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Mechanical Watch: Exploded View
- vorgol 1y agoYou might also find the open source mechanical Swiss watch movement interesting: https://openmovement.org/ https://openmovement.org/
- jasonjmcghee 1y agoThese look incredible. I'm guessing there are museums that would love display these. Also https://ciechanow.ski/ https://ciechanow.ski/ is an absolute inspiration.
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- kiru_io 1y agoThis is such a cool idea! You could potentially sell this or contact some watchmakers!
- cjaackie 1y agoThis is a labor of love, there’s no way the 15+ hours would be worth it commercially.I think it’s cool and if you start looking at things like this as a business idea they get unfun really fast.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- charcircuit 1y agoThere is currently no competition, so he gets to set the price.
- crazygringo 1y agoExcept that above a certain price, demand falls to zero. The question is whether there is any overlap at all where the price would be high enough to motivate supply (worth it to him) but low enough that there's still demand (worth buying). Also factoring in the cost of marketing, since potential buyers don't just automatically find you. There are a huge number of business ideas where there is no overlap at all. Finding an overlap even without competition is hard enough. (Then add competition and it gets even harder, of course.)
- mholm 1y agoI'd wager OP will get some DMs from people willing to pay $1k+ for this sort of thing. Watch people can be very spendy, especially for something unique like this.
- fellerts 1y agoNothing of the sort has happened yet.
- mholm 1y agoThat's a shame, might just have to circulate in front of the right people.
- shepherdjerred 1y agoI don’t think I’d pay $1000 but a couple hundred would be reasonable to me. This is so cool!
- wincy 1y agoThe problem is if this takes 20 or so hours for someone who is highly skilled and could likely make a much safer easier income doing something else, so even $2000 would be $100 an hour which if OP’s hanging out on HN there’s a good chance they could just straight up make that amount in a day job. Let’s go really pie in the sky, maybe some billionaire sees this (surely there’s some hanging out on hacker news) imagine them giving OP a $30,000 pocket watch owned by Ulysses S Grant or something and asking them to take that one of a kind art piece and encase it in resin. What would the pay rate be for such a project? The sky’s the limit, really. Hand made pieces that only an expert could assemble are extremely expensive.
- cybertim 1y agol'm curious if Bartosz will actually contact him for that final casting, i know i would definitely love to own one. And mainly because I love mechanical watches, especially what's inside, but I don't like to wear or really use them, this is a great solution for this "problem".
- azhenley 1y agoI wear mechanical watches and have a small (and growing) collection. It’s irrational, but I like them anyway :) I’d appreciate an art piece like this.
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- hinterlands 1y agoI've done some projects like that, although not with as many parts! I think the main disappointment that awaits the author is that within two years or so, the epoxy will turn yellow. These resins are unfortunately not UV-stable, even if kept in a reasonably well-lit area indoors (bookshelf, etc). There are resins you can use for projects like that if you want them to last, but they're less fun to work with.
- fellerts 1y agoModern epoxies often claim to be UV stabilized, and as far as I can tell, this is a relatively recent advancement. For reference, I used Entropy CCR (slow cure) for the final model: https://entropyresins.com/product/ccr-clear-casting-epoxy/ https://entropyresins.com/product/ccr-clear-casting-epoxy/ I guess we'll wait and see!
- hinterlands 1y agoWe had UV-stabilized resins for the past two decades or so, but it just slows down the process. I used several UV-stabilized products and it just doesn't last. For the UV-stable options, you have polyesters (which are very smelly) and premium aliphatic polyurethanes (which are finicky to work with).
- hunter-gatherer 1y agoWould putting some UV filter glass, the kind often used in museums, work to protect it the resin? I'm wondering if you fixed a glass casing around it that way... granted you'd have corner seems for the glass though
- KomoD 1y agoThat is so cool, I really want one lol.
- jv22222 1y agoIf I saw that in a shop I'd be super tempted to buy it.
- petermcneeley 1y agoThe suspension (supports) should not be visible if it has the same index of refraction.
- fellerts 1y agoYep, nylon and epoxy resin have similar indices of refraction, but it's not perfect. I tried casting thin rods out of epoxy to replace the nylon but failed to achieve a good result.
