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Horological Meandering

Casting

 

Hi BDLJ !
The reason I do casting is because after casting the work that remains is simple turning and hand work.  I do not need a big CNC for a quarter of a million with a complicated program to mill the case or even the 10s of thousands of CHF of investment to make the molds for stamping, as most cases are made. 
Of course then I could make thousands of cases and each stamped case would then be cheap, but I have not yet ever made two cases the same.  And I would have to give the work out to be done.  I prefer to do it all myself.
The material in the pictures is brass, material cost close to 0, which I am gold plating, but when I know it is right I will then use the same form and cast in gold for the final product.  The brass is just for prototyping.
But it is a nice side effect that casting does also minimize wastage.
Don


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The Making of the Dresdener Regulator, Part 3 of 4

 
By: Kong : March 12th, 2009-09:13
Please Click here for Part 1 Please click here for Part 2 More Parts Finishing Parts finishing continues with the wheels. Here we see the wheels as delivered by ETA, the form stamped, the teeth cut and then flash gold plated to prevent corrosion; quality ...  

Fascinating..

 
By: BDLJ : March 12th, 2009-20:19
Great report, Kong and Fantastic work, Don. One question. The crown, what material is it? I may have missed it in the text, but the only reason I can think of for casting before machining is that it's a precious metal of some sort, hence the need to minim... 

Casting

 
By: DonCorson : March 13th, 2009-12:30
Hi BDLJ ! The reason I do casting is because after casting the work that remains is simple turning and hand work. I do not need a big CNC for a quarter of a million with a complicated program to mill the case or even the 10s of thousands of CHF of investm... 

very cool! a question and a comment

 
By: ei8htohms : March 12th, 2009-20:22
Hi Don, This is a great series and highlights how much work you're putting into these pieces. Keep up the good work! How do you maintain or re-establish concentricity between the pinions and wheels after dismounting/remounting them? Do you top the wheels ... 

Wheels

 
By: DonCorson : March 13th, 2009-12:11
Hi John, I have not had problems with concentricity after restaking the wheels. I chuck them on the pinions in the lathe and check for that. A big problem is that they are no longer really flat and it takes forever to get them flat again. As far as I can ... 

Thanks very much Kong and Don! Another question for Don,

 
By: AnthonyTsai : March 12th, 2009-21:01
Will you ever try gilt frosted finishing like on Greubel Forsey watches instead of geneva stripes? Just wondering. Some people like the frosted finishing better (I'm not one of them) so thought I'd ask this in case you ever make a custom ordered watch in ... 

Pure poetry

 
By: Ophiuchus : March 14th, 2009-02:54
To actually see the work you put into each piece is a glorious thing indeed. To me, it's mechanical poetry in motion- always striving for that moment when the true surface of the parts is found. Just like hitting the final facet on my stones, you must rea...