Will see YouTube watchmakers using what I would only know to call a nylon pry-bar or a spudger, but the materiel houses I look at don't seem to have watchmaking tools named by those terms.



Anyone know what watchmakers call this tool? (could easily be some Swiss-French or Swiss-German term that I've never heard of...)

 

That's a new one on me.

A translator was not much help.

I like the Armenian translation of the English "Spudger."
սրածայր
sratsayr

Or Greek. How about Greek?
σφουγγάρι
sfoungári

 

I wish I could help, but reading this made me listen to « Bud the Spud ». Canadian members will understand.

 

https://www.esslinger.com/bergeon-7010-black-polyamide-probe-stick/

However, check out one of Al's threads where he mentions them.

I'll see if I can find it.

 

Here's where he mentions it.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/basic-watchmaking-tips-cleaning.56365/#post-696021

(My bold)

"My instructor called it a “plexi stick” and it’s a simple piece of 4 mm diameter clear acrylic rod. On one end I have shaped it to look like the blade of a flat screwdriver, and the other end I have shaped into a point. I would avoid some of these sold by certain watch material suppliers that are coloured – the first one I tried was opaque and red, and it would flake off bits as bad as the peg wood was. The clear acrylic stands up very well and I literally go years between touching it up. This tool is almost glued to my left hand as I work, and other than tweezers is the most common thing I am holding in my hand at the bench. It has a multitude of uses, so holding down bridges, holding down flat springs as you install them, and even making end shake adjustments to the barrel arbor. So for that last one to check end shake in the barrel I assemble the barrel without the mainspring, and hold it on the barrel closing tool while moving the arbor up and down like so:"

 

That looks good, thanks.

I will admit, the term "polyamide probe stick" was not among my watchmaking vocabulary before today. But there you, another new thing I learned off of OF!

 

If you can’t find one, your local stationary store will be able to supply one of these. Voila! A spudger!

 

My experience with spudgers or probes is similar to Al's.

I thought "get the best" so I imported some Bergeon probe sticks.


Like Al, I quickly found them to be crap. The tips were quite frangible and tended to bend and split quite easily, sometimes leaving small bits of plastic on the work.

I also tried some that were used for mobile phone repairs (the blue ones). They were better than the Bergeon, but the tips tended to bend if made too fine.

I ended up finding a local supply of excellent probes, well, actually acrylic knitting needles from the local craft shop (green and yellow ones below).
They were cut down to size and the tips sanded and then polished, either to blunt points or chisel edges.
They perform very well, and as you can see by the green one, even when bent from pressure the material doesn't chip or fracture, it just bends slightly so it's easy to re-finish the tip.

Best of all, they are available locally, cost way less than "special watchmaker's tools" and you get four probes from one pair of knitting needles.

Here is a view of the tips, showing the Bergeon ones I now no longer use.

 

I tend to use the actual spudger I got from iFixit.

As I have been getting back up to speed with my watchmaking, I have been favoring pegwood and basswood sticks, sharpened to a triangular point. I have a whole bundle of these from decades ago.

 

I picked up a black one distributed by beco technic from the local watchmakers supply store, and haven't noticed it splitting.

When I went in to the watchmaking school here they were using them but made from wood, which I found interesting. I havent really felt compelled to replace my beco one... yet

 

I got a plexi rod as per the AWCI material list that Al gave to me and shaped either end as needed -- one became a mostly pointy stick and the other, a screwdriver shaped spudger!