Your nicest antique tools or materials?

[mbwatch]

Last week I won an auction on some pocket watch timing washers for American watch sizes - I have a few sets already, but tend to buy them when I see a good set up for sale that I can get cheap because the sizes I'd use most are usually running low. I won these for just two dollars, and the one blurry photo didn't show the box. I am delighted that they came in this beautiful little wooden box, and how many watchmakers have owned this box over the past 80 or 100 years, keeping it together and in nice condition.

What are your favorite antique tools or materials?

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, mbwatch said:

Last week I won an auction on some pocket watch timing washers for American watch sizes - I have a few sets already, but tend to buy them when I see a good set up for sale that I can get cheap because the sizes I'd use most are usually running low. I won these for just two dollars, and the one blurry photo didn't show the box. I am delighted that they came in this beautiful little wooden box, and how many watchmakers have owned this box over the past 80 or 100 years, keeping it together and in nice condition.

What are your favorite antique tools or materials?

That's a lovely little finger jointed chest. For holding timing washers, it's quite extravagant .

[watchweasol]

But that was the time that quality and craftsmanship triumphed over profit. Today it would be a mass produced plastic box which would likley crack up in five years.

[Neverenoughwatches]

I was trying to work out the age of this. Tbh I dont think it's really old. The card inside does say Cabinet . The finger jointing and simple round over moulding on the lid is quite a modern combination, also the light colour wood, looks like pine. Look at the streaks patterns on the base, looks like Parana pine, there were loads of that stuff around when I started work, it's like rocking horse shit now. Also the nailed clasp, I've seen that clasp on Bergeon boxes. If I had to guess it would be  60s or 70s era.

No I take the pine back, looking inside the lid the grain is more visible.  Looks like Sepele , which is a cheap mahogany. Still say 60s ish.

I want to say homemade, but I can't make up my mind. I used to make lots of little jewellery boxes like this, I still have the finger jointing jig that I used. I either did a round over mould like this or a stepped ovolo. Mostly made from Mahogany and oak. If this was oak, you would know from the weight of it. Old stuff was nearly always oak, back in the day it was a solid almost indestructible and relatively cheap hardwood compared to the expensive, hard to work decorative woods like Elm and Walnut. What I really really love about this Michael, not so much the box because of my trade I've seen some beautifully made things over the years, but the glass tubes. Miniture test-tubes with that rim to hold them in place, I love em

Here's my contribution of antique tools that I bought. I didn't make the 4 piece self assembly stand, but I thought it was quite a clever little idea for holding the arbor vices and screw lanterns. I thought this fitted in with your suggested idea of antique tools, it's probably one of the best things I've bought from Ebay and wasn't even an auction.

I actually bought these plug gauges for just the boxes.....typical joiner

[mbwatch]

3 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Today it would be a mass produced plastic box

Plastic box at best. I'd expect an envelope of smaller envelopes or sleeves like my O-ring assortments.

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

What I really really love about this Michael, not so much the box because of my trade I've seen some beautifully made things over the years, but the glass tubes. Miniture test-tubes with that rim to hold them in place, I love em

That's interesting, because to me the little test tubes are unremarkable. Material cabinets for American watch parts were always packaged as rows and rows of glass tubes. So I have various sets of little tubes already (including all my other timing washer kits).  Example Elgin balance staffs cabinet:

Your plug gauge box is really nice, Rich.

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Also the nailed clasp, I've seen that clasp on Bergeon boxes. If I had to guess it would be  60s or 70s era.

Maybe I'll take it apart and look for the "Made in Taiwan" stamp in the bottom of the box.

[Neverenoughwatches]

43 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

That's interesting, because to me the little test tubes are unremarkable. 

It's more about the rim, i have timing washers in glass tubes but not with the top rims.

1 hour ago, mbwatch said:

Maybe I'll take it apart and look for the "Made in Taiwan" stamp in the bottom of the box.

Lol,  it looks better than that !   What is the insert that holds the tubes made from ? I have a sneaky suspicion the box was made for something else. You would usually see a brand label on the box .

[mbwatch]

57 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

It's more about the rim, i have timing washers in glass tubes but not with the top rims.

I see - I have some materials in tubes with rims and some without. But none of my other stuff is arranged vertically like this, always laying in some sort of tray.

 

57 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

What is the insert that holds the tubes made from ? I have a sneaky suspicion the box was made for something else. You would usually see a brand label on the box .

The insert feels like it is probably like thick balsa wood, glued in. It is not stained or finished in any way, supporting your theory. Which changes my thesis from "Wow old materials were so well packaged" (they still were) to "Wow someone loved these timing washers enough and kept them close enough at hand to make a custom box"

Edited April 10 by mbwatch

[nickelsilver]

I really like this old tool. They are still made (Horia makes one), but this one has seen some serious use and still works great. It's a filing block; the center portion can be adjusted in height with the knob at the bottom, and the rim is glass hard. It lets you file small parts very flat and parallel quickly. The frame goes in a vise and allows it to pivot to further help keep the file flat. I don't use it often, and when I do I never use the frame, I just hold it in my hand.

 

 

Edited April 10 by nickelsilver

[Neverenoughwatches]

34 minutes ago, nickelsilver said:

I really like this old tool. They are still made (Horia makes one), but this one has seen some serious use and still works great. It's a filing block; the center portion can be adjusted in height with the knob at the bottom, and the rim is glass hard. It lets you file small parts very flat and parallel quickly. The frame goes in a vise and allows it to pivot to further help keep the file flat. I don't use it often, and when I do I never use the frame, I just hold it in my hand.