- buserror 1y agoHave you tried Fluorocarbon? this has replaced Nylon for many fishing use (fly fishing in any case), it has a different refraction index -- not sure if it would be closer, or further from the resin, but at least it is different! :-)
- fellerts 1y agoNever tried, because fluorocarbon's index of refraction (1.42-ish) is further from epoxy resin (1.50-1.57) than nylon (1.53). It does make sense that fluorocarbon has replaced nylon because it's going to be less visible in water (1.33). I guess the epoxy's index of refraction depends on all kinds of factors such as the mixing ratio and the conditions under which it cures.
- discobean 1y agoCouldn't you make little sticks with the same epoxy resin to hold up all the parts?
- fellerts 1y agoI tried, but they're very difficult to cast. Epoxy resin is also very brittle and difficult to cut neat and square. A jagged edge does not bond very well to a smooth surface.
- Peterpanzeri 1y agoHope i can implement ths soon
- nativeit 1y ago> I don't have the tools or knowledge required to sand this down to a perfect mirror finish, but that's okay. That was my only note: it would look incredible if squared off and polished to perfection.
- Retr0id 1y ago> I don't have the tools or knowledge required to sand this down to a perfect mirror finish I did a resin cast that had a similar "lip" at the edge (I turned a LGA CPU socket into a coaster), and I was able to sand it down fairly easily using regular sandpaper of progressively higher grit, producing a more or less perfect cuboid. The flatness was achieved by taping the sandpaper to a flat surface, and moving the part. It's been a while, I can't remember if I used some kind of polishing compound at the end or whether the sandpaper alone was enough for a good finish.
- fellerts 1y agoI suspect you're right, but knowing myself I'd quickly get sick of sanding (6 faces with 5-6 different kinds of sandpaper), and I'd want an orbital sander. Then I'm pretty sure you want to polish the surfaces: lots of elbow grease or a polishing/buffing tool. If I had a workshop with space for tools and dust I'd probably go for it, but I'm doing this in the living room of a small apartment. Here's the process as explained by a reputable epoxy vendor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WYOK90KNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WYOK90KNo
- YZF 1y agoIncredible work. I love it. This would be a similar process to finishing any painted surface. Progressive through the grits, each time removing the scratches from the previous grit, wet sanding with the higher grits. You can then hand polish with polishing compounds you can get at any hardware/car accessory store. You can start with an orbital sander or a belt sander of some sorts. I've done this on guitars I've built. If you're fairly close it shouldn't be a ton of work.
- Loughla 1y agoTape or glue sandpaper to a piece of glass for a really flat surface. It works nicely for making consistent angles. Source: holy shit can you get a knife sharp using this method.
- bornfreddy 1y ago
- amelius 1y agoWouldn't it make more sense to add the parts and epoxy layer-by-layer? So you don't need the sticks to hold everything together. (Of course that means creating a new vacuum for every layer, probably).
- rusbus 1y agoperhaps you did not read the post—the author attempted layer-by-layer first but discovered it was impossible to get a smooth final result. This is apparently a well known issue among people who create resin-cast structures.
- amelius 1y agoI think it may still work if you don't wait until the last layer has completely cured. The viscosity just has to be high enough to be able to suspend the artifacts.
- istjohn 1y agoAgain, you may want to read tfa
- amelius 1y agoThis sums it up: "To achieve the effect I want, I need around 20 layers for a regular pocket watch movement. If I were to cast each layer in a transparent container, adding components and epoxy as the previous layer was half-cured, I would be doing nothing else for a solid week."
- TacticalCoder 1y ago[dead]
- j_bum 1y agoThis is incredible… congratulations on creating such an amazing piece.
- thom 1y agoPart of me wants to believe this is sacrilege: these are incredible machines, and the magic is in not just seeing _how_ they work, but that they continue to work reliably for decades, and when they don't it's magic seeing them fixed somewhere like https://www.youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival https://www.youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival. But also... this is incredibly cool! As kids, my brother used to do these little resin sculptures, putting in sand shells and little plans to it'd look like the bottom of the sea. I tried repeatedly to get into the same hobby but I was always too impatient so my designs would end up with fingerprints all over them before they'd properly set.
- woodrowbarlow 1y agoit's magic to see the repair process, but not magic to see how the mechanisms work? i'm unsure how you could draw enjoyment from the former without also appreciating the latter.
