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Posted
22 hours ago, Zendoc said:

What tips can folks give me to work out in which direction I’ll need to turn the collet once I’ve taken the balance out of the movement?

Try removing the pallet fork and look to center the impulse jewel between the banking pins or the fork bridge. Carefully rotate the balance slightly and observe where it returns to rest and if it not centered.

If the jewel isn’t centered I think about the relationship of the stud to the rim of the balance wheel: Carefully turn the wheel to center the impulse jewel and try to observe how far the rim moves in relation to the stud. With Swiss movements sometimes the factory placed a faint small dot on the rim of the balance to indicate where to align the stud. I’ve been able to zero a few on the first try by centering the stud on the mark but it may just assist in telling you the direction yo need to turn.

 

Posted
1 hour ago, Zendoc said:

Yep, the video is very clear, but it supposes you have the movement disassembled enough to enable a very clear view of the position of the impulse pin in relation to the banking pins.  And even then, I imagine that eyeballing the out-of-centre position  would become very difficult as the beat error becomes smaller?  

I’m starting to see that trial and error might be the easiest/quickest way to work out which way to turn the collet - might just mean you need to take the balance out of the movement one more time if you get the direction wrong on the first attempt. It’s an iterative process anyway, so one more time isn’t too onerous. 

For me up to now it has always been this way. Its good to check the pin positioning before reassembly of the movement.  Its possible to get it close enough this way, within 0.5 - 1 ms.

  • Like 2
Posted
11 hours ago, VWatchie said:

would expect a higher amplitude and we can't get enough of that, can we?

I often observe improved amplitude after adjustment…

  • Like 1
Posted

I did the math meanwhile:

@Jon, I have to apologize for my harsh response!

Yes, your math does not correctly convert time to angle of a part of a swing. But funny enough neglected facts compensate each other here and the result is in the ballpark, sufficient precise to work with (in this limited  range around middle position).

@Zendoc I have no reliable and easy method in which direction to turn the collet. If a coarse error, I observe the impulse jewel as described and turn the collet the same direction the jewel is off the center. 
With small errors I am wrong every 2nd case ☹️.

The dot on the balance rim is reliable only with untouched units, but who knows? Changed staff or removed/mounted roller makes this dot worthless.

Frank

  • Like 2
Posted
18 hours ago, Nucejoe said:

Nickelsilver showed this tool, think he said is a propertiertory tool. Nice to have one ! 

There was one for sale on eBay recently for £280

1 hour ago, praezis said:

Yes, your math does not correctly convert time to angle of a part of a swing. But funny enough neglected facts compensate each other here and the result is in the ballpark, sufficient precise to work with (in this limited  range around middle position)

Thanks, it's far from precise, but it's close to give an idea how many degrees to turn the collet. 

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