Eugene Edward Hall

“ When we seriously consider the various styles and series in "old model" and "new model," of only one of the leading manufacturers of watches in this country, to say nothing of the legion of small and large concerns who are manufacturing or have manufactured in the past, and then think of carrying these staffs in stock, all ready for use, we then begin to realize how utterly absurd the idea is, to say nothing of how expensive! ”

“ We are now ready to temper our drill, and we must exercise a little care that the steel is not burnt and that the drill is not bent or warped when hardening. The flame of the alcohol lamp should be reduced as small as possible, or otherwise the steel may become overheated and lose all its good qualities. If needles are used for making drills there is a great liability of their warping when hardening, but when a larger piece of wire is used there is not much danger, if care is exercised in introducing the drill that it goes into the compound straight and point foremost. ”

“ I have assumed that you prefer to work in this way because I have noted the fact that nine watchmakers out of every ten start with, and first finish up, the lower portion of the staff. Where this method of working originated I do not know, but it always has the appearance to me of "placing the cart before the horse." I do not pretend to say that a true staff cannot be made in this way, but it certainly is not the most convenient nor advisable. We all know that the heaviest part of the staff is from the roller seat to the end of the top pivot. ”

“ One method of hardening is to smear the blank with common yellow soap, heat it to a cherry red, and drop endwise into linseed oil. Petroleum is preferred by some to linseed oil, but, to tell the truth, I can see no difference in the action of linseed, petroleum or olive oil. Be sure and have enough oil to thoroughly cool the blank, and a deep vessel, such as a large-mouthed vial, is preferable to a saucer. The blank will now be found too hard to work easily with the graver, and we must therefore draw the temper down to that of fine spring steel. ”

“ I have seen staffs that were models as regards execution and finish, that were nearly worthless from a practical standpoint, simply because the maker had devoted all his time and energy to the execution of a beautiful piece of lathe work, and had given no thought or study to the form and size of the pivots. On the other hand, one often sees staffs whose pivots are faultless in shape, but the execution and finish so bungling as to offset all the good qualities as regards shape. ”

“ You can readily see that when you come to reverse your staff and use the wax chuck, that by starting at the top of staff your wax has a much larger surface of metal to cling to, and again the shape of the balance seat is such as to secure the work firmly in the wax, while if the reverse method is employed, the larger portion of the balance seat is exposed and the staff is more liable to loosen from the motion of the lathe and pressure of the graver and polishers. ”

“ There are two kinds of pivots, known respectively as straight and conical pivots, but for the balance staff there is but one kind and that is the conical, which is illustrated in Fig. 4. The conical pivot has at least one advantage over the straight one, i. e., it can be made much smaller than a straight pivot, as it is much stronger in proportion, owing to its shape. All pivots have a tendency to draw the oil away from the jewels, and particularly the conically formed variety, which develops a strong capillary attraction. ”

“ The fewer times the steel is heated the better. My experience teaches me that you can do no better than to select some nice pieces of Stubb's steel for your pivot drills. Many watchmakers make their drills from sewing needles, say No. 3 or 4, sharps. The steel in these needles is usually of good quality, but the great drawback is that a drill made from a needle will not resist any great pressure, and is liable to break just at the time that you have arrived at the most important point. ”

“ It may be argued, and we often do hear material dealers advance the theory, that to-day, with our interchangeable parts and the cheapness of all material, it is a waste of time to make a balance staff. ”

“ Each division on the gauge represents 1/2500 of an inch, which is all that we require. The diameter that the pivot should be, can be ascertained by inserting a round pivot broach into the jewel and taking the measurement with the pivot gauge, and then making the necessary deduction for side shake. Slip the jewel on the broach as far as it will go, as shown in Fig. 12, and then with the pivot gauge, take the size of the broach, as close up to the jewel as you can measure, and the taper of the broach will be about right for the side shake of the pivot. ”

“ Neither can we arrive at the proper end shake for a pivot by reducing in proportion from the end shake allowed on a six-inch shaft, because if we followed out the same course of reasoning we would arrive at a point where a pivot measuring 12/2500 of an inch would require an end shake so infinitely small that it would require six figures to express the denominator of the fraction, and the most minute measuring instrument yet invented would be incapable of recording the measurement. ”

“ Some of my readers may think that I am over-particular on this point, and that the difference in measurement on two occasions is too trivial to be worthy of attention, but I do not think that too much care can be bestowed upon this part of the work, and neglect in this particular is, I [Pg 24] think, the cause of poor performance in many otherwise good timepieces. The ordinarily accepted rule among watchmakers is that a pivot should be made 1/2500 of an inch smaller than the hole in the jewel to allow for the proper lubrication. ”

