American Machinist Gear Book

There's a new book available on line from Google that may be of interest to watchmakers, or anyone interested in the design of gears and pinions.

The American Machinist Gear Book, 1922.

Enjoy...

http://books.google.com/books?id=bGYpAAAAYAAJ

Master Watchmakers' Association of Oregon

From The American Horologist magazine, May 1937

Meeting of April 6th, 1937

"The Master Watchmakers Association of Oregon held an open meeting in the Chamber of Commerce Building on April 6th, 1937, at 6:30 P.M. A regular dinner was served to about forty watchmakers. The meeting was opened informally with President Drews in the chair. Other officers present were: N. S. Conger, Vice President; L W. Ross, Treasurer; W. W. Siemen of Gresham, Director; L. W. Young, Director; Wm. R. Johnson, Director; Harold Sabro, Secretary.

"President Drews stated that nominations for candidates to attend the convention in Chicago were in order: N. S. Conger nominated Harold Sabro; L. W. Hugett nominated R. E. Drews. The president asked that not too many candidates be nominated. The roll was called by the secretary.

"The resolutions by Sabro, sent to our national association: Uniform ledger and dependable radio time signals from Arlington were adopted.

"Collins Garfield was next declared the most popular in our group and was presented with a Sunbeam Mixmaster, donated by Butterfield Brothers for the occation. The moving picture "Time," loaned to the association for the evening by the Elgin Watch Company, was then shown and was very well received. Talks were given by H. E. Anderson, R. E. Drews, Harold Sabro and L. W. Hugett, after which the meeting adjourned in good followship."

Question Box

From Horology magazine, November, 1937

Question Box

Rusty Hairsprings

Editor HOROLOGY, 
Dear Sir:

Would you please send me information or print in your Question Box about care of hairsprings regarding rust. I believe this would be of interest to other horologists close to the sea coast as I am.

1. Is there any way to treat a hairspring so it will not rust when used in a damp climate?

2. Is there some way to save a hairspring that has one or two rust spots on it?

3. How would you clean and care for the hairspring of a watch that has been in water but was brought in before rust has started, say in a few hours?

Yours truly,

R. S. P.

Answer: There is no way to prevent a steel hairspring from rusting if it is subjected to dampness. Many modern watches are made with hairsprings of nonrusting material such as elinvar, nivarox, etc.

Very little can be done with a spring which has already started to rust. It may be carefully cleaned and heated in oil but in time thr rust will spread and completely ruin the spring. 

A watch which has been in water must be cleaned as soon as possible. If rust has not yet started no particular treatment other than a careful cleaning job is necessary. In such a case a watch cleaning machine will undoubtedly do a more thorough cleaning.

The Roskopf Watch Movement

I recently had the opportunity to work on a Roskopf watch movement. These are interesting pieces in that they have three wheel trains instead of the usual four. What would normally be an idle wheel between the hour and minute wheels on the dial side is instead directly driven by being attached to the bottom an over-sized mainspring barrel. This attached pair of wheels slips somewhat to allow a pin/stem setting mechanism, on this watch. The cannon pinion slips completely freely on a fixed center shaft. The three-wheel train governs the motion with a pin-pallet escapement. There is no fourth wheel, and no second hand.

Although this style of movement was widely copied in the mid to late 1800s I believe this one to be an actual Roskopf. In addition to other indicative details, it is completely handmade.

After the application of every trick in the book, and the fabrication of a single new screw, it's actually running quite nicely.

Defense Bondsl to J-B Employees

From The American Horologist magazine, January 1942

Defense Bondsl to J-B Employees

Word was received by us today through Mr. Max Jacoby, President of Jacoby-Bender, Inc., manufacturers of J-B Watch Bands that the company is distributing as a bonus to their employees over $15,000 in United States Defense Bonds. 

Lost to Matrimony

From American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, June 1946

Lost to Matrimony

Miss Catherine Raso, after six years of faithful service to the U. H. A. A., three of those years as Assistant General Manager to Orville R. Hagans, National Executive Secretary, will leave her position in July of this year, to become the wife of Mr. Sam Dionisio, who at the present time, is with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey of the Department of Commerce. Miss Raso and Mr. Dionisio will be married in Denver, Colorado, and plan to make their home somewhere in Maryland.

The profession, especially those who have worked with her personally, will miss Catherine Raso and her pleasant personality. It has come to know her as a good friend and a conscientious worker. Starting as office girl in 1940, she rapidly advanced to one position and then another, due to her intense interest in organizational and business affairs. During the three years from 1940 to 1943, she served first as Circulation Manager, then as Private Secretary to Mr. Hagans. In 1943, Miss Raso was promoted to the position of Assistant General Manager of all the Orville R. Hagans' Enterprises.


It is with regret that we see her leave us. However, it is our hope that she will be supremely happy. She deserves the best!

20,000

Here a nice video of what it takes to test a watch, a Valjoux chronograph in this case, for water resistance to 20,000 feet.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/24/watch-torture-tests-are-actually-quite-exciting/

Oh, and you can also shoot at it...