- thom 1y agoKinda hoped that's what I wrote, but clearly not. For what it's worth, I'm already working out how I can give the same treatment to my Atari Lynx when it conks out.
- woodrowbarlow 1y agoah, i believe i misunderstood. on re-reading, i see your statement about sacrilege was more about removing a functional watch from circulation before its time.
- tshaddox 1y agoDoes it help you to think of this as an instructional aid? That was literally the purpose of the digital version that inspired the project.
- aDyslecticCrow 1y agoPocket watches are sold in antique shops by the price of their weight in brass. Finding one that is complete but needs a cleaning and new oil to spring to life is relatively easy. There are 10x more pocket watches than owners interested. Theyre incredible machines... but their greatest use is practice materials for aspiring watch repair technicians. They're expensive to repair because few people have the skills and tools. The demand is so low. (I have two)
- WillAdams 1y agoWhile it might not have the same cachet, an easier way to get this done would be to use a laser printing inside an glass or acrylic block --- just model all the parts: This company works from photos: https://beyond-memories.com https://beyond-memories.com but there should be companies doing 3D --- I distinctly remember a company doing a 3D map of the nearby star systems (which the _Universe_ role-player in me desperately wanted) --- perhaps: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/3d-model-nearest-stars https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/3d-model-neare... could be modeled in Lego bricks?
- jameshart 1y agoAdam Savage took on a similar style of project trying to make an exploded cellphone cast in resin - with the added challenge of making the screen work. It was evidently a sponsored project and some of the work was rushed a bit - the outcome feels more like a prototype rather than the display quality piece he was going for - but the same kind of problem solving and techniques were involved. Still, if you’re interested in more of the same sort of thing, worth a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfEIstmyZaM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfEIstmyZaM
- fellerts 1y agoThank you! That video somehow slipped by my feed, but I'll make sure to check it out. I'd imagine Adam getting a kick out of my resin project, but I don't think he hangs out on HN.
- jameshart 1y agoAgree he’d love it (and likely have some solid tips for how to get that glass-mirror finish…)
- fellerts 1y agoWell, if Bartosz doesn't reach out (I offered to send it to him), I'll consider sending it to Adam. My favorite builds of his are boxes that reflect their contents, and I'd love to see what he'd consider for something like this.
- pvg 1y agobut I don't think he hangs out on HN. I mean, given sufficient resin to attract and then encase him...
- phatskat 1y agoPlot twist, OP is Adam Savage and is throwing us off the trail!
- E-Reverance 1y agoWould love to see a gaussian splat of this
- modeless 1y agoIs there no transparent substance that is gel-like for a period of time before it cures solid so that the pieces can simply be suspended in it and nudged to their final positions manually? Like a gel suspension 3D printer but where the gel hardens instead of being washed away at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swB5-GzX3nQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swB5-GzX3nQ I don't know how viscous SLA 3D printer resin is, but if it could be made viscous enough then it seems like maybe you could just suspend the parts in it, tweaking their positions as much as you want until they're just right, then blast the whole thing with enough UV to cure all of it.
- matsemann 1y agoIf it's fluid, I guess you always would have an issue with buoyancy/density. The things you want to suspend will either want to float up or sink down before it cures. But maybe it could work with something like beads of same refraction index, and then pour resin in when everything is in place? At least it works for water, I've seen it used for decorations and then pouring water over when everything is in place. Random video showing what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LuTlY6DkHQw https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LuTlY6DkHQw
- hinterlands 1y agoThere are gel-like resins, but you'd have massive issues with air entrapment. There's really no shortcut for making these. Casting in layers is the most common approach, but as noted in the article, it's hard to avoid slight refractive index discontinuities.
- Chris2048 1y agoStrange thought, but, if you shine a uv laser through uv-setting epoxy, does it create a fishing-line-like column of set resin?
- yapyap 1y agoTK Jewelers is a scam. The jewelry's fake. Watch exploded on date. Bent wrist, thing fucking exploded.
- ziofill 1y agoI’m sure you have though about it already, but if you had a way to modify the refractive index of the resin, you could make the fishing lines disappear completely.
- fellerts 1y agoI never gave that any serious thought. What additives would do that, do you think? Edit: A quick search reveals that there is quite a lot of prior art from the optical community. Darn, maybe I'm not done here.
