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DIY makers who build their own watches
- tgb 9y agoI looked into this a year or so ago with the idea of making my own mechanical watch movement, not just a kit watch. I could only find one source of a hobbyist doing this themselves: https://ashtonwatch.com/2012/01/04/its-alive-and-a-bit-of-a-monster/ https://ashtonwatch.com/2012/01/04/its-alive-and-a-bit-of-a-...
- grp 9y agoIt's still a work in progress but there is an initiative at openmovement: https://www.openmovement.org/?konzept https://www.openmovement.org/?konzept I'm a watchmaking engineer and I know two people on the project, I'll be pleased to tell them any feedback. By the way the watch you linked is a clone of Unitas 6497, the work is awesome nonetheless.
- justinclift 9y agoThis is the English link, as it seems to default to German: https://www.openmovement.org/?konzept&lang=en https://www.openmovement.org/?konzept&lang=en That aside, this looks pretty nifty. :)
- supergirl 9y agole MAKER
- diego_moita 9y agoAfter the sad end of Pebble I've dreaming of, someday, making my own smartwatch. All the other existing smartwatches don't compare to Pebble's simplicity and robustness. The nRF52840[0] seems to be a very interesting chip for this use, with lots of resources and low power consumption. An e-paper display[1] seems also quite interesting since its power requirements are so low. Do you know any interesting project on DIY smartwatches? [0] https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/nRF52840 https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/nRF52840 [1] https://eink.com/product.html?type=productdetail&id=14 https://eink.com/product.html?type=productdetail&id=14
- wepple 9y agoThis may not be your idea of a smart watch, but is a lot of fun and has cool hardware: https://goodwatch.org/posts/introducing-the-goodwatch/ https://goodwatch.org/posts/introducing-the-goodwatch/
- hengheng 9y agoePaper usually dies around freezing temperatures, and you won't be able to safely insulate it unless you mount it on the inside close to your wrist. Transflective LCDs are pretty good though.
- EarthIsHome 9y agoAs a watch enthusiast, I've wanted to build my own watch in the past. However, as I got deeper into watches, I realized I could never really make the watch my own creation unless I developed and manufactured the movement myself. Otherwise, I'll be dressing up a generic ETA movement [0] with a personal dial, hands, bezel, etc. This is what most of these DIY watches are. With that said, ETA movements are some of the most solid movements out there with decades of support. They're also capabale of COSC [1] chronometer timekeeping if adjusted properly. For me, the DIY magic dies with the movement because I'm limited to the dimensions of the ETA movement. It's the heart of the watch. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_Movements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_Movements [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSC
- jacquesm 9y ago> I realized I could never really make the watch my own creation unless I developed and manufactured the movement myself. Exactly. But clocks are definitely doable and once you have mastered clocks who knows, you just might be able to use your experience and graduate to a watch small enough to be worn. The good news is that there isn't anything that 18th century clockmakers knew that hasn't been documented somewhere. This guy has the right idea and has some interesting movement workarounds for tools he could not afford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1CaZaNSrTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1CaZaNSrTM It's unconventional but it is an actual watch movement. Far more impressed with that than the generic movements in some case.
- grp 9y agoBefore diving into wristwatch movements, a step by marine clocks could be interesting and fun too!
- jacquesm 9y agoIt's funny how when you start tracing clock making you end up reliving pretty much all of the industrial revolution. Those people were really artists improving their products and their tools at every step and their heritage is still alive today. The watchmaking/clockmaking industry trained a whole generation of precision machinists which led to a revolution in mechanics, toys, calculating machines and ultimately set the stage for worldwide navigation and the industrial revolution.
- hownottowrite 9y agoReminds me of Dan Spitz (Anthrax lead guitarist) who left back in the 90s to become one of the watchmakers in the world: https://vimeo.com/161489498 https://vimeo.com/161489498
- jacquesm 9y agoThat's got as much to do with watchmaking as putting decals on your car has to do with engine fabrication. If you want to make watches for real you should start by making clocks and work your way down in size as you get more experienced. It will likely take you a lifetime to master the skills unless you can find a watchmaker to train with (and not a movement packager).