“ Now put on your roller and drive it down to the hub and see that the roller is free from the fork. See that jewel pin reaches fork properly and that the guard pin also reaches the roller. See that your balance is free from the plate and the bridge. If the balance is true and all right, you are ready to put on your hair-spring. See that it is in beat. It is well to make a mark on the balance before taking off the old staff, showing positions of hair-spring stud and jewel pin. ”

“ On the other hand, if you reside in a large city and propose to rely on the stock of your material dealer, you will find yourself in an embarrasing situation very often, for as likely as not the movement requiring a new staff was made by a company that went out of business back in the '80s, or it is a new [Pg 7] movement, the material for which has not yet been placed on the market. ”

“ By keeping the graver on a line with the length of the pivot, all the force applied is simply exerted in the direction of the chuck, and does not tend to spring the pivot, as it would were the extreme point applied, as in Fig. 13. When we come to such places as the shoulder of the back slope, the seat for the roller, balance, etc., we must necessarily use the point of the graver. ”

“ Now if the workman has been educated to turn indifferently with right or left hand, it may make little difference, as far as the actual turning is concerned, whether he starts to work at the upper or lower end of [Pg 22] the staff, but unfortunately there are few among us who are so skilled as to use the graver with equal facility with either hand, and it is therefore an advantage to start with the upper end, as you can thus finish a greater portion of the work more readily. ”

“ I am acquainted with watchmakers, and men who are termed good workmen, too, who invariably allow 1/2500 of an inch side shake, no matter whether the pivot is 12/2500 or 16/2500 of an inch in diameter. Now if 1/2500 of an inch is the proper side shake for a pivot measuring 12/2500 of an inch in diameter, it is certainly not sufficient for a pivot which is one-third larger. ”

“ The main object in using the soap in hardening is that it may form a scale upon the blank, and if the heating is effected gradually the soap will melt and form a practically air-tight case around the blank. This scale, if the hardening is carefully and properly done, will generally chip and fall off when the blank is plunged in the oil, particularly if the oil is cool, and if it does not fall off of its own accord, it can easily be removed by rolling the blank upon the bench. ”

“ The turning up of a new pivot does not differ in any way from the instructions given for turning pivots on a new staff. With a little care both in turning and finishing, a new pivot can be put in so nicely that only the initiated can tell it, and then only with the aid of a strong glass. ”

“ If the hole jewel be of the proper shape, the end-stone not too far from the hole jewel and too much oil is not applied [Pg 18] at one time, the oil will not spread nor run down the staff, but a small portion will be retained at the acting surface of pivot and jewel, and this supply will be gradually fed to these parts from the reservoir between the jewel and end-stone, by the action of capillarity. ”

“ If [Pg 42] your drill is made from a piece of Stubb's steel wire, or an old French or Swiss graver, you not only know that the material in it is first-class, but you can leave the base of the drill solid and substantial, with enough metal in it to resist considerable pressure. The part of the drill which actually enters the pivot is very short, and the end can be turned down to the desired diameter. Turn or reduce your wire by means of a pivot file so as to be smooth and conical, as shown at A, Fig. ”

“ The acid simply rusts the pivot and the hole, but I cannot see that this will hold it any more firmly in place while finishing. If the taper is a gradual one and the pivot a good close fit, there will be little danger of it loosening while dressing to shape. If too great a taper is given to the plug, there is danger of splitting the end of the staff, and this involves the making of an entire new staff. ”

“ You are now ready to insert your staff and proceed with your work. Hold your shellac in the flame of your lamp a moment until it is quite liquid, and then smear both the inside and outside of the tube with it. Heat the shell or tube gently by means of the lamp, keeping the lathe revolving slowly all the while, and taking the staff in your tweezers proceed to insert it carefully into the tube. ”

“ The agate slip should be ground to about the shape of B, Fig. 16, so that one side can be used for square corners and the other for conical pivots. The final polish can soon be imparted by means of a small boxwood slip, or flattened peg-wood, and diamantine and alcohol. Never try to bring out the final polish until you are satisfied that all graver marks have been ground out, otherwise you will simply have to go all over the work again. ”

“ Before we proceed with our work it will be necessary for us to make some accurate measurements, as we cannot afford to do any guess work by measuring by means of the old staff. I have used a number of different kinds of calipers and measuring instruments for determining the various measurements for a balance staff, but have met with more success with a very simple little tool which I made myself from drawings and description published some years ago in The American Jeweler. This simple little tool is shown in Fig. ”