I don’t know how this sort of thing happens, but it does. I had to correct a bend in a hairspring today.
The red arrow indicates a point where the coils of the hairspring are touching.
The blue arrow indicates where the gentle bend in the spring is (approx 90 degrees from the touching point.) You can click on the photos if you want to see them a little larger.
And this is the hairspring after I made the correction.
Truth is I just wanted to play with my new digital microscope. It takes pretty decent photos. Don’t you think?
And just for fun: anybody know what caliber this balance belongs to.? Should be a pretty easy one.
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14 Comments
Is it from a Rolex 3135?
How on earth did the spring get bent like that anyway???!?
No, not a 3135. I don’t know how it got bent. I didn’t do it.
2130! Flat, no stud!
I don’t think I have EVER seen this before. Nor has my Grandfather. Only thing I can think of is a botched cleaning by a novice?
you don’t have to be a novice for a screwdriver to slip…it happens to the best of us
Very true, but if you are suggesting that the hairspring may have become bent by a screwdriver that slipped, why didn’t they repair the damage then instead of waiting until the next time service came due? The coils are touching and I don’t see how it could have kept time at all in the meantime. In this instance I don’t really suspect an individual for the damage. I can’t explain it however.
nice work on the hairspring, it still remains a nightmare for me sometimes.
Not a 3135 no overcoil. Right here’s my guess, someone has freed the stud for some reason, possiably to regulate the microstella’s judging by the state of them, and then the stud has shot hrough a few coils and have tried to wind it out with a fine oiler. Seen it done.
2030? Also the 2nd and 3rd coils over the arm are a bit close ;7)
I ment the arm on the left, that’ll teach me to try to be clever 🙁
What digital microscope are you using? Does it take video as well?
We use a donolite. It does take video also, but I will say, video quality is only so-so. It is great for inspection, but not for working. They make another version with a longer working distance but it is still too short to work under and with the manual focus a bit tricky. Works well for the inspection work and for documentation photos.
dOESN ANYONE KNOW ANY GOOD TEXT ON HAIRSPRING REPAIR, WHEN I SEARCH FOR IT, ALL I GET IS HOW TO MAKE AN OVERCOIL…
Hi Dave,
The JosephBulova School of Watchmaking Training Manual has a chapter dedicated to hairspring manipulations. Another excellent resource, although a much heavier read, is Jendritzki’s Watch Adjustment.
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