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@horological_tools

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Repost of interesting horological tools, photo credit (when available) always given. Images from IG and the net. Send me your fav. tools for repost.

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There's always something around the corner, waiting to amaze you when you least expect it. This is an example of hen's teeth, if there's ever been one! And when you thought that the Boley Leinen uber-precise micro-milling machine couldn't get any cooler, this Prätecma (the Leinen successor co.) shows up on the flea-bay in Germany! It's the mythical FM 1 CNC machine, and look at the condition! This is a pure CNC (no manual option) micro milling machine. The working range of the X axis is 175mm, Y at 85mm, and Z at 125mm. So if you're thinking of putting a System 3R work holding solution on that table, you'd better do some serious math first 🤪 This is a spectacular extra compact and super rigid little setup. We can see that they're still using dovetails for each of the axis giving this little pup extra strength compared to modern dinky setups in this size. The spindle flies from 0-10K rpm using a 0.8kW spindle, and apparently still uses 8mm collets. So it is a crazy cool option to have if you need to make one-off parts. This little wonder is listed by seller "and-810606" on German ebay and all pictures are theirs. Just wanted to share this amazing piece of micro-mechanical history before it disappears into someone's workshop for another 40 years!! Enjoy! #horologicaltools #LeinenFM1 #PractemaFM1CNC #Micromillingmachine #watchmakertools by @horological_tools

This is a very cool project (see: awatchmakingcnc.fr) that's online for a few months now. It's a collaboration between @hectorburel @wandrille.bonnin, with the support of a slew of other industry veterans, and two Swiss institutions (see below and of course the acknowledgements page for the folks who helped make this possible). What these two extremely talented watchmakers did is convert our lovely SIP Mu-214B universal measuring microscope into a souped-up micro CNC machine. The interesting part is that their website documents all the things they did, the why of these choices, while sharing lots of technical details for anybody intending to undertake a similar project. It's a really great resource, especially since Hauser M1's are just unobtainable to any mere mortal, and there are plenty of universal measuring machines out there that could support such a conversion. If you don't know these watchmakers, GO check them out now, and of course the website has lots of very interesting pix and info!

repost @hectorburel The A Watchmaking CNC website is now live ✨
A year of work to transform a SIP MU-214B precision measuring machine into a CNC.
On the site: mechanical choices, electronic architecture, micrometric adjustments — and the guiding principle behind the whole project: no irreversible modification to the original machine, to stay true to industrial heritage.
Project awarded the Bourse Horizon Gaïa, granted by the @musee_mih and the Watch Academy Foundation 🙏
#horologicaltools #sipMU214B #societegenevoise #measuringmachine #jigborer by @horological_tools

It's been some time since I've run across an image that makes you dream again, and here's one that instantly took me into the captivating world of British independent watchmaker @matthew.rowlands_watchmaker I'm sharing just one pic from the series of this beautifully restored Aciera F1 universal micro-milling machine. You'll have to use your finger to jump over to Matthew's IG, follow and scroll through the rest, and not just that, look at the 'humble' engraving engines that are in this dreamy workshop!! It's nuts!!
Repost: @matthew.rowlands_watchmaker Acquired in 2023, this Aciera F1 milling machine had seen relatively little use, but its paintwork and interior wooden cabinets were in need of considerable attention after being stored away for some time. I decided to give it a complete, ground-up refurbishment. Every component, down to the last nut and bolt, was stripped, cleaned, prepared, all bearings replaced and repainted before being carefully reassembled. Fully rewired and fitted with a compact TouchDRO system, courtesy of @life_on_the_verge, then thoroughly recalibrated, it’s now back together and running like a dream. Made in Le Locle, Switzerland. 🇨🇭 #horologicaltools #watchmakertools #uhrmacherwerkzeuge #outilshorlogerie englishwatchmakers by @horological_tools

