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Steve,
I have not seen a lot of activity on these posts and I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because of summer or perhaps a lot of people just are not interested. I spent close to 30 years of my life in manufacturing and have a small machine shop of my own. Almost all of the parts we made over the years were much larger and heavier than watch parts. The smallness of watch parts has an appeal to me, mostly due to space limitations, however, as I get older, I do not enjoy lifting heavy parts anymore. For example a 175 pound lathe chuck, a 75 pound vice, a 350 pound shaft and so on. I am quite new to watches but I am reading some books about watch repair that I ordered off of Ebay.
The machining methods that Bob Tascione uses are somewhat unfamilar to me. Most of the parts I made in the past were made to numbers. The methods of making watch parts, at least on a repair level, seem to be more art than science. When you look at a watchmakers lathe with a tool rest there aren’t any dials. To me this means that a part can be made to fit another part such as a pivot to a jewel but it may not be interchangable in another similar watch. I certainly have a lot to learn.
Recently I took an old pocket watch apart and it was missing a mainspring. I am going to attempt to make a new one. I could probably hunt one down from a supplier but I want the learning experience. Since I do not have a worn spring to go on I had to calculate the dimensions. If I am correct the spring should be .006 inches thick and 23 inches long. I will let you know how it comes out.
David