Watch Screw Head Polishing Using a Vintage Watchmaker's Polisher
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- Опубликовано: 22 сен 2022
- See what it takes to hand polish a watch screw using a vintage watchmaker's screw polisher. This video is long and repetitive even with some parts sped up to 320% so you really get to see how much work is involved in restoring just one single screw.
Considering the amount of work that goes into restoring ALL screws in a watch movement, one can understand why complete watch restorations can be so costly and why these types of restorations are usually only reserved for some of the finest and most rare movements in existence.
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If you're wondering what Diamond Paste I"m using, you can purchase it here:
diamondtool.com.ua/shop/1102/
Alternatively you can find them on Etsy, Ebay and Amazon 
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It's eye opening to see how much work and effort goes into these restorations. The result at the end is stunning. WOW!
Thanks! Yea, if you don't have something to listen to as you work on these, you're at a risk of losing your sanity 🤣 Cheers!
Great job! - now for the way of polishing English dome head screws...
Love it! Love the old ways of working! I can smell the oil and the fine steel from here! Many thanks Grumpy!
Thanks for this! 2 hours per screw!
Appreciate you walking us through this process. Very informative. Thank you
My pleasure!
excellent video, thanks for sharing.
really amazing to see your eye for detail and technique.
Thanks! It's either attention to detail or OCD :) Cheers!
Man you are so cool, as always, I learn a lot from you and you make it look so easy . I know it takes years to get as good as you but I will keep trying. Thanks and I cant wait till the next one.
Thanks Mike! Appreciate the encouraging words. Good luck with your watchmaking journey!
Niche content perhaps, but incredibly useful. Thank you!
A year ago, when I took up learning watch restoration I would have looked at this video with with no comprehension. Now I can say 'what an absolutely riveting video'. Thank you.
Thanks Ross! Nice to hear. Good luck in your watchmaking journey!
This video was about screw-head polishing. ‘Riveting’ is a completely different video!
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist! 😂)
@@mrimmortal1579 good one. Took some time to think of the reply. In fun, 'Nuts'.
6:36 box of broken dreams 😂 buddy I feel you
Haven't seen the video and already liked it! I know it's another amazing content! Please upload more!!!!
Thanks so much! Hope it doesn't disappoint 😅
@@grumpyswatchrestorations It did disappointed me that I don't have the expensive polishing tool 😭 but the content it's amazing!
Others will share this kind of lessons with money and you are sharing for free!
God bless you!!
@@StefeligaFlavius Haha... yea they are not cheap but worth the money when you can find one that's a complete set. Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated!
This is awesome. I’d be super interested in your method of polishing anglage like you did on that one pocket watch movement. I think it’s the traditional peg wood method but I can’t find any good examples on RUclips. It’s something I think I could use on watch cases with fine high polish bevels.
Hi Brady. The anglage polishing is done with "Gentian" wood. Maybe in the future I'll make a video on that as well. Thanks for the kind words!
Beautiful work. However, when time equates to money, if new screws are available, I would just replace.
I just discovered your channel. An excellent description of your method & your tools. The video camera work is of an excellent quality too. That digital clock on your roll top desk is intriguing. Can you tell me what brand it is?
Excellent demonstration! It comes out beautiful! Could you tell us what would be the case and how much to charge a customer for all of that work? On the cleaning wheels and tools when contamination took place into the oil, one thing I use to clean oil based compounds is a mix of 50/50 olive oil and mild detergent, what forms a light paste, wipe it off a couple times, then I can use alcohol or water depending on the material I’m cleaning. For the wood it’s a good thing as it needs oil. You can also use lemon oil or boiled linseed oil as it’s used to treat musical instruments wood. Thanks.
What prevents diamond particles embedding themselves in the laps? I know you wipe them down with alcohol but surely there are particles embedded in the lap material?
How is it the diamond grits are not embedded in the brass and wood laps?
Really great work and great videos!
Which diamond paste do you use? where do you buy them
Thanks Maurice. The link to the diamond paste I use is in the description! Cheers.
Wow, what a great video. Very thorough and complete. I do have one question. Where do you find replacement lapping wheels? In particular, the wooden wheel. I'm sure after awhile it would wear down. Do you have to make your own? And if so, what type of wood is used? Thanks in advance, and again, great job!!
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words. The wooden wheel lasts for a loooong time. Very little pressure is used when lapping the screws with the finest grits. I have seen them listed on a supply website but I can't remember at the moment which one, and I'm not sure they would fit these old polishers.
In the worst case, should you need a replacement, you can have one made. It needs to be made of very hard wood. Either boxwood or bellwood. I just saw a complete set of just the wheels listed for sale on ebay 2 weeks ago, but they weren't cheap. Also, if your wooden lap shows signs of age, you can run them on fine abrasive on a flat surface to get them back into shape. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions! Subbed to your channel. Cheers!
