I would definitely have to get a stereo microscope or some quality loops or eye piece at 59 welding over the years has taken a toll on me ,keep up the great work,John.
Re: CNC Making a Wrist Watches Housing..
Gorgeous work, thank you SO much for sharing! Making watch cases is something I have thought about for a while, but have not found the time to play with yet. I would never even have thought of going so far as making a tourbillon myself - that's just nuts!!! (in a GOOD way).
Kudos, and I hope to get to this some day, but for now car parts have my interest...
