Reply To: Hairspring vibrator?

[arutha]

As David states I would imagine that the watches are produced to known tollerances, when they are tested I would think a human will pull out any showing inaccurate time keeping and they will then probably just swith out the balance rather than pay someone to sit there adjusting to get them right. The few watchmakers I have met dont use a vibrating tool, they just measure the thickness of the hairspring and count the coils to put in a replacement. This is then checked on a watch timing machine. If the hairspring is missing altogether then you guess on the correct spring and try it on the timing machine, if the spring is too strong the watch will run way to fast etc so you would then put a thinner spring in.
I would imagine a vibrating tool would save some time but you would have to weigh up the cost against how often it would need to be used. Most bent hairsprings can be straightened out, I have now done quite a few and you would be quite suprised what can be sorted. The next time I do one I will post up some pictures.
Paul.