- encom 1y agoThe rabbit hole never ends. Godspeed, friend.
- mensetmanusman 1y agoYou can use index matching fluid to determine what the nylon line is currently at and then use the fluid to experiment with epoxy droplets containing various amounts of low index additives like MgF2 nanoparticles or something :)
- fellerts 1y agoMy drawer is already full of radium dials. I'm not sure adding nanoparticles to the mix is a very good idea. I've never heard of index matching fluids! Will have to read up on this.
- PicassoCTs 1y agoAdd a polarization filter coating to the epoxy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_filter#Polarizer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_filter#Polarizer Also, if the plastic can be "invisible", you can also house it in invisible plastic- thus creating, a exploded working model, inside the resin
- nicgrev103 1y agoOn a similar line, I wonder if making it cylindrical would help reduce refraction when viewing at an angle?
- alexjplant 1y agoI was pleased to see that the author used the PT5000, one of my favorite calibers. As pointed out in the article it's a Chinese clone of the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2; this movement is used in a lot of affordable watches that are sold on AliExpress. You can get a Submariner homage with a sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel, lume, and full water resistance powered by this movement for $100 that keeps time just as well as a Swiss watch (i.e. within COSC standards). Before I sold it mine was running at +5spd... the Chinese watchmaking industry is truly something to behold.
- fellerts 1y agoIt is remarkable indeed! When not ruining watches with resin I enjoy servicing them, and I'm planning to learn how chronographs work next. The ST19 movement is on its way now, another very reasonably priced, reliable and fully mechanical chronograph with a column wheel. Hats off to the Chinese.
- userbinator 1y agoI think familiarity with the machining and assembly processes used in consumer electronics has helped them a lot too.
- perdomon 1y agoDo you have any recommended resources for buying mechanical watch clones on aliexpress? Im interested in grabbing something but would love to get an idea of where to find the best value before pulling the trigger on one.
- alexjplant 1y agoThere's a long and winding thread called "Best of Ali-Xpress" [sic] on WatchUSeek that has a bunch of ideas. Outside of that I'd recommend searching either by movement name ("NH35", "PT5000") or popular watch model diameter ("40mm" for a Sub, "41mm" for an SMP) and sorting by best selling. From there you can go to the storefronts and see all of their models.
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- luxuryballs 1y agonext step do one that can somehow still work as a clock, maybe by projecting the hands down into the watch face from above with lasers, or just have a super thin working watch hidden in the face, or hardcore mode somehow connect all those parts with real functional shafts ^^
- econ 1y agoYou will have to wait a hundred years for 3D e-paper displays to be good enough.
- ggm-at-algebras 1y agoI like this, and respect the craft which went into making it. I still think an immersive 3D model you can interact with may be more functional to illustrate mechanisms. The room of clockwork/ratchet mechanisms in "Musee des arts et metiers" in Paris is fantastic.
- BubbleRings 1y agoOr if nothing else, just put it on the center of a record player platter and film it for us please!
- ggm-at-algebras 1y agoThis! Yes please! I proposed an archival function at my uni, for historical artifacts held in static collections e.g. the physics lab old computing gear. Turntable, slow rotate, static camera film, done. This was actually pre-web: I wanted this put in the campus gopher!
- jessejjohnson 1y agoAnyone know how these animations are created and displayed? Very well done.
- bastijn 1y agoI believe he hand-codes everything from scratch in WebGL and plain js. Which is amazing. [0] is an example. [0] https://ciechanow.ski/js/watch.js https://ciechanow.ski/js/watch.js
- slumberlust 1y ago> The hands are set to an invalid time. 10:10 is the way to go. What made the time invalid? The synchronization of the seconds didn't match the position of the minute hand midway between the minute markers?
- fellerts 1y agoThe minute hand is set to 43-ish minutes past the hour while the hour hand is showing 15-ish minutes past noon/midnight. If you’re used to reading analog watches it’s jarring.
- dsalzman 1y agoThis is awesome! Reminds me of an artist that would encapsulate items like cameras into resin and then slice them with a water jet cutter creating a different version of an 'exploded view'. Can't find the link.
- fellerts 1y agohttps://fabianoefner.com/cutup/ https://fabianoefner.com/cutup/
- dsalzman 1y agoHmm. I think he sliced it after he encapsulated it. Or that's my memory! So he had a "book" of cut acrylic sheets/layers of the object.