It’s always so nice when someone shares something special that falls onto their lap, and look what the amazing independent watchmaker Chris Manning of @silver_hand & @cmmanning.watches just shared! Thank goodness Chris was ready when this came to him, and instead of letting it crush his lap, he had bench space ready for it! 😜 Yes, this is a rare bird indeed! I had only seen these in one blurry pic I had, and of course I had to think hard were it was that there was another, and it’s in the Muller Machines museum (Biel, CH). We’ve seen it’s big brother here in this gallery, the SIP MP-2, that’s in the @sarpanevawatches workshop. Now this amazing uber-heavy bench top jig borer is a SIP MP1, and yes, it’s from the early 1920s. Here are three of Chris’ images (see his feed for other images of the spindle assembly). Then a prospectus cover image dated April 1920 (I used a free image enhancer clean up the image -see below as it belongs to Swisstoolmaker), and two images taken by user “Welder” on his posts in 'Woodworkforums under the 'Swiss Machinery A trip to Muller machines’. As you can see, the machine has a sliding X-Axis, with a very ample fixed square table. Then the Y, is on a ram, above the table, with the Z- fixed to the Y-axis ram. This is basically the same setup SIP did when they launched the massive SIP MP-2H in the 1960s. What makes this specimen especially amazing, is the drilling headstock it has. Its extra handwheel is tied to a rack on the spindle to make spotting and drilling very easy (here another owner added an elegant lever extension to it!). I’m reposting this in case anyone has a pamphlet of more info that they could facilitate for Chris. He’s a custodian and thoughtful user of some amazing machines, and anything he can add to this jewel of precision would be super! In any case, you should definitely follow @silver_hand & @cmmanning.watches he’s a truly talented watchmaker, and artisan that has mastered most techniques in this field, which take most of us a few lifetimes to master! Thanks Chris for sharing, and hope you don’t mind I shared this for everyone else too 😉 #sipjigborer #pointeuseSIP #jigborer #societegenevoise #horologicaltools by @horological_tools

Here's another quick one to keep in the books for the future. It's a beautiful PivoFix pivot burnishing tool that well... keeps a ton of guesswork out of the equation! But before going into this tool a bit more, I want to point out that it's one of the many tools currently coming into the stable for a very interesting watchmaker in beautiful Romania, who's starting a venture at @atelier.gabriell and while we don't see any finished products yet, what caught my attention to Gabriel's future project: He's shared some really different and beautiful renditions of the kind of watch he's going to put together. And if you have an eye for design in any capacity, you'll recognize that they're really quite special in today's uber-saturated market! And what's so cool about this tool? Well, as you can see on the right with the dial indicator, it allows you to establish a datum point for how thick your starting pivot is (when nestled into the burnishing cradle) and then, through the use of a finely threaded screw that's right under the grinding spindle, you set the depth you want to arrive at, and burnish away you go!! While with a traditional Jacot tool you need to worry a lot about the angle(s) of the burnisher, and of course a whole lot about the feel of the burnisher as it sits on the pivot, with this, you take a lot of the variables out, and with a very delicate hand you can get to very very tight tolerances. And if you switch out the analogue indicator for a new digital indicator, you can aim for micron accuracy!! They're really quite an amazing tool to have!! Now, back to Gabriel, who's been sharing some of the things he's been doing in his stories lately, and given the effort he's putting into this, it would be wonderful to give him some support to edge him on!! So go check him out at @atelier.gabriell his work promises to be really extraordinary! #horologicaltools #pivofix #ateliergabriell #romanianwatchmaking #independentwatchmakers by @horological_tools

