Handmade Watch Screws

DeanDK

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Hi guys,

I thought I would share my experience in making small handmade screws. The screw is made from water hardening silver steel (drill rod) has a M1.0 thread, Ø2mm head and a total length 3mm.

I struggled capturing the blueing process this time as my head would get in the way of the camera as I was trying to see what I was actually doing, or I had my blueing pan off camera or out of focus.


Anyways hopefully this is useful to someone :)

Have a great day.
 
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A die? I wanted to see your chase them by hand..... or at lest with a lead screw....

Really impressive. I've got one of those lathes somewhere, but had no idea the tool was hand held to cut steel.
 
A die? I wanted to see your chase them by hand..... or at lest with a lead screw....

Really impressive. I've got one of those lathes somewhere, but had no idea the tool was hand held to cut steel.

Hahah I wish I could chase them by hand!

Thanks for the feedback :) You should try it one day, it's a lot of fun to have complete control over the tool. :grin::grin:
 
very good.
my 7 yr old girl watched it with me and wants your lathe as its the right size for her.
 
What lathe is that? I have a Levin.

It's a Peerlees Lathe. These were manufactured by Marshall, Peerless were cheaper and a lot of them didn't see use as a lot were decoration items in stores. Also, Sherline's WW collets fit the Peerless lathe also.

I have a Levin cross slide that I use on this lathe and it is super nice!

very good.
my 7 yr old girl watched it with me and wants your lathe as its the right size for her.

Thanks.. That is awesome! My daughter is only 8months, I hope she will get into watchmaking or an interest in making things when she is a little older :)
 
Side question. I have (thanks to a generous member) the bulk of the parts to a jewelers lathe as a project when things settle down. I will be making the spindle for it. My question is, what is the most common (and hence probably the easiest to find and pay for style of collet to design around? Is there an approximate cost for a set, or should I be looking at piece-mealing a set sort of as I go, perhaps starting when I begin to build the missing parts of this machine?
 
Side question. I have (thanks to a generous member) the bulk of the parts to a jewelers lathe as a project when things settle down. I will be making the spindle for it. My question is, what is the most common (and hence probably the easiest to find and pay for style of collet to design around? Is there an approximate cost for a set, or should I be looking at piece-mealing a set sort of as I go, perhaps starting when I begin to build the missing parts of this machine?

Hi Tony,

It depends on a few things such as will you be purchasing want second hand or new collets? The most common thread is 40 tpi x 0.275 however every manufacturer almost had a different collet diameter, length, angle or keyway size.

Second hand collets are usually older and well made, but the condition is really unknown.

If you want new collets, Levin make them in a full set, but be prepared to spend a couple thousand at leas on a full set of collets. However, these would be the best.

Sherline make ww collets, these are the ones I use on my lathe. They are reasonably priced, their website will have price and dimensions, however these collets are not hardened and ground like you may find Levin and the older made collets. So they may lose their accuracy if not treated with care.

The Chinese also make collets, the thread is m7 x 0.75 and you can buy via Ebay. These are well priced and roughly around same price as Sherline ones. Again these are not hardened and ground, but are just as accurate as the Sherline ones.

In terms of other accessories that you can purchase, such as 3 jaw chucks, step collets, face plates etc the chinese manufactured ones have more available. Under the seller name Sincere Clocks. You can also buy taps and dies for the thread form, although cutting the thread would most likely be more accurate.

If you go the Sherline route, then you would have to scour the web and places for accessories that fit the 40 tpi x 0.275. It's hard for me to say how easy that is, because I'm in Australia and we had no watchmaking industry unlike yourselves. So you guys should have much more used tools readily available.

I hope this helps,

Dean
 
Well Dean, my tired old body is hinting strongly that I won't be able to wrestle with full sized machinery for much longer, so I am exploring my options on what to do with my time, and also have some sort of income. This is OT, but briefly it has been suggested that I look into horology. I've had an interest in it, but had no valid reason to seriously pursue it. That may well change. So I am looking into what it takes to at least furnish the shop, irrespective of my talent or lack thereof in the miniature machining world. I've been putting metal of all sorts in agony for about 42 plus years, so I'm not exactly an amateur. If I sold part of my shop, I could easily outfit a horology shop, and I never go cheap on my tools and equipment. I will not buy soft, Chinese made collets. Or anything else substandard as far as quality goes. But of course, I have to be convinced that doing this is the best route to take. Hence the questions.....only a couple of many, many to come. Please pardon the thread wander.
 
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