Pocket watch with cylinder escapement…

[pkamargo]

Hello all!

I just received a very old small pocket watch to check the chances of get it running again.

It is an unsigned movement, and the dial has some arrow like symbols instead of roman or arabic numbers.

Problem is that it is a cylinder type escapement, but the balance staff is completely damaged. Top pivot and the whole cylinder part broken. Hairspring is OK, for some miracle… Escape wheel is OK too.

Well, I think there’s no way to recover the broken staff… But where to find an exact replacement?

Or… How to make such part from scratch?

(Maybe will post some images later.)

[arutha]

If you do a bit of a search you should be able to find someone who can cut you a new cylinder. There are not many people good enough to do this these days, it is something I am going to do in the near future. Bob Tascione is just such a guy but wether he is in a position to or not I couldnt say. It all depends on how badly the customer wants the watch running and how much they are willing to spend. If you have a watch makers lathe why dont you give it a try? Its not impossible but will take patience and probably a few attempts but it can be done.
Saunier’s Treatise on Modern Horology is an amazing book and tells you how to cut a new cylinder, its not a cheap book but is like an encyclopedia on watchmaking and maybe some of the other members can suggest books that cover cylinder making? I would very much be interested in how this turns out.
Paul.

[willofiam]

Hey, thats fantastic , I mean just this mourning I was looking up how to address the cylinder escapement, here is a good link I found, http://www.timepieceshoppe.com/cylinder_restor3.html not a full course on it but gives a good overview, plus my next pocket watch for myself has a cylinder with bad pivots and oh how exciting, I cant wait to get to it. William

[pkamargo]

Here are some images of the watch…

[arutha]

I think that is the first cylinder pocket watch I have seen. Thanks for posting the pics. Have you had any luck finding someone to do the cylinder or are you going to try one yourself?

[pkamargo]

Arutha, I don’t think I’ll find someone to do this service…

I was tempted to try making it, but it is SO small! Cylinder diameter is 0.8mm. I already found an article describing how it is made. But I still have questions:
-I don’t have the broken part of the staff, how can I measure the precise height the staff must be?
-What kind of tool to use to cut the cylinder? The article I read mentioned a file, but where to get such a small one? It is a very small cut, at this moment I do not have any tool for this.

Now, about the watch dial… Does anybody know where in the world people write numbers like that?

[arutha]

Ask Bob if he will do it or at least tell you how

[peterclare]

You may want out check our ebay for a replacement as they come up reasonably often. I’ve been able to find cylinders complete with the pivot plugs, plugs, and bare cylinders.

You would need the dimension though and may have to wait a while.

I’d have a dig through mine but they are all somewhere in storage at the moment as we are in the middle of selling our house and moving to the countryside.

Regrads

Peter

[pkamargo]

OK, as Peter sugested -thank you!- I searched ebay and got a pack of cylinder escapements – ‘various sizes’. Hope any of them will fit… Really a shot in the dark… 🙄

I also ordered a set of ‘escapement files’. I think these are small enough to work with such small part… will know when they arrive.

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