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  • #48447
    jimk4131
    Participant

      Just thought that I’d say Hi to everyone on here.I bought Bob’s course back in 2009 and just decided to come on to the forum here.I live in Vero Beach,Florida and enjoy working on old american pocket watches.I have repaired one clock,but mainly I like old Elgin,Illinois,Walthams and so on.My next big purchase will be a lathe.I always just buy balance staffs and would like to try my hand at making some staffs.Anyway,this is me,and I hope to learn as well as spread what little knowledge I have here.

      #52557
      david pierce
      Participant

        Jimk,
        If you scan back through this and previous forums you will find a lot of information on various watch tools including lathes.
        david

        #52558
        Bob Tascione
        Moderator

          Welcome to the forum JimK!!!
          I see that David already jumped in here. If he see’s the word “Lathe” anywhere he’s interested and ready to help. Talking with David on the phone I’ve come to realize that he’s an authority on them and has decorated his entire house with them since the ’70s!! :D He’s the guy I call when I have questions about lathes so if you need any help or advise on what to purchase, tooling, collet types, you name it, and what to check before purchase please post them up here so we can keep him busy!

          Good to see you up here JimK!

          Bob

          #52559
          digitaltripper
          Participant

            Welcome to the forums JimK !! One of the BEST investments I’ve made thus far is a lathe. I think the first best investment would be Bob’s courses which took ALLOT of mystery out of clock and watch repair and lathe work!! Again welcome to the forums!!!

            Jim B
            Cedar Ridge CA.

            #52560
            david pierce
            Participant

              Bob,
              As long as you brought up the subject, the lathe I was trying to think about was a Hardinge HLV Super Precision Lathe. It can run from 125 rpm up to 3000 rpm, has a spindle runout of no more than .000025 inches, weighs 2,250 pounds, has a 5hp 3 phase motor and costs $52,000.00 dollars. In my view it is far and away the finest lathe ever made. I used to cut a lot of bearing journals and with this lathe I could just dial the cutter in and count on the cut being within 1/10,000 of and inch. When I would do the same job on other lathes I would have to use emery paper to achieve a similar degree of precision. You could put a steel rod in this thing and machine it down to the diameter of a sewing needle without an end or follower support. For some reason the watch trade seems to favor the Schaublin for a toolroom size lathe. The Schaublin is very nice but the Hardinge is a better machine. After seeing the Swiss Machines at the Chicago tool show that actually make watch parts I was suprised that they were large heavy machines. There was one lathe that had a huge coil of wire feeding into the back of the machine and it would turn and spit out tiny watch pivots into a basket every few seconds. The lathe was at least the size of a small car.
              david

              #52561
              jimk4131
              Participant

                @digitaltripper wrote:

                Welcome to the forums JimK !! One of the BEST investments I’ve made thus far is a lathe. I think the first best investment would be Bob’s courses which took ALLOT of mystery out of clock and watch repair and lathe work!! Again welcome to the forums!!!

                Jim B
                Cedar Ridge CA.

                I agree that Bob’s course is by far the best investment.I have had the DVDs for 4 years now and have done a few watches but am ready to start making some real money with this.What I have been doing is basically buy a watch,usually running,but not always,then I do a complete restoration of the watch,including replating the case if necessary.Then I put it up on eBay and sell it.I have done very well and have always made a very good profit,but never really made it into doing it full time.I run a t-shirt screen printing shop,and that only takes about 30-60 minutes per day and is fairly good money.But I figured that if I did the watches full time I would do very well.I make on average of $75-$400 per watch,depending on what it is.I have a bunch that I am doing for a friend for basically cost of parts,because these watches are his retirement fund.I do have a couple of clocks that I want to do,but have never really messed with them yet.It’s funny you just mention pocket watches or old clocks and there will be someone who says “I have an old ____,and I was thinking of getting it fixed.” I have been told that there is no money in this,but I have been doing quite well at it.I wish I had taken photos of the watches that I have done,they all turned out beautiful,and took alot less time than one might think by looking at them.But like I said,I want to try out a lathe to make balance staffs etc. on it.It would just be so much easier to do it myself and not have to search around and sometimes come up emptyhanded.

                #52562
                jimk4131
                Participant

                  @digitaltripper wrote:

                  Welcome to the forums JimK !! One of the BEST investments I’ve made thus far is a lathe. I think the first best investment would be Bob’s courses which took ALLOT of mystery out of clock and watch repair and lathe work!! Again welcome to the forums!!!

                  Jim B
                  Cedar Ridge CA.

                  I agree that Bob’s course is by far the best investment.I have had the DVDs for 4 years now and have done a few watches but am ready to start making some real money with this.What I have been doing is basically buy a watch,usually running,but not always,then I do a complete restoration of the watch,including replating the case if necessary.Then I put it up on eBay and sell it.I have done very well and have always made a very good profit,but never really made it into doing it full time.I run a t-shirt screen printing shop,and that only takes about 30-60 minutes per day and is fairly good money.But I figured that if I did the watches full time I would do very well.I make on average of $75-$400 per watch,depending on what it is.I have a bunch that I am doing for a friend for basically cost of parts,because these watches are his retirement fund.I do have a couple of clocks that I want to do,but have never really messed with them yet.It’s funny you just mention pocket watches or old clocks and there will be someone who says “I have an old ____,and I was thinking of getting it fixed.” I have been told that there is no money in this,but I have been doing quite well at it.I wish I had taken photos of the watches that I have done,they all turned out beautiful,and took alot less time than one might think by looking at them.But like I said,I want to try out a lathe to make balance staffs etc. on it.It would just be so much easier to do it myself and not have to search around and sometimes come up emptyhanded.

                  #52563
                  jimk4131
                  Participant

                    David,when I finally do get a lathe,I am sure that I will have a million questions for you.I just hope you won’t mind.

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