Here's a quick one, which I think you'll enjoy, especially with all the crazy things he's posting right now. Yup, I have a feeling that if you were to leave @kasper.hildebrand in a locked room with just a few pieces of brass, some files and a few screwdrivers, in a few week's time you'd find him sitting back enjoying the sound of his newly minted clock ticking away! If you don't believe me, well, go look at what he's been able to do since acquiring his Grizzly G0937 6"x10" (76mm center height with 25cm between centers, MT2 spindle and MT1 tailstock) lathe-mill combo that is sitting on this beautifully clean workbench! Yes, I've been following Kasper's work for a while, and it is just nuts what he's able to do with some Proxxon tools, a Sherline rotary table and this Grizzly!. Yes, this goes to show that all the horological tool snobbery that we can muster on this feed, is just worthless if you don't have two ounces of skill and sheer inventiveness! And that's exactly what Kasper shares in his feed, him creating beautiful parts for his next clock, in the simplest and most clever way of getting things done, always without capitulating to buying more and more expensive and flashy equipment. So yes, go follow Kasper's feed @kasper.hildebrand, just wonderful stuff that he shares (and yes, for you folks offended by half a millimeter of flesh, that beautiful painting on the right is Gustave Doré's 'Andromeda' (go learn something and look up both the artist and the story!) #horologicaltools #kasperhildebrand #clockmakers #independentwatchmakers #manualmachinist by @horological_tools

Here's one that you should have known about a very very looong long time ago, but in case you're not aware of the amazing antiquarian horologist, illustrator to the stars (yes, think about this one!), and general legendary watchmaker David Penney ... well now you have quick entry into his world of horological knowledge! He opened an IG @davidpenney.horol . Yup, there you'll get a link to his spectacular website, where besides seeing hundreds of his superbly beautiful photographs of incredible English timepieces and more of his exquisite drawings, you'll get to enjoy just a morsel of his vast horological knowledge via the amazing descriptions he writes up. Yes I'm secretly hoping he will publish a retrospective book with all of the thousands of pieces he's sold on his site, as each piece had amazing pix and write ups (who had all this knowledge nowadays!?!), but I think a recent software update has forced him to take all of the old pieces sold down. So without much more ado, I'll only repost this single exquisite photo of an early 1800s Lancashire (Liverpool) made wheel cutting tool. We had a topping up tool in the previous post, and here is one to do the job outright from the get go (or if you don't have the right cutters, to easily divide the wheel for topping up). But please go to @davidpenney.horol account to see all the other exquisite photos of this he shared, and more importantly to learn from the man himself about this amazing tool! His description is so great!! So if you want to take a quick shortcut into the absolutely incredible world of British horology, go see David Penney's IG @davidpenney.horol and then of course his website!! Enjoy! thank you David for letting me repost! #horologicaltools #davidpenney #watchmaker #watchmakingtools #englishwatchmaking by @horological_tools

Seems like there's a vast desert forming in ye old IG as of late, but with a sudden gust of wind, just like that, some real gems start to pop up! ... and this is one that really has been standing out recently. It's none other than Simon Pearce's @momento.opus. Simon is currently a student at West Dean College, so he's currently refining his chops, and yet there's so much cool stuff that he's already shared, that it's really worth giving him a follow! Of course, what we see here, is a bit of eye candy (always necessary in these visually dry times in the horological tools gallery 😅) What we're looking at is an old topping up tool (or rounding up) to help shape gear teeth when things are not meshing properly, if you're manually cutting slots, or you have a bastard wheel that needs to be dressed for a restoration project. What I like about this style is that it allows you to view the rounding up process very easily, not like the Swiss machines that make you bend your neck to see what the heck is going on under the cutter. The vertical stake holds the gear and the screw from the left pushes it in towards the right into the fixed cutter (driven by the handle). This is simply a lovely tool, and what I like best, is that Simon's IG is revealing an amazing vision of horology and other related arts through his very unique visual lens. From what he's shared so far, there can only be very many interesting things to come, and Simon's @momento.opus looks like it'll deliver us to a really unique horological world! Go enjoy!
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Repost: @momento.opus art in age old tools. Tree rings and chisel marks, polish fading, brass delightful forms, rare ingenuity, the worn path found in historic objects. The archaeological mystique of craft, itself…
[ At West Dean College Library, The Edward James Foundation ]
#horologicaltools #toppinguptool #manualmachinist #outilshorloger #roundinguptool Englishwatchmakers independentwatchmaker Uhrmacherwerkzeug horloger by @horological_tools