- anfractuosity 9y agoI don't know anything about watch making, I'm just wondering are the gears etc. these days mainly milled with a CNC machine? I assume there's a lot of skill in assembling as well. I'm very curious how they made gears etc. say a 100 years ago too considering they're so tiny.
- grp 9y agoIt depends of the quantity you need, but there is some that use stamping to make gears. But you can also saw the profile manually. Assembling is hard but doable, the hardest part is the adjustment!
- anfractuosity 9y agoInteresting! I'd not thought you could make them by stamping.
- zokier 9y ago> But you can also saw the profile manually. That is something I've wondered; until what scale is that really feasible? Because fancy indexing lathes, gear cutters and CNCs bring in kinda high barrier to entry, but a jewelers saw (presumably?) and a vise are far more approachable for a hobbyist.
- Rapzid 9y agoIIRC tools for making time pieces were the most precise of their time; custom ordered and very expensive. The history of the persuit of time keeping accuracy, and its important to much of modern civilization, is very interesting IMHO.
- colin353 9y agoHey, that's my hobby! Here's my most recent watch: https://imgur.com/gallery/uFxcK https://imgur.com/gallery/uFxcK
- justinclift 9y agoExtremely awesome walk through. :) Two questions, if that's ok? * What was the bad experience that caused you to stop using a parting tool? * What sort of mill are you using? (kind of thinking a 4th/5th axis being added might help too) :D
- colin353 9y agoThanks! I've had a few parting tools explode on me before, haha, which had left me afraid of it. I'm using a bridgeport for most manual stuff and a CNC converted ACRA mill for the CNC work. I don't do that much CNC, since manual is a lot faster in my experience, so three axes is plenty for me.
- libdjml 9y agoThis is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time. Do you work in a machine shop to have access to that type of tooling?
- sehugg 9y agoThis reminded me of the book "Longitude", a tale of truly epic clock-making: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)
- pacaro 9y agoIt’s a good book. The story is more nuanced than people often realize. Most definitely Harrison was treated poorly, however, while he created chronometers that met the latter of the challenge, he didn’t really help with this spirit of the problem. A true solution needed a mass produced chronometer. It’s also often misrepresented that he was the person who solved the “how do you measure your longitude“ problem. It was well understood that you needed to be able to accurately measure the difference between local time and time at a known meridian. The questions where about how to accurately and practically measure that.
- jimmies 9y agoClocks and watches, like old/homebrew computers, are very cool. They are hard but not too hard to the point that an amateur can't do it. I always envy the amount of ingenuity someone has that went into making a watch. There is an exceptionally good podcast about a vintage clock restorer's life I listened to last year called Shit Town. It describes how the life of someone so brilliant, so smart could be so bizarrely and tragically dysfunctional. I think the story rung a bell to myself, and I couldn't be more sympathetic after listening to it. It has to be my favorite podcast of all time.
- Hasz 9y agoI think a low cost EDM would be perfect for fabricating small watch parts. Stupid accurate, no forces on the cutting head, could easily be desktop sized (at least for a work area of a few cm) and very quiet. Can only cut metal, but that's a pretty decent compromise I think.
- anfractuosity 9y agoI just found https://www.geartechnology.com/issues/0610x/edm.pdf https://www.geartechnology.com/issues/0610x/edm.pdf which seems to confirm that EDM has been used for watch gears - "Wire EDM can be used for micro- machining applications, including the gears found in watches" Do you know of any low cost EDM machines out of interest?
- Hasz 9y agoI've actually been playing around with designing one, but lack the free time to do so. I have a couple of Fusion360 models set up with commercially available parts, but I don't have a physical prototype yet. I'm planning on setting one up this summer. I know of nothing available commercially at a reasonable price and size.
- neverartful 9y agoThe article and this thread is simply amazing to me! I had no idea that were so many who are doing this. I've always had a fascination for clocks of all kinds. Building your own mechanical watch from scratch seems like it would be one of the ultimate achievements for a hobbyist. And here I am trying to decide whether I should build shelves in the garage myself, pay someone else to build them, or buy shelves at Home Depot. Downright embarrassing to mention in a thread like this.