More experiments with the fiber laser

[sheepdoll]

So I finally got around to seeing if the fiber laser can make a watch part.

I used the USB microscope to photograph the part then trace it with a program called lightburn. This works much like Illustrator.

The parts are modeled on some quickset parts I got recently. One of them tends to sell for near 60. Surprisingly the more complex corrector sells for less than half of that. The prices though add up when one needs more than 3 of each.

Mostly the time was spent experimenting with different materials.

Surprisingly the steel cut better than the brass. I was using old razor blades and saw blades. The thickness is a bit much. The laser does not seem to want to cut through the last little bit. I think it welds it when the kerf gets two deep. I tried thinner metal, but ran too many passes and it warped.

Still the results are promising.



Does require a bit more hand finishing that I would like. I was mostly working with trial and error. Photographing the edge of the ruler really helped with the scaling.

I had assembled the parts back into the watch, so did not have them with me to check for thickness. Some guidelings suggest milling them off from the back. I was limited in time to try that step. The extra lines are used to make the parts break away from the stock. It is hard to remove the inside sprial on the corrector.

This is not a powerful laser. The beam locally heats the stock and causes warping. It would probably be a good idea to do additional heat treating to even the temper back out.

I have an old book called 21st century watchmaking which is about grinding similar type parts. This process is not that much different. What the laser would be good at is for the marking out of the parts.

These machines are becoming more accessible. So I suspect that more if this sort of thing will be seen in the future. Especially when relating to hands and dials. Will also make checking for originality more difficult.

Will be a step up from using a paperclip to replace a missing spring.

 

[Trev]

This is interesting, could you post pic of the laser setup? Sounds like you need one with more power!

 

[sheepdoll]

It is in a share maker space. So I tend to work with it once a week.

I actually managed to fling one of the small parts I was attempting to polish across the room. The parts actually are starting to look real.

The test piece here shows that the frequency is inverse from the power. So I was attempting to cut parts at minimal setting which is actually a larger number 90 frequency where 35 frequency removes more metal. I guess the slower pulses clear the cut better. Power seems to work best at 70. 90 power just melts metal. Speed is another parameter. With the higher 80 90 frequency I reduced down to 500. Where the test were done at speed 2000.

This remains much a work in progress.

 

[sheepdoll]

This is impressive .... I filed down one of the test pieces till the center section came out. The waste piece fits perfectly into the original part I traced which is the one on the right. Hard to photograph this without dust fuzz jumping into the frame, these are small parts under 5 mm.

Not sure though that the brass will be strong enough. This thin, it is almost like foil. I think brass is normally work hardened and heated to anneal it. The online search results for heat treating brass is sort of mixed.

More likely this part is made from phosphor bronze, which is also used to make pipe organ reed resonators and other springs used in such instruments.

 

[sheepdoll]

... and it fits!


With the date guard and the origional date set lever.
Some really close tolerances when a date ring is installed.

Filed this down too thin. Like foil. Not strong enough to move the date ring. I can make as many as I want. Two more blanks from the first batch.

May try cutting this from the medium thick razor blades in steel. I did not have the laser settings correct, where less is more.

Apart from the tolerances this looks really good and would be hard to detect that it is a copy. AKA aftermarket part. This really is old school watchmaking.

Not an expensive or rare part. These cost around 30USD or so. The day set lever is closer to 60. It is more the cost add up as such things do not seem to be cheaper by the dozen.