After so many East Coast machines, there's always that sweet California made Levin lathe knocking at the door, and this beautiful photo is by SoCal watchmaker Jorge Montoya of @montoyawatchservicescenter . I just love that he's based in Bellflower, a town in south Los Angeles, and he's using a lathe made just a few miles from there! What we see here is a WW Levin lathe, plain bearing headstock, with the beautifully made 3-slide WW compound rest, that is that much beefier than any Boley or German made counterpart for any 50mm center height WW lathes. The cool thing about these Levin ones is that the little cutout on the very top slide is a holder for a lever allowing a very quick conversion to lever actuated cross slide. This is so convenient when cutting gears! Now, if all of this wasn't enough, ahem, look at that toolpost! It's a mini KDK-styled cutter holder! If you're not aware of KDK holders, go look at them @active_atom have a PDF catalog on their site! Not sure who made this one here, but just love this double angled holder, just like the larger KDKs. Now, you won't see many machines on Jorge's feed, but he's a veteran of watchmaking with just about everything under the sun passing through his very skilled workbench, and that's what you'll see there. I'm sure many of you know him as he's a member of NAWCC & AWCI, and for those of you in the south of California, he's a resource to be aware of! Enjoy! #horologicaltools #levinlathe #levincrossslide #compoundslide #uhrmacherdrehbank #tourdhorloger #watchmakertools #clockmaker by @horological_tools

It's hard to follow up on the lates post, but there's always a path forward, especially when you run across Brendan Kuist's @bhkstuffmaker page. While he's no hardcore horological industry veteran, I think we can agree that he's on the right path to enjoying some spectacular machining days ahead with his ever budding workshop. What is it that we have here? Well, what else than an exquisite Derbyshire Model A set up for heavy duty serial production. And although I'm a sucker for Levin lathes, you have to pay respects to where Mr. Levin was getting all his inspiration from, as these Derbyshire pieces are built like tanks and knock everything else out of the park!Look at the capstan tailstock, between that and the lever actuated cross slide, I think they might weigh exactly the same as the lathe headstock and bed put together! Super solid! And what is it that's peeking from the left? A gorgeous Hjorth lathe (Boston/Woburn, MA) that is in super good condition, by the look of the collets and the spindle bore, it smells of 5C size, and that's super cool for a lathe of this vintage! Brendan even has an extremely rare catalog that he's shared some pix of, really worth digging into his IG to look at the pix! Now, while this account won't be about crazy setups or horological expertize, I think it's worth to check Brendan's IG out, @bhkstuffmaker especially if you're a Hjorth or Derbyshire owner, I'm sure he would enjoy getting in touch with other owners. Enjoy these gorgeous pieces! #horologicaltools #hjorthlathe #derbyshirelathe #derbyshiremodelA #manualmachinist #watchmakerlathe #clockmakerslathe #uhrmacherwerkzeug #outilshorloger #tourdhorloger #uhrmacherdrehbank #hjorthboston by @horological_tools

Well, the show isn't over until some kind of 'voluptuous' lady sings, or so they say... and well, none of that here yet! What better way to get back into some spectacular horological godfather craziness than to check out this new account @heritagebeltdrivenstudio Yup, I won't give you much of an intro, as we'll let the owners of the account do that themselves - in what way? Well in the machines they're sharing. What you see here are some spectacular late 19th cent Waltham, Massachusetts-made Stark lathes with all kinds of attachments. And well, it's not just these things that @heritagebeltdrivenstudio has in the workshop, but you absolutely have to go see their feed for all the crazy machine-tools they have. And what's best, yes, READ the description of their account, looks like we're in the ride of a lifetime to see some horological ticking-goods produced on these very machines. Simply a wonderful project!!! So enough of this, and go spend some precious minutes of your life enjoying and studying what @heritagebeltdrivenstudio has shared so far, go give them a follow!! Thanks for sharing these spectacular gems!!! #horologicaltools #starklathe #uhrmacherwerkzeug #tourhorloger #atelierhorloger #uhrmacherwerkzeuge #walthamlathe #manualmachinist #watchmakertools #watchmakerlathe #watchmaker #clockmaker #workshop #machiniststudio by @horological_tools