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I have a question while I'm watching this video: How thick are those gears? (Not necessarily those very gears but gears typically used in watches.) I have exp

I have a question while I'm watching this video: How thick are those gears? (Not necessarily those very gears but gears typically used in watches.) I have experience cutting 0.3mm and 0.1mm brass. The second is just wobbling everywhere like a reed in the wind, while those gears seems to be solid.

Werewolf255 4y ago
I've just gotten into this hobby and the pivots on these watches are around the 0.01mm range with the individual teeth coming in around that size too. So might be that 0.1mm brass cutting could do the trick, if you finesse it right. From what I've been reading/watching, lots of classical jewelry education focused on learning how to manufacture extremely precise tools to shape, mill, and manipulate various materials. I had extremely limited success replicating a gear using a 0.3mm FDM Cartesian 3d printer, but even then I had to manually shave off every single tooth under a loupe.
KaiserPro 4y ago
Those ones are pretty thick, by watch standards, and the teeth aren't the smallest. I think from memory the thickness is about 0.25mm, but I would need to get the calipers out when I get home. Accutron is where the really small engineering comes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugX5zb1rG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugX5zb1rG8 the wheel is about 25mm across (I think) but you can't really see the teeth with the naked eye. (https://www.watchdoctor.biz/accutron/ https://www.watchdoctor.biz/accutron/ has more details) but the level of accuracy and detail needed to machine that far outweighs the stuff that rolex do even now. These index wheels were mass produced, and I still don't know how they did it.
- krisoft 4y ago
  Thank you for your kind answer . Both from you and werewolf255. > These index wheels were mass produced, and I still don't know how they did it. Fascinating. My guess would be some form of etching process. But that would make it some form of MEMS years before the first commonly recognised MEMS components.

Werewolf255 4y ago

I've just gotten into this hobby and the pivots on these watches are around the 0.01mm range with the individual teeth coming in around that size too. So might be that 0.1mm brass cutting could do the trick, if you finesse it right. From what I've been reading/watching, lots of classical jewelry education focused on learning how to manufacture extremely precise tools to shape, mill, and manipulate various materials. I had extremely limited success replicating a gear using a 0.3mm FDM Cartesian 3d printer, but even then I had to manually shave off every single tooth under a loupe.

KaiserPro 4y ago

Those ones are pretty thick, by watch standards, and the teeth aren't the smallest. I think from memory the thickness is about 0.25mm, but I would need to get the calipers out when I get home. Accutron is where the really small engineering comes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugX5zb1rG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugX5zb1rG8 the wheel is about 25mm across (I think) but you can't really see the teeth with the naked eye. (https://www.watchdoctor.biz/accutron/ https://www.watchdoctor.biz/accutron/ has more details) but the level of accuracy and detail needed to machine that far outweighs the stuff that rolex do even now. These index wheels were mass produced, and I still don't know how they did it.

krisoft 4y ago
Thank you for your kind answer . Both from you and werewolf255. > These index wheels were mass produced, and I still don't know how they did it. Fascinating. My guess would be some form of etching process. But that would make it some form of MEMS years before the first commonly recognised MEMS components.