Falta hacer el biselado exterior y el biselado de la ranura.
An excellent demonstration of this wonderful tool. Thank you. The wood you are charging with the diamond paste - is it hardwood or softwood?
I always wondered how these worked and thought you needed a lathe. Thanks for the education! Can you give me the information on the vise you are using here?
Thanks Jared. This is a suction vise but I would not recommend it. Any desk mounted vise will do as long as it's secured to your bench and doesn't move. Cheers.
Nice video thanks. What type of stick do you using to put the diamond compound on?
Thanks
Is there a way to “cut” a deeper screwdriver slot into the screw head? For example if there was some precious damage
is there anywhere i can get a full kit or is there a modern version? I really would like a vintage one. can I have one made for me from the company?
The video is fascinating for the skill and novelty. The way my own mind works is that I take what I see and wonder how it can be translated into operations in my homeshop. For instance, can a turning pin vise produce a similar outcome. Can a 4000 or 5000 grit paper be used, or a burnishing surface to develop a comparable result? Love your polishing machine but it IS above my retirement income. Thoughts?
Let’s assume you are restoring an old pocket watch with a number of steel screws you want to polish to a mirror finish. The cheap way is to chuck the screw into a pin vise snugged into a small bench vise making sure the screw head is at a perfect 90 degree angle to the bench. At that point I would use a few small diamond plates or wet-dry papers of various grits until the head has a brilliant mirror finish. Alternatively, if you have a watchmaker’s lathe chuck the thread end of the screw into a chuck followed by using the polishing tools. If you have screws that are slightly mangled because a screw driver of the wrong size was used to remove it from a bridge, etc., it is best to use a sharpening stone of a lower grit rather than a file to flatten out the damage followed by polishing stones or wet dry paper. The methods mentioned can polish screws in a few minutes. You could also polish screw heads after flattening using a flex shaft with a cotton disc impregnated with polishing cream. Wear there is a will there is a way, often a simple low cost one. Cheers! Always strive for perfection!
I think I read all the comments and no one seems to ask how difficult it is to keep face of lap flat?
I saw you were repositioning screw to use entire face on the steel and brass laps but the wood one looked like it may have had grooves from previous use?
Also, was this really filmed over a 12 hr period? (clock in background, 9:26 at start when you paused vid for explanation)
What was the actual total time (if you remember?)
So around 19:20 you can see some black on the polishing wheel spindle? Is that because some lapping compound got into the bore? Also wouldn't this result in slowly making your polishing wheel out of square which makes the final screw a dome?
At 27:24 it looks like only the inside of the lap is cutting as the black line of material is 1/2 the width of the other lap. That seems consistent with what I said above if the brass lap is more warn than the steel. Does this matter at all or am I just bike shedding on something basically meaningless?
Nice video, where did you get the diamond paste?
Hi Felix and thank you! Here's the link to the paste:
www.amazon.com/Diamond-Oil-Based-Water-Based-polishing-0-25-63-0/dp/B07XRGTMW2?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Will this tool also polish a domed screw? If so, how?
Hi Joe, this will not polish a domed screw as I mention in the video. For domed screws, you have to employ alternative polishing methods. This tool is designed to lap a flat headed screw against a lapping wheel. Good luck!
Many thanks !!!
What is the alternative method?
@@joekudlata7113 I had the same thought and have considered using my lathe (or pin vice) and the concavities of a metal set to burnish/polish. (see: Dapping set w/ dome block)
Would a watchmakers lathe be OK to use?
Hi Zavie. Absolutely! If you have a watchmaker's lathe that's even better and much faster to achieve these results.
@@grumpyswatchrestorations Are runners and lanterns required and made specially for the lathes?
@@zaviekucer9859 No, if you are using a lathe, you can just mount the screw in a collet and then the chuck. You would probably need the lapping wheels to hold the diamantine for polishing. Those are very hard to find.
I think this is where networking comes in so that various folks can share what has/has not worked. I have some ideas that pop, usually after a video showing the "high-end" way of doing things. Afterwards I look around at what I have to work with and put on my Thinking Cap. FWIW
have you just tried using a tripod and papers, IMO its faster and better than this method, ive seen allot of people use these and ive always wither noticed lines under microscope or it just takes a long time. although i will say these toold can be great for doing some really amazing snailing effects but you do have to essentially break them to do it.
Hi Felix, never tried the tripod as I don't have one, I'm definitely open to it and some day, if I end up owning one, I'd be curious as to how it compares to this method!
You showed it to us nearly in real time to prove it's tedious?
You could have just told us. I would have believed you.