The balance is jamming in the distorted hairspring so the watch is not working. The Hairspring has multiple distortions, so it is a good example to show the repair techniques of the different faults.
What a great educational video. Thank you Balogh. Like many, I'm struggling with hairspring manipulation. Getting it on plane proved elusive - never quite got the technique to twist it back to flat. Always going back and forth, twist part A, part B goes out, adjust part B, part A goes out. Like a dog chasing it's tail. Apart from the technique, this video clearly demonstrates the need for ultra patience.
Geez I learned a lot. In addition to your technique, I pinned the collet using a cut off and trimmed down standard pin. I pushed it through two layers of standard white paper into a rubber mat below. This whole thing is about 4" x 4" square so it rotates easily when I need to get to the other side of the spring, plus it prevents the spring from rotating or jumping around on its own while i am working on it. Now it is much easier to work on the spring.
For me, watching your video was like watching a high speed car chase. Very exciting stuff. I learned a lot from your technique. Excellent job! When you bent the coil up mid video I almost fell out of my chair. You recovered it beautifully, so well done!
No need to show all the wrong trials, I think I covered them all. What we need to see is the best practice. Thank you again for your excellent demonstration.
GREAT VIDEO... This is one video you should watch to learn PATIENCE and CONCENTRATION !!! Very, very therapeutic... Congratulations on a job well done, especially rectifying the blunder of bending it by mistake at the end part.
I had done it a lot of times, most damage done to balance springs by their owners not knowing how delicate these parts are. I had perfected the art all by myself. Worked on most famous brands.
Thanks for the advice. Well I did not totally destroy my first go at it but I did not get it to a usable condition either. I need a lot more practice still.....
Halfway through, and I am wondering how the simple use of the spring doesn’t cause damage by exerting the same pressures you are to fix it. I am BeeeeeeWilllllllllDerrrrrrrrrd!
The music made the video much better, although he should not have 3 cups of coffee before recording. I guess some watche's parts are not replaceable and such tasks must be mastered. Good work!
Is a repaired hairspring never as good as a new one tho. Even if it's original. The strength of the metal cam never be the same again. Right? I mean it's amazing that it could be repaired to such a good shape but is it worth it?
El meterce a la reparación de la parte más frágil en un reloj es admirable , yo creo que después de la profesión médica como la del neurocirujano , esta también es muy admirable
Did you end up getting all the kinks out? not an easy task, especially when recording and having the camera in the way. good job! great videos, keep up the good work!
thanks a lote i hope i can make it. i never do that, i only assemble a automatic watch but incomes to balance wheel or hairspring i will call my father for help haha but thanks i have an idea already thanks a lot i want to expand my skills with this .sorry for my bad english coz dis is my second language hehe from the phils. Thank you
Sir I think that if I was so bad at recoiling a balance spring as you have demonstrated I would not be making a video and putting it on RU-vid. You have a lot to learn about recoiling balance springs.
Thank you for your honesty, only I am nearly 80 years old and have been recoiling balance springs for about 60 years. I don't use tweezers, I use two VERY small sewing needles with the tip of the eye end ground back leaving what looks like a two pronged fork then with the pointed end pushed into a piece of peg wood. These fine eye ends of the needles fit nicely between the coils of the spring with the spring sitting in the forks. It works well for recoiling and flatting the the spring. But you do have to be very calm with steady hands. Good luck. Ol
Balogh Szabolcs let me know how you get on, you only need a short length of needle sticking out of the peg wood, and I have a few different sizes of needles for different size balance springs, "O" and hold your breathing will doing it.😵😵😵
Amazing you do this by hand, but is there a machine that can straighten out and recoil this? I can't imagine how many hours you put into this. Are they that expensive that they need this much care?
No machine for this but old watchmakers have an other method i was not dare to try. Not many hours really. Before this one i was practicing on some bigger pocket watch springs and scrap broken springs. Not expensive but no way to replace so repair is the most convenient method.
To the best of my knowledge blue is the old type carbon steel heat treated and annealed, hence the blue color. The black should be the same i think or something new material which i am not familiar with. There is also the Rolex ceramic or something like that blue hairspring. The "white" is some kind of new inox alloy. Antimagnetic and its properties are less prone to temperature change compared to the old blue. There are also some brass hairsprings in old low-end watches. Similar ones to old instrumental displays like an analogu Volt meter.
Thanks for the respond... if the end of hairspring which is connected to yellow metal plate c shape as shown in your video break off at the end, would it possible to reinstall it to that plate?
Yes it is posible to reinstall a hairspring to the collet. It is fixed in a hole with a small pin. At least on older watches. On the other hand one will need possibly a new hairspring since the broken one will be shorter, hence the watch faster. Hove not done such a repair yet.