 

 

Oooh I like that, the centre section that moves up and down....is that measurable on the knob, do you use a depth gauge on the top to set the height or just measure the piece you're working on as you go ?

[nickelsilver]

18 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Oooh I like that, the centre section that moves up and down....is that measurable on the knob, do you use a depth gauge on the top to set the height or just measure the piece you're working on as you go ?

The modern ones are graduated in 0.01mm on the knob, this one not. You learn quickly how much to turn by feel and can hit the thickness wanted- and yes, I use a vertical mic to check the thickness often.

Edited April 11 by nickelsilver

[nickelsilver]

Here's another old tool that doesn't get used much, but has saved me many hours and headaches when it has been.

 

This is a depthing tool, but quite special. The depth can be set (or measured) very precisely with the micrometer to the right, with a direct reading of the actual center distance between the wheel and pinion. It originally came with a set of the little plates in the slots to the right that take the pivots (first pic), most of mine are missing but they can be made when needed. The section that takes the right hand wheel can be adjusted in height. And it can be set on a profile projector if needed to check things. This one is marked Tripet, but most I have seen are marked Hauser. All of them were made by a small company in La Chaux de Fonds (can't think of the name now).

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:40 AM by nickelsilver

[VWatchie]

Yes, my "antique" tool (if it qualifies as such!?) really can't compare to the other examples in this thread, but I always feel happy when I get to bring it out and use it. I picture how its previous owner (or owners) lifted off hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of cannon pinions, and I hope it will continue to live on long after I've left this world.

[mbwatch]

25 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

cannon pinions

I keep holding out hope that the hype will die down (thanks, Very Popular Youtube Guy) and the typical prices of these will fall from $120 USD down below $50, and then I will try to buy one. Or maybe I'll spot one in a random unlabeled tool lot at auction that is well hidden enough that no one else notices it and I can get the lot at a low price.

(P.S. I blame Very Popular Youtube Guy because it's common on reddit to find hobbyists unveiling their brand new lot of essential starter screwdrivers, tweezers, and Bergeon case cushion, and including a vintage cannon pinion remover)

[nickelsilver]

2 hours ago, VWatchie said:

Yes, my "antique" tool (if it qualifies as such!?) really can't compare to the other examples in this thread, but I always feel happy when I get to bring it out and use it. I picture how its previous owner (or owners) lifted off hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of cannon pinions, and I hope it will continue to live on long after I've left this world.

I'm the only one with one of these that I know of here. I use it on every watch (that doesn't have the pin through the center wheel)- and it gets borrowed aaaalll the time. It's a shame the new ones are essentially worthless.

[VWatchie]

3 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

It's a shame the new ones are essentially worthless.

The first one I got was a brand new Bergeon, and to make a long story short, it was, essentially, a piece of cr-p! The vintage shown in the picture removes every (tiny or large) cannon pinion with ease and precision. I'll never get rid of it (unless my children are starving).

[Neverenoughwatches]

So this was something I bought a few years ago. I've always been interested in how hairsprings work, and pretty good at the manipulation of them from day one, mostly because I have rock steady hands and very good dexterity. Watching guys hands on the UTube flutter around when working on hairsprings.... makes me wonder whats going on ? I may be just very lucky in that respect. This isn't the better, more expensive Luthy, but it works lovely. I have only used it once to check a hairspring's frequency, something unnecessary, as a timing machine can do just that, but it was accurate compared against. I guess these things were a timesaver, after pinning a new hairspring to a collet, something I might never do, but probably will

Edited 7 hours ago by Neverenoughwatches

[praezis]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

So this was something I bought a few years ago.

Nice !

Maybe less elaborate than a Luthy but surely equal useful.

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

 I have only used it once …

Cause you lack my Electronic Box?

 
Frank

[Neverenoughwatches]

41 minutes ago, praezis said:

Nice !

Maybe less elaborate than a Luthy but surely equal useful.

Cause you lack my Electronic Box?

 
Frank

Interesting Frank, makes it much more useful, since I only have the one master balance for 18,000.  Can I find more details about it somewhere? 

[mbwatch]

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

So this was something I bought a few years ago.

Ooooh I actually needed one of those last night. I finished assembling an 1892 Elgin watch to find it is running faster than my timegrapher can register, and I suspect it is the wrong hairspring.

[praezis]

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Can I find more details about it somewhere? 

You have a PM.

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, mbwatch said:

Ooooh I actually needed one of those last night. I finished assembling an 1892 Elgin watch to find it is running faster than my timegrapher can register, and I suspect it is the wrong hairspring.

That was the intial reason I used mine the one time, timegrapher wouldn't pick up a signal, but it turned out to be something else.

For fairly rare events like this, you're probably better off using Nicklesilver's method, or use an accurate pocket watch to match the oscillations up to. I think the tool is best suited to folk that time balances regularly, as would have been the case years ago. Maybe for small companies that let out their hairspring timing services, that didn't have the movement to work with.

At the end of the day you already have the perfect timing device....the actual movement. The tool's convenience merely saves you the time and effort of unpinning and repinning the hairspring to the stud a few times to get it right. 

Providing a " Prior Idiot " hasn't fitted incorrect train wheels