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RULES AND PRACTICE
FOR
Adjusting Watches
BY
WALTER J. KLEINLEIN
AUTHOR OF "THE WATCH ADJUSTER AND HIS WORK"
Copyright, 1920, by Walter J. Kleinlein
_All rights reserved_
PREFACE
In the early days of horology the apprentice was taught the art of
making a complete watch. Production was slow, very few duplicate
watches were constructed, and it was necessary that extra material be
made individually by hand in the same way that the original part was
produced. As time passed the value of the repairer was indicated by
his ability to make new parts and to replace them so that the watch
would again be in running condition. This was the prevailing situation
for many years and the repairer was judged according to his skill in
making and finishing the various parts.
A similar method of judging ability is still in force among some
employers, although the development of the industry into machine and
specialized work has made many changes in regard to the most important
duties of the repairer.
It is no longer necessary for him to know how to make a complete watch
and only on occasional instances is it necessary for him to make a
part. Genuine material for modern watches is supplied by the
manufacturer at less expense than it can be produced by the individual
and in this particular branch of the work the repairer's requirements
have been very considerably curtailed.
A more exacting and a higher standard of timekeeping has developed,
however, and in this field the requirements of the watchmaker have
increased to the extent that it is no longer sufficient to merely
restore a good watch to running condition. It must keep time. This
development has grown gradually and surely and the past twenty-five
years may be assumed as the period of greatest advance.
It has been made possible by scientific and practical refinements
which permit the adjustment of watches so that they will keep time
within closely defined allowances under varying conditions.
The larger problem of the successful repairer of today, therefore, is
that of understanding the principles governing close time and of
knowing how and where to look for the causes of variation, so that the
higher standard of timekeeping may be restored in case of damage since
the original adjustment.
It is naturally essential to know when material is correct, how to
make it fit in its proper place, and how to make and finish some of
the individual parts. It is also commendable to be skilful in all
classes of lathe work, as this at times gains prestige for the workman
through restoring old model watches to running condition.
It is, however, a disadvantage to develop one's ability in making
parts for watches of a bygone age and neglecting the training that
happens to be most essential and of daily advantage in repairing
modern watches so that they will keep time as consistently after
repairs have been made as they did when new.
The object of this book is to present the essential points of watch
adjusting in an elementary and non-technical way that will interest
the average watchmaker and to enable him to have a convenient source
of information, covering the necessary refinements that are
fundamental in repairing, regulating and adjusting the better class of
watches.
The author trusts that the experienced successful watchmaker will read
the book with interest and also with profit and that the novice will
be enabled to foresee that there is something more to the art of
watchmaking and repairing than that of merely assembling a watch and
making it "tick."
It so happens that the author has had many years of experience in both
factories and repair shops and that a considerable part of his duties
have been devoted to instruction.
He has for a long time felt the need of a book that would, above all
else, be practical in its description of the rules that an adjuster
follows and which would prove its value in actual experience by being
personal as far as permissible in the same sense that detailed shop
instruction would be.
Since writing the article entitled "The Watch Adjuster and His Work"
several years ago numerous inquiries have been received, for this
class of information and the present book is an effort to meet this
demand in a manner that can be followed without highly technical or
theoretical education.
To promote advancement and interest in everyday practical results is
the foremost consideration, and to this end definite means are
presented for personal development and for obtaining better results
from high grade watches than can possibly be obtained without a fair
knowledge of the final details which go so far toward assuring close
time.
WALTER J. KLEINLEIN,
July 21, 1920 Waltham, Mass.
CONTENTS
PART I.--THE ADJUSTMENT TO TEMPERATURE
CHAPTER I
Page
The Compensation Balance, Controlling Factor 3
1. General Method of Obtaining Results
2. How to Place Screws When the Rate is Either Slow
or Fast in Heat Compared to Cold.
3. Composition of and Distortions of Compensation
Balances.
4. Tests and Experiments.
5. Effect of Shifting Screws to Different Locations.
6. Permanency of the Temperature Adjustment.
CHAPTER II
Equipment for Temperature Adjusting 9
7. Various Methods Available.
8. Electrically Equipped Oven, Description and Dimensions.
9. The Lower Temperature Box.
CHAPTER III
Difference in Observatory and Commercial Systems 13
10. Observatory System.
11. Commercial System.
12. Rating Card and Method of Calculating Variation
13. Value of the Normal Period Rate.
14. Definition of the Characters Used on Rate Cards
for Gain or Loss in Time.
15. Increasing or Decreasing the Extremes of Temperature.
CHAPTER IV
Some Practical Methods of Correction 19
16. Example of Maintaining a Pleasing Appearance of
the Balance.
17. Correction Varies When Screws are Above or Below
Normal Size and Weight
18. Over or Under Compensation.
19. Special Corrections for Over or Under Compensation.
20. Example Illustrating that Temperature Variation
is Not Always Due to the Balance and Spring.
CHAPTER V
The Middle Temperature Error 26
21. Why this Error Exists and What it Consists of.
22. How Nickel Steel Balances Overcome this Error.
PART II.--THE ADJUSTMENTS TO ISOCHRONISM AND POSITIONS