- dsalzman 1y agoYou are right! Was thinking of the same artist just a different project he did. https://fabianoefner.com/the-bialetti-book/ https://fabianoefner.com/the-bialetti-book/ Video on the project https://vimeo.com/354927033 https://vimeo.com/354927033
- skeeter2020 1y agoDifferent take, but you might like Open Circuits too: https://www.opencircuitsbook.com/ https://www.opencircuitsbook.com/ The author does corss sections of a lot of electronic components and the more delicate ones were cast is resin first. Th "making of" is as cool as the end result!
- handie-demo 1y ago[dead]
- poutrathor 1y ago> Bartosz, if you are reading this, contact me and I'll send you the final casting. This project would never have happened without your blog post. I am impressed by the quality of your work on this side project and I love that final attention.
- lxe 1y agoThe Bartosz Ciechanowski's blog post referenced here is arguably the best thing you can currently find on the Internet https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/ https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/
- IanCal 1y agoI'd just like to highlight that this is one of quite a few things of a similar incredible amount of detail that they have done: https://ciechanow.ski/archives/ https://ciechanow.ski/archives/
- redbell 1y agoDiscussed here three years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 With +4K points, it is being ranked #8 of best HN submissions of all time, a true classic indeed!
- marai2 1y agoWhere can one see the list of best ranked HN posts?
- matsemann 1y agoPressing enter in the search field on the bottom of the page takes you to a search with no filters, sorted on popularity. Or like this, I guess: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- satvikpendem 1y agoAs well as the YouTube channel Branch Education's amazing explanation. https://youtu.be/oEC5fIw0bL0 https://youtu.be/oEC5fIw0bL0
- disillusioned 1y agoThis is basically true of every single Ciechanowski post. They are true works of art.
- gxs 1y agoHa when I saw this I love mechanical watches so I clicked on the link enthusiastically but skeptical that it could live up to Ciechanowski's blog post Nice to see that it was a tribute post in a way It was a nice surprise
- ingen0s 1y agoJust incredible
- variegated_mons 1y agoIndex matching UV cure optical adhesives could in principle be used in an SLA printer to make scaffolding structures for the exploded system that should completely disappear. Provided you can get an adhesive that matches the index of your resin of course. It seems like it should be possible to make exploded models that way with more investment in upfront cad and less assembly labor. Perhaps very useful if you want to make many of them.
- kzzzznot 1y agoI love this. Would absolutely buy one if it were for sale. Thanks for posting.
- willvarfar 1y agoAlso these would be awesome display pieces for a jewellers selling watches. Not sure there'd be a correlation with sales, but it'd give people being dragged around those shops something to pay attention to.
- d--b 1y agoI don't get why pouring resin, let it dry, place an item, repour, let it dry, place an item, repeat doesn't work. Why do we see the layers?
- mo7061 1y agocan you do a Ferrari v12 engine next please?
- PicassoCTs 1y agoMakes me wish, you could explode the watch- and still have it working.. like viewing a working, exploded model..
- saagarjha 1y agoYou'd probably need things to be mechanically coupled somehow, no?
- PicassoCTs 1y agoTransparent plastic, in sheets? Or thin holes with transparent hydraulics?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- protonbob 1y agoWhat’s a decent vintage watch that is simple to buy these days on eBay? I don’t care for the brand but I would love to have a vintage watch with a Swiss movement.
- corry 1y agoBeware, buying vintage watches on eBay is 'hard mode' even for longtime collectors. The number of 'Frankenstein' Omegas and other older pieces likely outnumbers the legit ones, and the degree to which -- and skill level with which -- things have been refinished or repaired is often very difficult to ascertain. The other thing to beware is that the fake market ("replicas") is now unbelievably good - and also include vintage pieces. So scammers could buy very good fakes, artificially age them, and charge a fortune. The only thing that works is to 'buy the seller' meaning: only buy from reputable sellers/dealers. Chrono24 and (carefully) using r/WatchExchange are your best bets, but even there - diligence the sellers very well.
- nizsle 1y agoAmazing
- I_dream_of_Geni 1y agoWow. As a mechanical engineer, these things totally fascinate me!! DO MORE!!