Reply To: New Mill

Tom,
There are tools and other products that will not function without the extreme precision that a jig bore can deliver if used properly. One example would be a stamping die with multiple punches. If the punch holes and die holes are not precisely sized and located the die set may not stamp properly or it could jam and break the punches. The good news is this level of precision is NOT necessary to produce a properly functioning watch. In the video the operator put a drill bit into the machine and drilled some holes. In contrast, a high precision hole would be center drilled, drilled, bored with a boreing head and single lip cutter, reamed and then sometimes lapped. In some cases the clearance between a punch and die could be less than .001 inches. if the hole is off by a few ten thousandths there will be a problem. As far as a watch pilar plate is concerned, when a pivot is placed into a jewel hole and flops over 5 degrees, it is and acceptable hole. Watches and clocks were made for many years by scribing lines and hand drilling the holes with home made spade drills and bow powered drilling machines. Your HF milling machine and a couple of dial indicators to position the bed will come very close to producing the work that the Hauser can do and can certainly do better than you could do with scribed lines and hand tools.
david