Regulator Pins

[wingman]

I’m finishing up a Waltham 18 17j watch. I noticed that the regulator pins grip the hairspring fairly tightly near the tip of the pins. Is this correct to allow proper regulation? I have not tried moving the regulator arm because I want to see if the watch is close regulating correctly first.

Steve

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Steve,
The pins shouldn’t pinch the hairspring at all. You want to have a very small space for the hairspring to vibrate in, The spring should move back and forth in this space and should make contact with both pins but only one pin at a time. The pins should also be straight and not at an angle. If you go into the Ultra (or Watch) course and then scroll down and click on the orange link that says ‘Timing’ you’ll see a few diagrams about half way down the page on how the pins should be shaped.
Hope this helps Steve,

Enjoy,
Bob

[wingman]

Thanks Bob
Oops. I should have gone there first. I can see its time for a “refresher”.

I’m having a bit of a problem in that the over coil stays tight to the inside pin. I will try bending the outside pin as per the diagram to close the gap. I really don’t want to bend the overcoil so I may see how close it regulates in this manner.

Are you still in the San Carlos area?

Steve

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Steve,
Please let us know how things turn out.
Thanks for asking. The boat is still down in La Paz but we’ve been at the house in Northern Baja for about 15 months now.

Take care and good luck with that hairspring!
Bob

[Author]

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