Any watchmakers?

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

My cousin.

He's an old school classically trained watchmaker who makes his own parts exactly as you describe.

Post up some pics and I'll ask him.

He's up here in Flower Mound.

I'll get pictures, but for starters, you can tell him I have a clean, working 6 jaw chuck from American Watch Tool Co, NOT from Derbyshire, who bought the rights in 1918...

Markings are "Snyder's Pats Jun 28 Dec 13-1881" which are the dates of the original patents for these 6-jaw chucks. That puts it between 1881 and 1917.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

The guy I bought my Wilton vise from has all you guys beat!😂

I'd love to go visit and chit-chat with a guy like that.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I'll get pictures, but for starters, you can tell him I have a clean, working 6 jaw chuck from American Watch Tool Co, NOT from Derbyshire, who bought the rights in 1918...

Markings are "Snyder's Pats Jun 28 Dec 13-1881" which are the dates of the original patents for these 6-jaw chucks. That puts it between 1881 and 1917.

[ramonesfreak]

^^^^that photo of all the clocks automatically played Pink Floyd in my head….ticking away the moments….

[craigster59]

On the subject of watches, a FB friend posted this of watches seen at Eric Wind's presentation at the NY Horological Society meeting.

Some beautiful watches to be sure....

https://www.windvintage.com/blog/watch-spotting-at-eric-winds-2023-horological-society-of-new-york-presentation

[charlesbahn]

I make and repair watches and clocks as a hobby. Like most hobbyists I have a collection of lathes with various attachments. You can find just about every watchmakers lathe, attachments and associated tools, as well as just about any general watch tool, circulating around on eBay; and you can get a good idea of values pretty quickly.

Charles

[masraum]

Originally Posted by charlesbahn

I make and repair watches and clocks as a hobby. Like most hobbyists I have a collection of lathes with various attachments. You can find just about every watchmakers lathe, attachments and associated tools, as well as just about any general watch tool, circulating around on eBay; and you can get a good idea of values pretty quickly.

Charles

That's super cool. You should post more. Pics of stuff that you've worked on, pics of clocks/watches, interesting tools, etc...

[charlesbahn]

Some finished projects:
A few Gustav Beckers:




A few Seths:



An "Anniversary" clock


The obligatory cuckoo


Some chronos:

A Valjoux


A Poljot (pandemic project):

[charlesbahn]

The "workbench"



Boley 8mm lathe and some tooling:



A Marshall 8mm lathe and some tooling



A Peerless lathe


A Lorch Lathe for cutting gears and "topping up"


Beware- this hobby is a SLIPPERY SLOPE!

Charles

[masraum]

Cool stuff, thank you for posting.
If I had the space and money, I'd have a room full of clocks. I'd love to learn to work on them.

[Geneman]

why do watch makers / repairers need lathes so much? I do not get it....

[herr_oberst]

Dang, charlesbahn, that's an impressive getup you have there. You should take more pictures when you get it tidied up a little! (ha ha)

This place never fails to impress me with members' hobbies.

[masraum]

When I posted before I had only seen Charles' clock/watch post. Now that he's got his bench posted, wow, very cool!

There was an estate sale for the older relative of my wife. I bought a couple of items out of the husband's shop. I think the husband had been gone for a while, and they were moving the wife into assisted living or something. I think the husband must have been into clock repair. I found some items that were interesting that I didn't purchase. The things that stood out most in my mind are hole closing punches.

[charlesbahn]

Originally Posted by Geneman

why do watch makers / repairers need lathes so much? I do not get it....

In the old days most watch shops had lathes that were mostly for decoration. You could simply order most parts you needed from a supply house. They made it easy with catalogs parts charts and parts galore. Lathes were also sort of the pride and joy of the watch maker and one of their most expensive tools. But many just sat on the shelf.

With the demise of the profession, many of the these lathes come on the market in nearly unused condition from heirs who have no idea what they do or how to work them, for relatively much less money than they cost originally.

But you can actually build a watch from scratch with a well set up lathe. Problem is setting up the tooling for individual parts is very time consuming and somewhat repetitive. If you are a complete nut like I am, you can have several lathes set up for individual tasks- polishing pivots, making stems, and on and on.

Also certain lathes may have better or more available tooling for one project than another. The also come in different sizes- 6mm, 8mm, 10mm. You may be able to find a milling attachment (that you can afford) for one and polishing attachments for another.

This, at least, is how I have been able to explain why we need all these lathes to Mrs Charlesbahn

[charlesbahn]

Originally Posted by masraum

I found some items that were interesting that I didn't purchase. The things that stood out most in my mind are hole closing punches.

That would be a "staking" set- generally used to open, close, modify mostly pivot holes in watches and clocks. A complete set has about 150 or so punches "stakes) and "stumps" plus a positioning guide with an anvil base. To the casual observer, these don't look like much, but each punch is tool steel, unique, and incredibly precise.

Charles

[charlesbahn]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Dang, charlesbahn, that's an impressive getup you have there. You should take more pictures when you get it tidied up a little! (ha ha)

But if I tidied it up a little I wouldn't be able to find anything!

[Pazuzu]

Well, seems like you're the person to talk to then!

Here's what I have:
About 20 various 8mm collets (Whitecomb, Hadl, Derbyshire and unknown)
3 8mm step collets (Moseley #1, and a #4 and #5 of unknown brand)
6 jaw chuck (pre-Derbyshire, American Watch Tool Co era)
All on what I think is a vintage Derbyshire box.

Also one piece that looks like it might be an arbor (Levin) and a homemade collet with a flat top milled from aluminum.





[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26
/IMG_20230311_1121452931678631669.jpg[/img]

[charlesbahn]

Cool, They are are all old, as you thought, but not rare. The collets in 8mm generally can go for $10-20 each if they are perfect. Not perfect they are worthless as you can't use them for the precise work needed. The three larger ones would prob be the most desirable. The arbor, not worth too much. The step collets are common, prob $50-$75 or so for the three.

The 6 jaw chuck is an another category if it functions correctly (adjuster and jaws all turn freely)- but looks like a wrench has been used on the adjuster wheel. Anyway, prob 2-3 hundred if works properly.

The most desirable things to look for are the milling attachments and cross slides. Pivot polishing attachments are really cool but don't bring much $.

Hope that helps, price estimates are just based on my experience, others may have other opinions. Really only two groups of buyers. Hobbyist/amature watch/clock enthusiasts who will put them to use, and collectors who want something cool to put on a shelf. Best place to sell would be on the bay if you don't mind answering a thousand questions.

Charles