First Main Spring

[pclfal62]

OK, I feel really silly posting this, but that’s what this forum is for correct? As I had mentioned before in another post, this is all brand new to me. I purchased a few cheap and old movements, one of them was new but I got for like ten dollars. I took it apart, great! followed the procedures I learned. I put it back together and even used my new Ollie-Baker winder. I got all back together, correctly!! so I did it again to practice. but this time I could not get the mainspring to stay attached to the nub on the gear. keeps popping out and will not let me wind up in the winder. So now I have a mainspring stuck in a u clamp. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Like is there a safe way to get it out of the U clamp. If I do get it out, is there anything I could do to the end of the spring to make sure it attaches to the nub on the gear?

Thanks.

[willofiam]

Hey pclfal62, check to see that you are putting the mainspring on the right way, I once tried and tried to get it to catch then I realized I had it on wrong 🙄 lesson learned right? If you have a mainspring in a clamp you can grasp the mainspring with your hand and control the release while taking the clamp off, 😯 USE CAUTION 😯 , 😯 USE GLOVES 😯 , :geek: EYE PROTECTION :ugeek: , make sure you are comfortable doing it before doing it. some guys will use a heavy cloth or leather to wrap around it first so if you do slip it will be captured and not harm you. If it is a larger mainspring I would not do this as it could take alot of strength to control the release. By all means be careful, getting a mainspring in the face wont be fun, even a small one, always be aware of where your head and fingers are thinking of a potential break when dealing with these. Have fun, William
P.S. good idea to practice and great job on your first disassemble/reassembly, congrats!!!!

[mahlon]

Pclfal62, As William said I would check to see that you are winding the right direction first. It is not as hard to do as you think been there and done that several times. If you are winding the right direction, you may have to bend the end of the spring just a bit. Also once you are ready to wind hold a little pressure on the spring, so that the nub has a chance to hook the end. Once you start winding, the tension on the spring should hold it there Mahlon

[arutha]

As Mahlon has stated it is not unusual to have to bend the inner coil of the mainspring to get a tight fit on the arbor, this is quite common as both ends of the mainspring are left soft so they will bend much easier. If the inner coil has been opened slightly you will have more trouble getting the tang on the barrel arbor to catch when you try to wind it up again. use a pair of fine pliers and bend that inner coil back in tighter but make sure you keep it round as you can have even more of a problem if you bend that first coil out of shape.
Good luck,
Paul.

[pclfal62]

I did try and wind both ways, I think it was wrong the first time. Now I think the end is a little mishapen, but I will try again, maybe try and make it rounder to see if it will catch.

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

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