DIY mainspring winder barrel sleeve advice

[Bearman]

Good evening,

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. I'm in the process of building (attempting) a mainspring barrel removal device. The challenge being to build it as cheap and safe as possible.

I've looked for ready made mainspring barrel sleeve's The ones I've found are really expensive and I can't really justify the cost. I've read about hole saws with the teeth ground down and using copper pipe adaptors being used. Are either of these practical and safe? If they are does anyone have details of the sizes they used? 

Here's a couple of photos of the progress so far. Still need to determine the size of the axle which is dependent on the solution for the sleeves. 

 

I need to rebuild the clamp as I'm not happy with the holes aren't straight and I'll to get some wing nuts

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

[watchweasol]

Hi.  What you are attempting  has already been done by may from the plans put forward by Joe Collins.  If you look up mainspring winder by Joe Collins you may still be able to get hold of the plans and other information;.  Initiall builds for 400 day clocks they have bee adapted for all types of clocks except fusee clocks which have a very powerful spring.

i have built  two of these and another in metal under construction as time permits. Regarding the spring retainers , I tried several DIY versions but in the end bough5 ready made ones as they are quite strong.

 

[oldhippy]

watchweasol, have you tried yours with those large powerful fusee springs? 

[Dell]

17 hours ago, Bearman said:

Good evening,

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. I'm in the process of building (attempting) a mainspring barrel removal device. The challenge being to build it as cheap and safe as possible.

I've looked for ready made mainspring barrel sleeve's The ones I've found are really expensive and I can't really justify the cost. I've read about hole saws with the teeth ground down and using copper pipe adaptors being used. Are either of these practical and safe? If they are does anyone have details of the sizes they used? 

Here's a couple of photos of the progress so far. Still need to determine the size of the axle which is dependent on the solution for the sleeves. 

 

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

I have a set of unused ones that I would sell they owe me £40 so that plus postage if interested I will post pictures.

Dell

Edited September 15, 2024 by Dell
Posted by mistake

[Bearman]

Thanks Watchweasol. Good to hear feedback on the sleeves, and your confirming my thoughts as to purchasing ready made ones.

I've seen a number of videos of varying quality and trawled the interweb, again seeing similar but not a whole lot on the type of sleeve. The Joe Collins lead did bring up a picture of a winder using a hole saw, I may go down this route yet.

I'm not tackling 400 day or Fusee springs, just the ones on my Westminster chime Haller movement.

Dell, thanks for the offer if you have any pictures and dimensions that would be most useful.

Thanks both. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

23 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Hi.  What you are attempting  has already been done by may from the plans put forward by Joe Collins.  If you look up mainspring winder by Joe Collins you may still be able to get hold of the plans and other information;.  Initiall builds for 400 day clocks they have bee adapted for all types of clocks except fusee clocks which have a very powerful spring.

i have built  two of these and another in metal under construction as time permits. Regarding the spring retainers , I tried several DIY versions but in the end bough5 ready made ones as they are quite strong.

 

So good to hear from you WW , not seen you around for a while. Hope you are doing ok  'me ol mucker'

[watchweasol]

3 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

So good to hear from you WW , not seen you around for a while. Hope you are doing ok  'me ol mucker'

Hi @Neverenoughwatches still here been a bit busy, got problems with a regulator getting the beat right the escapement jewels ( both steel) are a different shape on the face . I can get it running but I am not happy.  All ok here doingg re hab and the like.  How’s your Mum getting along well I hope.

Hi @oldhippy  not tried them on a fusee I think that would be pushing it to its limits. Although the one I made is well screwed together and it’s  mahogany. If well bolted to the bench I guess it would cope, that’s why the mk3 version is still under construction.

you may have read my regulator problem with the pallets, I will post a picture of them for your perusal, I have not seen any like this before so your opinion would be gratefully received.  I will get on the job tomorrow.

[oldhippy]

Sounds interesting. Always wear a good pair of thick gloves with mainsprings.

[Dell]

Mainspring sleeves 50-45-40-38-35-32-28-22mmall sizes appropriate.

Dell

[AndyGSi]

A set from cousins aren't that expensive even when you add the VAT.

[watchweasol]

Cousins set are about half the price I paid but that was sometime ago. And they are quite thick and capable of withstanding a fair amount of spring power.

[Bearman]

Thanks all, I've been checking on and off the Cousins website amongst others for months now and they were never in stock or really expensive. Well what do you know.